In case you hadn’t heard, the walleye fishing was pretty incredible most of June.
And when you work at Game and Fish, you hear about it all day, every day. At the time, it was eating me alive.
For the first time since I can remember we had a fish-less freezer, aside from one large bag of pike saved for pickling.
I’m blaming it on our ice season being cut short and my mistake of being too generous with last year’s abundant cache of walleye fillets.
When word of the hot bite really started spreading, it was Fischer’s first week of daycare and he was attending half days, so even if I wanted to take some time off work, I didn’t think I could quite get to the lake, catch my fish and be back in time to pick him up.
I impatiently waited for the weekend, anxious that the bite would slow down or that we’d be too constrained with Fisch aboard to really be able to fish effectively.
But if you know us at all, we planned to give it a shot.
Saturday was expected to be pretty windy, but in our two previous boat outings, Fischer got way too warm so we thought he might prefer the cooler weather.
By then, we had our boat launch process dialed in. While Scott readied the boat, I’d feed Fischer, change a diaper if needed, apply sunscreen, then put him back into his car seat and back the boat into the water.
We picked a shoreline and Scott deployed a spinner rig but the wind and waves picked up quickly and I decided we should move upwind while we still could. It seemed like all the boats on the lake had the same idea, and we spent an hour or so taking turns working the north shoreline back and forth for naught.
I was getting discouraged.
But the wind died down a little and Scott finally picked up a fish. We didn’t get skunked!
Over the next hour or so things seem to heat up and most everyone, us included, started reaching for their nets more frequently.
We tried to run two rods, but between Fischer and navigating the wind, we took turns except during his one brief nap under the console.
We ended up with six walleyes and a nice perch when I decided it was best to quit while we were ahead and before Fischer got too cranky.
Even so, this abbreviated outing helped our fish shortage tremendously and I was pretty proud of us.
Fischer’s nose was already stuffy from his first week at daycare and none of us got much sleep that night, and when the sun came up far too early on Sunday we have to decide whether to stay or go.
I had invited a coworker, Jackie, to join and simply be extra hands and a rod, so we needed to let her know one way or another.
Once again, there was never really a decision. I’d rather be tired at the lake than tired at home.
We tried a different lake and fishing started out slow again and I was frustrated. It felt like we have a particular knack for not catching fish whenever I invite her.
But we moved to our fourth spot of the day as the wind died down.
There was one boat there – dad and two squirrelly kids running slip bobbers.
The kids greeted us and asked if we had caught anything.
Nope.
They excitedly exclaimed they had caught four.
I laughed as I watched dad just shake his head and I responded, “So much for keeping your spots a secret huh?” He just smiled.
Scott and I dropped down while Jackie graciously held a sleeping Fischer, and it’s not 30 seconds before I’m hooked up.
We got a very nice, healthy walleye into the livewell and I swapped Jackie my rod for Fisch.
He woke up screaming from the swap and I sat on the floor and fed him while those two continued to pull in fish after fish.
I helped pass pliers and the net back and forth and Fisch and I both got dripped on as they stepped over.
It was some of the best walleye fishing I’ve ever been a part of.
I finally got another turn and brought in a few more before we called it quits.
I think I’ve been waiting months to feel this way again and it’s that much more rewarding to know we tackled it with a ~4 ½ month old.
Back at the ramp, I knelt on gravel, with a screaming Fisch who had a timely, massive diaper blowout.
I admittedly committed one of my own pet peeves – totally ignoring what was going on around me.
But this couldn’t wait.
Scott was working on getting things loaded up, plugs pulled, straps on, etc., as fast as he could so we could get out of the way when I overheard the guy with the boat behind us say, “I’ve changed many diapers at boat ramps.” I recognize them from the water, the dad with two kids.
I felt a little guilty that we had busted their honey hole.
But I was happy to hear there were no hard feelings, and I almost heard a sense of nostalgia in his voice that his fishing buddies were no longer in diapers.
