Job: 123 Fake Street, Anywhere

If that wasn’t enough, once again Captain Simon told us to bring the rigs in and he put up the trolling gear. We still had quite a bit of time left so we headed up the river toward the power plant to do some bottom fishing. By this time, everyone had caught at least one keeper and we were starting to get tired from fighting all the fish. So we all grabbed our food or drinks and once again took in the beauty surrounding us.

The trip up the river gave us all a chance to chat with the captain and each other. Simon really seems to enjoy what he does for a living. I can say from first hand experience that he really knows his trade. He answered all of our questions about the area as we traveled and seemed to know what was in store for the rest of the trip. Little did we know that we were in for the equivalent of entirely another fishing trip. This time, we were after white perch and croaker. We only got one keeper as far as the croakers go but the white perch were plentiful.

Before I go into the perch, I have to say a thing or two about croakers. I’d never heard of them before but when landed there is no doubt about where they get their common name. When you get a bunch of them together your cooler sounds like you have a full load of bullfrogs. They are hard and very prickly but I have been told they are quite tasty.

This part was drifting while keeping your rig on the bottom. Depending on how quickly the boat is moving this can be easy to moderately difficult. Our drifts tended to be pretty slow so we were able to use 3/4 ounce sinkers with 2 hooks that stand off about 6 inches from the main line. I had more luck with crab than the bloodworm but it seemed that either were catching equally well.

By now, the weather had turned a bit warmer and snags were kept to a minimum. Captain Simon even got in on the fishing during each drift after getting us all rigged and preparing the bait. Having grown up near Lake Erie and Oneida this was comfortable territory for me. But I wasn’t doing much but feeding the fish. I could feel bottom but not the fish until I caught a snag and lost my rig. Simon handed me the rod he was using and my luck changed. My guess is the rod I had been using was a slightly stiffer spinning combo than I normally used. The one he gave me was about the weight of the one I use for bass at home and suddenly I was catching with the rest.

We ran through about a half-dozen drifts and finally it was time to pack it up and head back. By then we had caught better than 50 perch in the 10 to 12 inch range with a few monsters thrown in for good measure. Once again, everyone had caught fish for the cooler. It is always great when no one gets “skunked” on a trip. Nothing can take the fun out of fishing like watching others “catching” while you are just “fishing”. The actual total of perch is still unknown to me. I ended up taking about 30 home to clean after everyone else pulled out what they wanted. Reports varied wildly from the guys that took perch but my guess is “a whole mess of fish”. Pretty scientific donchathink.

It was about a half hour trip back to Bunky’s and I have to say it was the best trip I have taken in a long long time. I even saw an Osprey by it’s nest on a piling along the way. It sort of summed things up nicely, seeing the boat’s namesake standing proudly near its uncomfortable nest and watching us pass.