Time flies...but big fish don't

A couple months ago I was writing a few magazine pieces about ice fishing in order to hit the July deadline, all while starring at a thermometer that read nearly 100 degrees! I must be getting old, because time seems to be flying.  In a few weeks I'm getting ready to leave the house for my fall trips on Erie.  Literally one of the best times to fish out here, very few people and a bunch of really big fish. 

After checking the mail a few hours ago I was shocked to already see the Oct issue of FLW's Walleye magazine.  It has a article I did on fall night fishing for walleyes.  It must be time! Seriously...Am I the only one that struggles with getting ice fishing equipment prepped in 100 degree heat and Spinner rigs tied when there is ice hanging from the gutters.

A few other really big projects have consumed a bunch of my time (you'll hear shortly), but I'm ready to ditch the computer and paperwork for a couple month bender of crankbaits and slob walleyes.  Got a handful of dates open if you'd like to partake.

Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

Walleye Limits and a lil Press

This last week we had limits daily, some coming in the first pass.  That's not to say that we didn't have to work for them. The long runs and rough water took a few days off my life expectancy.  The programs have varied from divers, to down rods, to heavy in-lines on boards.  Seems like these walleyes make up their minds like you know who guys...smirk! When you're over fish make sure to switch it up a lot. Speed changes, varying the presentations as previously mentioned, and of course the colors has all been necessary to keep the lines tight.

Here is a pic of an article that Matt Markey did on some big ones we caught fishing the Eastern Basin of Erie near the town of Erie, PA.

It won't be long before the fall bite is upon us...just saying

Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

Canadian Panty Raid

That was the proposed title of the article Steve Pollick wrote for Outdoor News after spending a day on the lake with me. Instead, it ended up as a line in the intro, still makes me smirk.  "Panty Raid" because we caught almost everyone of our fish on Silver Streak Pink Panties, Anti-freeze panties, and pretty panties...no lie. It's on the shelves now...good read. The action was as fast as we could move lines, had about 13 in the first 45 minutes.  Funny thing was that we slide off the contour breaklines and literally caught nothing.  If we would have stayed on the contours the whole time it could have gotten really ugly. It is truly amazing how many different species of fish relate to them in a wide variety of lakes and rivers.

With the recent cool own in most of the Midwest, look for fall patterns to start sooner than you think

Capt. Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

Road Trip Continues

Loaded up the rig and headed over to Lake Michigan to chase some King Salmon.  The heat and "slower" walleye action of late summer typically means big kings relatively close to shore and cooler temps up north. While the action wasn't as fast as it had been the previous couple of weeks, we did manage to fill some coolers with salmon that averaged 16-20lbs, with a couple dinks removed.  No real hot ticket, as fish were caught on riggers, boards and copper, and both braid and wire divers. Caught a few on plugs and one or two on flys, but they primarily wanted big spoons.  Testing out some new and newer patterns of Silver Streak magnums seemed to be the ticket. Anyone that hasn't used Silver Streak's UV spoons are really missing out, amazing to see how many times they actually outperform glow lures in low light conditions.

The water was so warm that using a Fish Hawk temperature and speed probe really made a huge difference.  It was amazing to see how warm the water was for lake Michigan.  At one point we had nearly a twenty degree temp change at the same depth, instead of the typical horizontal thermocline.  Shocker, the kings were sitting in the cooler water pockets gorging on smelt.

Capt. Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

ROAD TRIP

Sometimes we forget that Lake Erie is so big that a road trip is required just to get to where the big ones have traveled.  I jumped in the truck to meet up with my longtime fishing buddy Bob Henton and Field and Stream fishing editor Joe Cermele.  To say that we had a good time is an understatement. The first fish to make it into the boat was over 30'' and 10lbs. Fishing the deep waters of Pennsylvania meant using a combination of heavy snap weights, Dipsy Divers, and in-line weights... with both spinners and cranks. Cranks ruled early, with spinners dominating after the wind layed down and sun shined bright.

The day will run as an episode of "Hook Shots" on Field and Streams site in a few weeks.  The episode will make you cry with laughter...we were busting on each other all day.

Ross Robertson
www.bigwaterfishing.com

Icast Show---memories and a game changer

This year ICAST invaded Orlando for the annual biggest trade show in fishing. One of the first things I saw upon walking in was Bert's Custom Tackle's display board.  It brought back memories of doing a photo shoot over and over in 6' plus waves.

After looking at the literately thousands of new and new to me products I can honestly say that Humminbird and Minn-Kota stole the show. The new 360 Side Imaging is awesome.  I'm most ready to start using the new I-Pilot Link, this will literally allow you to use your Humminbird fish finder as a true autopilot. It will even allow you to follow a contour when a Lakemaster chip is used, plus or minus whatever you tell the unit.  Unbelievable stuff. You really need to take a look at this, its a true game changer.

If that wasn't enough Minn-Kota also came out with a battery charger that is unbelievable. I have been fortunate to have been field testing it for the last few months. While loaded with features to charge your faster without damaging your batteries, it also allows you to see each batteries charge level and charge each battery according to what it actually is. This allows you to select from wet cell, AGM, or gel style batteries. Just when you though it couldn't get any better.

bigwaterfishing.com

3 Days...3 Ports....MONSTER WALLEYES

Decided to switch things up a little and fish both the Central and Eastern basins to try out some new equipment and keep our deep water skills up to par.  End result was a pile of giant walleyes coming to the boat.  The giants we were catching around the islands in March and April have moved more than a 100 miles chasing smelt and other fatty baitfish the bigguns seem to like.

We used heavy in-lines on the boards and divers at the boat with silver streak harnesses for the most part.  Each day the best presentation for big ones was a little different.  Color seemed to make more of a difference than blade style on the harnesses. We caught them on colorado's, Indiana's, willows and hatchets equally well.

Gotta love Erie...land of the giants