Day 4, Wednesday, PAES 140.07 (Lake Erie Sports Fishing)

Is it possible to fish too much? I was starting to dream about fishing at this point. I'd be making fishing rigs and fretting that I wasn't catching enough fish. (I'm still doing it a week later too.)

This day we went out for White Bass. It was a beautiful, the sun was shining and the sky was clear. The sunblock was slathered on and the fishing hat was carefully placed. After trying a lure or two without success, I kept my ears and eyes open to see what the other guys were using when they caught. The winning lure seemed to be small, silver spoon. With or without additional color. I dug through the student tackle box and found a nice small, all silver spoon. I retied my clip (you should frequently check your line and knots for wear or you will loose fish) and attached said spoon.

It worked. I brought in the most white bass on that trip. It was only three, I guess, but it made me feel good since I hadn't been doing so great so far on our morning fishing trips. These guys were also my first attempt at filleting when we got back. We had watched a video on how to filet and that guy made it look so easy! It's not when you're doing it for the first time. By the end of the week though, I wasn't doing badly at all.

Lunch was had on the boat like always. Note: if you have lunch out in the field, and you know there's only 2 bags of cheetos, grab one early or you'll have to suffer through pain ol' tater chips. (Not that that's a bad thing.)

At home base we learned all about the electronics of fishing. Everything from GPS, Fish Finders, and flashers. What size cone is going to give you the best reading on fish? Why do fish marks look like they do on the screen? How fancy does one have to get in order to catch fish? Well, now I know. We also explored internet resources such as the Ohio Sea Grant site and it's discussion board. You can also find satellite maps of Lake Erie that can show you the flow of sediment from rivers. Of course you can check the weather and see what's coming your way. That way you can guestimate that by the time you drive up to Lake Erie, the lightning storm will be gone and you can maximize your fishing time!

That evening, John Hageman, who is the Stone Lab Manager, came in to talk to us about ice fishing. He also manages ice fishing shacks up at Lk. Erie in the winter when it freezes enough. Man, I'll tell you this, I'm not a huge fan of winter but I soooo wanna go ice fishing for walleye. That time of year, the biggies come back from the central basin to prepare for spawning. You can catch some HUMUNGO fish!

Okay, so that was the day I had 6/14/06. I'm going to add two more tidbits about Stone Lab.

Tidbit 1: An addition to my list the other day is to bring something fun to do. Believe it or not, I was not fishing 24/7. Really. So besides sleeping and eating, what else did I do? I had brought some of my sewing up with me. There is nothing more relaxing (to me) than to sit on the dock, crocheting, and watching the boats float by and the sun setting. Now, you, can bring whatever you want. A book, painting supplies as there's lotsa subjects, fishing if you're not taking a fishing class, you can borrow a rowboat, etc. Sometimes, whether we like it or not, we can only study so much.

Tidbit2: One very cool thing I found on my trip to Stone Laboratory was the other students. My roommates and I and a good sized group of us all somehow managed to mesh really well on the first day. We would exchange notes on our various classes, sit together at meals, hang out and chit-chat at night before bed. We all just got along really well and that was so cool! I suppose I wasn't expecting to go there and meet so many great people. So bring something you can write addresses on because you'll make some awsome contacts and friends.