IT CAN'T GET ANY BETTER

My trip to Glen Elder Reservoir last weekend with a couple buddies, Jim Reid and Kent Dodds, will go down in fishing history as one of my best ever.  It started out with a great day weather and walleye-wise on Thursday.  We caught 40-some 'eyes and had five keepers (little did we know the 'eye fishing would get exponentially better).  And we followed that with some huge crappie fishing action on Friday in less than ideal conditions. 

We got a late start on Saturday and I got credit for it.  I had cooked some Angus steak burgers the night prior and apparently didn't let all the lighter fluid cook out of the charcoal before putting the burgers on the grill.  And jokingly I had put an "X" in the cheese of one burger and told Kent to make sure he ate that one because I'd doctored it up with a little rat poison. 

That morning Jim and Kent were both likely wondering if that was indeed the truth.  Severe intestinal problems were the norm and neither wanted to get too far from the bathroom, nor did I want either of them in my nearly-new boat.  To make matters worse my case of the "crud" wasn't nearly as problematic. 

Things finally calmed down enough we got on the water at noon.  The wind was howling out of the north from 20-30 mph and it was about 45 degrees.  We were bundled up in winter clothes plus our rain gear and didn't get out of it for two days.  I motored to the area where we caught walleye on Thursday and dropped anchor.  My plan was to fish a break in 7-feet of water and swing to about 16 feet of water.  It quickly became apparent 7-feet was the ticket as we all had fish on within seconds after dropping our jig-and-nightcrawler combinations to the bottom. 

Over the next 4 hours, we wouldn't go more than 2 or 3 minutes without someone catching a walleye.  We kept a verbal count and ended the day with 145 fish.  Most were 16-18 inches long.  However, we did catch 21 fish over 18 inches and kept our legally allowed 15.  Most keepers were 18 1/2 to 20 inches with three or four, 3-4 pound fish.  The biggest was 4 1/2 pounds.  It was truly a wonderful day despite the blustery weather.

Never thinking we could improve on a day like that we hit the water Sunday at 10 a.m.  Again, within minutes we were setting the hook using the same pattern and location.  Unlike Saturday, I did take up and let out anchor rope and switch cleats occasionally when the action "slowed."  We fished until 3 p.m. and landed 160 walleye.  We kept 11 and released several others that were legal but didn't exceed the 18-inch mark by much.  

It was a dream trip and one we'll remember for a long time.  We went through a flat of nightcrawlers in three days of walleye fishing and we halved most of those.  That's incredible action.  We're planning on doing it again next year.  And I've already been told I can take my boat and truck but they don't want me bringing any hamburgers, or at least cooking them!