A very early morning start for me, being the furthest away. So 4:30am, up, shower, and out the door to pick up RJ.
As I arrived, RJ joked, "I wasn't sure if I should give you a wake up call or not."
I explained to him, "sure, I might sleep in on tourney day with Bacon, but this; THIS IS IMPORTANT!".
Heading to Perth to meet up with Eye Tracker, we stopped in CP for Timmy's. Here I discovered that RJ does not drink coffee. Nor does he smoke. The guy only has 1 bad habit ... fishing.
7 am in Perth and ET pulls in, boat in tow. We run over to the next Timmy's for yet another coffee (and hot chocolate for RJ). I buy lunch, and RJ picks up the mother of all thermos', the BIG TIM.
Sweet!!!!
ET runs us down a series of back roads and short cuts, and we reach Adolpustown around 10am. You should see the sweet gadgets this guy has got, particularly that little PDA sized GPS ... Santa, I would like one of those please.
We set up the boat and put on our extra 10 layers of clothes. I feel more like an under cover mountain man than a fisherman, but at least I am warm. I jump in with ET while RJ backs us in at the provincial launch. We get the truck up the wheel wells while the muffler bubbles a melodic beat, but the boat still ain't floating. Our choices now are to run up the Glenora Ferry, or launch the boat and truck. We choose the ferry.
A 10 minute jaunt up the road revealed that we were not the only ones with the same idea. Parking is tight, so we opt to run up to Bath and launch there. We set up at the outflow and start trolling our way towards the ferry.
The morning was sssllllloooowwww, especially for those of us who have not been convinced of the merrits of trolling. So around noon, RJ relunctantly asks ET the question ... "have you ever been skunked before?"
Another 45 minutes go by, then the boys excitedly yell, fish on! Graciously, they give me first crack on the rod rotation so I get to work. A good 10 minutes to get this fish reluctantly to the boat, and my left arm is throbbing like something out of a Popeye comic strip. ET scoops her up with the net and I let out a sigh of relief. My first big walleye and she tipped the scale at 12.8lbs.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... hSmall.jpg">
12.8lbs + 31" long + 19" girth = 1 really happy troller
That pretty well did it for me. It wouldn't matter how many times those rods would go off, I am basking in the after glow of that fish, and was content just to fish for the company.
A short while later, we get into a double header. RJ and ET get to work on the roads while I man the wheel. RJ gets his fish within about 10' of the boat then she rolls and is gone.
ET, on the other hands, lands this beauty.
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... hSmall.jpg">
So, for the next little while, RJ takes some good natured ribbing, while I express the delights of my fishing prowess. ET is a little more gracious (actually, not really, we both took the screws to RJ
)Around 3:30 we had trolled fairly close to the light house. We decided to turn around and start fishing our way back towards our launch site. Funny, an awful lot of boats around us now. Wonder if the hootin and hollerin had anything to do with that.
Just as the sun was setting, bang, another double header. I take the wheel while RJ grabs the first rod and starts working the fish in. ET grabs the second road and keeps the fish at bay while we work the first. RJ gets this one 10' feet from the boat and spituey, this one's gone too.
ET passed RJ the second rod and RJ guides this one comfortably to the net. He breaths a sigh of relief and we snap this pics before the sun disappears.<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/ ... hsmall.jpg">
After a short analysis, turns out RJ's ineptitude may have in fact been the hooks he had put onto his lure and not his fishing prowess at all. But, I did assure him I would coach him on how to catch big walleyes if we wanted.
After this we packed her up and headed of home. Thanks RJ for getting me out on the this trip. And of course for the great company and the laughs. And, as much to ET for the same reasons, and for letting me inside his head to see how he runs his show ... very interesting.
And also honourable mention for the good natured ribbing over the VHF. And you guys know who you are!!!
I had plans of putting the boat away, but if the fishing is the good, and the fish are only gonna get bigger, I am sold on this late fall trolling for big eyes. Misses Livewell, can I go please?
M.T. Livewell
--what's this world coming too 
