Before I say anything else, I want to remind everyone that today is 9/11. Let’s not forget to say a prayer for those who lost their lives in the attack on our country.
Usually when the wind is blowing in the morning on Lake Erie, it gets stronger as the day goes along. But that wasn’t the case yesterday. When we woke up it was really howling outside. But sometime in the early afternoon the wind laid down. The water slicked over and everything looked like a farm pond.
You never know about this place. That’s a part of its magic, and I’m not the only one who notices things like that. When I pulled into the dock last evening, there was a guy from California nearby. He went on and on about what a wonderful place this is and how unique it is up here. It truly is a freshwater ocean.
I’ve been thinking that the Great Lakes might have the biggest numbers of species of fish of any freshwater lake in the world, or at least in our county. The only one I can think of that isn’t around, or that I haven’t heard about, is the spotted bass.
I’d never really thought much about it before but now I’m wondering why they aren’t up here. It might be too cold but, then again, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The past several winters have been unusually warm and, besides, the largemouth do just fine — at least in Erie.
Does anybody out there know how many species there are in the Great Lakes and do they have the highest number of all for freshwater species? What about the spots? The more I think about it the more intrigued I am about the spot question. You’d think if all the other fish could find a home around here so could they.
Beyond that, this is shaping up to be another great smallmouth tournament. There are tons of good sized fish out there, and they’re biting. That means several of us — hopefully that’ll include me — will catch good weights.
The one thing that could affect what I just said is the weather. It was really hot today. Tomorrow it’s supposed to cool down and then get almost chilly by Saturday.
The one thing we all know to be true is that cold fronts come from the north, and they have to move in order to get here. They make wind. Wind makes waves. Waves make tough boating. Tough boating means some guys won’t be able to get to their spots and others won’t be able to get back.
As a practical matter, this looks to me like a week when catching them will only be half the battle. Making sure you get back in one piece and on time will be the other half. Our equipment is good, though, so most of us won’t have any problems.
One other thing I want to mention before I go is that Costa Del Mar sent me some new prototype prescription glasses that are designed for low light conditions. Wow! These things really work. I put them on early this morning, and it looked like high noon on a sunny day. Keep a lookout for them when they come to market. They’re for real.