5/18 Report

[Flatbottom Boy]

I had the boat in the water at 6am, not sure the name of the ramp I used but it was the first one on the left as you enter the state park heading north on 215. I hadn't fished this lake in a couple years which is painful to admit. I had my limit of walley by 9am bouncing crawlers in 20 FOW not far from the boat ramp. I had caught my last fish and attempted to start the boat up to move in and do some crappie fishing and the motor was stuck in reverse....fiddled with it so much I eventually couldn't get it started. Making the long haul back to the ramp with the trolling motor I drug a BPS baby shad in Icicle color about 10 ft down in about 20 FOW. I absolutely tore up the crappie and picked up half a dozen more walleyes (mostly short). If I wasn't so worried about running out of trolling battery juice I would have fished that shorline until dark or starvation kicked in.

If the 3 Gentlemen that helped me load by boat after the motor failure are members and read this, thanks again it's always good to run into a helping hand when you need it. Good luck all.

[blue79]

Glad to hear you caught some fish and you made it back safe.

[Saltydawg]

Nice work ! Sounds like you launched at old state park ? ( Hartley) Sold my boat this winter but have a little v bottom with trolling motor. Could a guy do any good within a half mile of the ramp on walleye ? Did u catch them within that cove or did u go past the bridge ? Thanks !

[Walleyedmike]

Nice job Flatbottom Boy, hope you don't mind if I post a report here rather than starting another thread. I put in at Hartley around 9 AM, sorry I didn't notice anyone having boat problems, sorry. Anyway, fished that general area and by 10:30 caught six walleye with four keepers, a 15" crappie and a couple of short bass. I was bottom bouncing slow death in 20 feet of water. After 10:30 it just shut down for me, I caught a keeper bass and a drum. I was hoping to report catching twenty keepers, but oh well, maybe next time. All fish were released to fight another day. Had a great day on the water hanging out with my wife and catching a few fish.

WM

[Flatbottom Boy]

Salty, I caught the walleyes that I kept just outside of that cove to the left along those steep banks. But I was able to pick up some within the cove along the bank adjacent to the boat ramp while I was trolling back in. The best spot that I found was out toward the point and back into the cove about 500 yards. I was catching walleye and crappie in that spot but couldn't spend the time I wanted since I didn't know how much battery I had left. I would just work that whole shore out to the point and maybe bring two batteries, good luck.

Walleyedmike, what town are you from in Nebraska? I used to play around a little down in those parts deer/pheasant hunting. Graduated highschool in Omaha. Oh and I was the guy with the chocolate lab in the boat with me...a little 16ft bass boat with an older Johnson on the back.