Fishing report 2018-08-26

[Scott Kitchen]

I woke up extra early this morning, so I figured I would go out solo.  I was on the water by 4:45 AM and started by trolling with two lines down the green buoy side of the shipping channel starting out right in front of the lock.  I made it down to the walking bridge, but after cleaning floating weeds from both rods three times each I had had enough.  I cut across in front of Strawberry and started casting a toothy with the wind back towards the US shore.  I drifted along casting towards the US shore or Grand Island all the way down to the Beaver Island marina.  No follows.  No fish, but I had a first time painful experience. 

On one cast a loop opened in the line on the reel and then closed on my thumb right under the end of my finger nail and dug in deep enough to draw blood, OUCH!!  I have never had that happen before and hope to never have it happen again. 

I then headed back up to the ridge out in front of Frenchmen's creek for some tube drifts.  On my second drift I thought I felt a hit, set the hook and then felt what I was sure was a big branch or tree limb as there were no head shakes (certainly not the first time I have set the hook into wood), but there was weight and it was coming up as I pulled back on the rod.  Low and behold, it was a fish.  A nice fish with the stinger hook in the side maybe a foot back from the gill plate up into the meat of her back and away from internal organs.  I thought for sure she would get off, but even after three strong runs pulling drag each time I managed to get a net under her.  She was a clean 46".  I gave her a piece of jewelry (tag # 116), and she just shot right out of my hands at the release after the measurement.  I would love to see and understand how I managed to foul hook her like that.  It just seems so improbable.   

Fished until 9 AM.  The floating sub-aquatic vegetation that was really bad in the shipping channel was not an issue in front of Strawberry or in Ontario UN 2 or UN 13.  Visibility is down to the low teens.