After reading the great jigging reports online and double checking the weather forecast for Sunday, we decided to take our boys out on a head boat from Fisherman's Wharf for some jigging action. Dave and Tommy, Conrad and Drew, and Hunter and I, along with my good buddy Woody arrived at the boat at 7:00am. The boys were very excited at the notion of catching their first walleyes.

We left the dock with a full load of 30 fisherpeople and slowly trudged our way out into the fog for about 25 minutes. First stop was over a shallow reef in about 8fow and then up and over it with as little as 4fow below us (could see the bottom). There was really no wind to speak of, and you really had to work the jigs fast to keep from getting snagged up. I caught the 3rd fish of the day for the boat on a 3/4oz. white hair jig; however; the captain didn't like the water color around the reef so we moved further north to deeper water.

At that point, it was on like crazy. Our side of the boat lit up the fish pretty good on that drift, as did the guys on the bow. Not sure how many, but it was a bunch. The boys were having a bit of a tough time picking up the bite, as they were not keeping the slack out of their line when they were jigging. On my second hook up, I passed the rod to Hunter, and from that point on he reeled in the rest of our fish for the trip. We caught all of our fish on white, but others were doing well on pink/purple combos along with the stand by John Deere Green and Got One patterns. I tried blade baits for a bit but couldn't get them to go.

It took until almost 2:00pm for the entire boat to limit, but eventually the first mate said "we are done!" The quality of the fish was good too, plenty of fish in the 22"-24" range with several at 26" as well. Drew caught his first smallmouth of his life, dandy 21"er that will be going on his wall at home.

The boys fished hard, and they stuck it out in very chilly (and cold at times) conditions. It was a great time, that is for sure. Hope to get out again very soon...I can't imagine this unbelieveable fishing lasting much longer.


Hunter with the first 'eye he reeled in...




The boys with 2/3 of the catch (there is another 120qt. cooler behind that trash can...)

Congratulations to Hunter on his first 'eye! That was a great report! Hope to see you guys soon.

Nice catch Clark and boys.

I hitched a ride with Hawkeye on Sunday. We started around G can trolling RR about 30' back at 1.6 mph. Caught 7 eyes and had probably 20 pullbacks. 3 FO's. It was pretty foggy, light rain a few times, and did get pretty cold mid morning. Much warmer once back at the docks. The bite died once the sun came thru. We fished 8:30 til 3:30. Never heard much boat chatter and only saw a half dozen boats fishing near us.

Probably be a couple weeks before Lady Bridge gets launched.

Great time and memories - Give the kids a hug for me. See you all soon.

Jennifer

Nice Job Clark

great fun enjoy them kids they grow up way to fast

BFG

Looks like you guys had a good time out there, I was just curious is this Head Boat out of or near Port Clinton. Also what do you think about a 5 year old fishing out of a boat like this, would they be tall enough to fish over the side.

It will be a few more weeks for me to get my boat ready but I would love to take my boy and Dad out.

Gunboat,

Yes, the headboats are out of Port Clinton. There are a couple operations, one at Fisherman's Wharf, the other I believe is Shore Nuf (?). The headboats can accommodate anywhere from 25-35 people if I were to guess. It is best to call and make a reservation ahead of time, and to get to the boat early in order to get a good spot. Ideally, you would want to be on the bow if fishing without kids, but if you have kids you should try to get the stern. The sides are under cover, and it can make fishing (especially casting) very difficult. Fortunately for the jig bite, you don't have to cast too much.

Two of the boys that fished the other day were 8 years old, and the other is 10. The older boy didn't have a problem with the rail, but the younger boys did at times. For reference, my 8 year old son Hunter is about 56" tall right now.

The trip costs $42.00 per person, not including tip or the $2.00 big fish pot that they run. You'll need a stringer for each person, as this is how they ID the fish that you catch in the cooler.

You can find both places online...all you need to know is there.

My buddies went yesterday, but with only one of the boys. The boat had 25 people on it and they ended up with 78 walleyes for the trip. The wind died and the fish shut down.