Well the 5th annual Guys and Eyes fishing trip came and went with a flurry. It is hard to believe that something we wait for all year long can fly by so quickly!
This year we (Captainminnow, Randaler and myself) arrived for first light on February 7th to fish Hay Bay out of Shermans Point as a starting point. We had a fantastic year there in 2012 and knew the ice was safe based on recent reports. With a little bit of snow cover and comfortable temperatures we ventured out to fish, exploring the area with numerous holes (40 or so) in water depths of between 15 to 25. We travelled at least 1.5km on foot heading towards the reach and out towards the middle of Hay Bay. We did manage to catch a two small (12 -16) eyes and some perch but the monsters eluded us! We were joined by East Lake Angler back at the Perfect Vue in the evening who appeared more than eager to pound the hard water (after sitting in his new hut set up in his basement for 2 days pretend jigging)!
Day 2 had us out from Shermans again for first light noting some slight accumulation of snow overnight. Returning to an area we explored the previous day we set up in about 25 of water. At this point I would like to share with you all a theory that I have been batting around since last year when I caught 5 fish between 9.5 and 12.5 pounds throughout the day (yes I said it
between 10 am and 2pm) over a 2 day period! That year I worked (jigged furiously combined with long sharp strokes) various jigs including buckshots, macho minnows, and a fire eye minnow all tipped with Lake Fork Trophy Tackle Baby Shads (Fire Perch) up high (at 15 when in 25 of water) in the water column. Each and every hog flashed on the screen quickly and absolutely pounded the lure
there was no finesse ... no teasing required. I tried this again this trip and managed to bring and 11.4lb beauty to my hole around 2:00 with a chartreuse PK Lure tipped with LFTT Fire Perch.
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This method of working the upper column requires serious mental fortitude and one that requires you to understand your electronics so that you ignore all small fish examining your lure and continue ripping each time you see a small mark assuming that it is a monster moving into your transducer cone. It is my humble opinion that large migratory fish in this area
roam freely and feed aggressively all day long! Please note
this technique doesnt work everywhere on the BOQ and you are primarily targeting aggressive fish! Captainminnow, East Lake Angler and I also caught a few smaller eyes again (12-16) and East Lake Angler absolutely pounded on large perch with a few in the 13-14 range. By this time Randaler was starting to feel the pressure of not catching. Did I mention that it snowed all day? Well it did
it snowed A LOT!!! The walk back to the truck that was buried in snow was beyond grueling.
Knowing that walking in 2 feet of snow with even deeper drifts was going to be a problem (especially for my old bones) and knowing that Huffs ice was going to be hard to see and be safe on (having not been there yet) we returned to Hay Bay out of Shermans and tried our luck again in a few of the same spots. By around 10:00 East Lake Angler couldnt bear the strain of not moving and he and Captainminnow trekked over 1km to the opposite side of Hay Bay through the snow. Having reported the water depths via walkie talkie to us from the other side
Randaler also began his journey across the ice (I say
Crazy *****s the lot of them). Results for them
nada
me .. I managed 3 small walleye with the largest coming on a Golden Shiner Live Target crank bait ripped aggressively after my electronics died.
I knew at the end of Day 3 we were going to Huffs
we started Day 4 before first light trudging gingerly through the snow and set up in a spot close to one of our usual haunts in about 22 of water. Ice was 5 black where we drilled (and who knows how thick where we didnt drill a hole)! Apparently the eyes started moving around in the morning and there were quite a few fish marked but no takers. Exhausting his usual arsenal of lures
Captainminnow finally iced a walleye around 3lbs on a tiny blue and silver jigging rap and shortly thereafter coaxed a 6lb eye to a large( god awful) blue and silver spoon tipped with a large minnow.
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We stayed throughout the day (because walking was still a pretty stupid idea unless necessary) and we were thrilled to see Matt finally get the skunk off with a 3.5lb eye taken on a small gold buckshot in the late afternoon.
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We are also very happy to report that East Lake Angler caught his PB
a 9lb beauty on a large blue-red-silver (god awful) spoon tipped with a minnow!
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This brings the story near to a close
Randaler decided he had better odds hitting Lady Simcoe for Lakers on his last day and left us early in the morning as we were heading back to Huffs for the morning bite. I am glad that we did because I managed my last fish of the trip
a 4.5lber on a
yup you guessed it a large, blue and silver (god awful) spoon tipped with a minnow.
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With nothing left of the morning bite
East Lake Angler left on his journey home and Captainminnow and I returned to Hay Bay for one more kick at that location. Shortly after getting into 27 of water a long way out
we experienced short periods of some of the craziest weather
beautiful warm sun, sleet, rain, snow and then a strong wind by 2:00 like the hand of god was trying to sweep us off the ice
Captainminnow missed one large fish on a large white plastic shad and then we fled the ice knowing that the trip was officially over.
Some other tidbits
for guys that planned for so long to take serious video and pictures
we dropped that ball huge (some exceptions as Captainminnow captured all his walleye on GoPro). I myself having handled a lot of large fish last year seriously lacked composure. We all lamented what it would be like to own a sled or ATV and explore the BOQ as some spots at the edge of our vision looked so enticing! And lastly
the weather in this area is seriously unpredictable and can force you to hunker down when all you want to do is run free and jig!
What we do know for certain
we will be back for as long as ice forms on the BOQ!
Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for the video currently in production. While you are waiting feel free to enjoy last years video!
Good luck to all!
captinminnow
