• Three anglers caught their limit of walleye (18 fish each) over three days of fishing near Kelley’s Island in Lake Erie.
• Rough water conditions on the final day made fishing challenging, but the group still managed to limit out.
• The average walleye size was smaller than in previous years, with the largest caught weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces.
• The anglers’ success contrasted sharply with other boats, many of which returned with few or no fish.

Rick Schuh and Bill Mecha showed up at my house May 18 and we hooked up my boat, “Instigator,” a 190-foot AlumaCraft. By 4 a.m., we were off.

Our destination was Port Clinton, Ohio, on the shores of Lake Erie. We arrived there before noon, grabbed a lunch, checked into our motel, picked up bait and put the boat in the water.

It was a bumpy ride over the 4 miles to Kelley’s Island, where we would start fishing for walleye at 2 p.m. The 3- to 4-foot waves were starting to calm down, but the bite was not on yet. By 4 p.m., we only had four walleye in the box.

After a couple of passes by the island, we decided to try between Kelley’s and the mainland. Things got hot in a flash as by 7:30 p.m. we had our 18-fish limit on walleye. Plus, while we tore down the lines, we had four more that we had to toss back.

Monday morning found us back in the same spot we finished up the night before. In a frenzied four hours, we had the next 18-fish limit on walleye.

By Tuesday morning, the winds were blowing at more than 15 mph, and we had to decide if we would fish that day. Our consensus was we could get over to Kelley’s Island and fish on the downwind side of the island. We did just that, and the action happened as we had our 18 walleye in about five hours, but it was not easy. The 4- to 6-foot waves battered the boat, and we got splashed quite often. It was hard to steer and harder to stand up to work the rods.

After we had the fish cleaned, the rains came and winds grew even stronger. Plans were to fish Wednesday morning as well, but when we exited the motel room, the wind was whistling through the trees, and we had our doubts. After breakfast, we went down to the marina and checked out the water. Monster rollers were moving up and down on the horizon, so we thought better of that. We headed back to the motel and packed up for the trip home. At that point, we had three 18-fish limits and called it a good fishing trip.

Years ago, the walleye were larger than they are today. Our fish averaged 1.5 to 3 pounds each, but 25 years ago they would have been double the size. Bill Mecha caught the largest one at 6 pounds, 3 ounces and was 28 inches long.

We were the attraction at the motel as most boats came in with three to six fish per boat and some came in skunked. The talk was those Wisconsin boys did it again.

Support fight to protect glacial lakes of Wisconsin against wake boats

Those on the side of reform are winning this battle, but a coalition of Wisconsin organizations working to protect our lakes is now up to 80 members, representing a diverse group of interests ranging from lake associations, sporting and fishing groups, riparian owners, and wildlife advocates.

More towns across the state have recently passed local ordinances. Approximately 310 of the 2,350 lakes eligible for wake creation have now been protected by ordinances.

Remember, no type of watercraft can make a wake on lakes of fewer than 50 acres. The Wakesurf Reform Coalition’s position is that 700 feet from shore and 30-foot depth minimum are needed to protect Wisconsin lakes. 700 feet is the distance required for high-energy enhanced waves to be no bigger or more powerful than typical power boats. 30 feet depth provides a margin of safety over the deepest disturbances detected from enhanced wake boats (26 feet) in testing done to date.

This is also a local problem as residents of Cedar Lake in Manitowoc County have pointed out shoreline erosion from wake surfing activities.

For more information, go to LakesatStake.org.

Woodland Dunes’ Friendly Fridays series begins June 6

Woodland Dunes Nature Center & Preserve in Two Rivers will present a Family Fridays series starting with “Frog Night” from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 6.

Meet frogs that live in the preserve and learn what they sound like. Then, stroll by the swales to listen for singing frogs. Registration is required by June 4 by emailing Jess at jessicaj@woodlanddunes.org or calling 920-793-4007. Admission is free for Woodland Dunes members and $15 per family for non-members.

Each program in the Family Fridays series will explore a new topic. The series is geared toward ages 4-12, but all are welcome.

Larrabee club’s antique tractor pull is June 1

Larrabee Sportsmans Club, 16306 Harpt Lake Road, Maribel, will hold its antique tractor pull June 1.

Tractor weigh-in is from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and the pull starts at noon.

Tractors from 1960 and older will be competing. Food and refreshments will be served all day.

That’s it for this week, so have fun in the great outdoors.