June 26th, 2009 was one of the best nights of fishing I had all last year - and I didn't even wet a line! My brother is in the Army, and has been stationed all over the world. Fortunately he's been able to bring the girls fishing in many of the places where they have lived. That early training made their first ever walleye fishing excursion very easy. Of course, being on a kid friendly walleye bite helped a lot, too!

While they were home on leave last summer, I loaded them up and took them to the Escanaba River so the girls could catch their first walleyes. Once the water hits 70 degrees, trolling small shallow running crankbaits in less than 5 feet of water is a sure thing. Most of the fish are sub-legal, but are a blast to catch on ultra-light tackle. All I had to tell them was how far to cast the lures behind the boat, and to "snap" the rod while we were trolling. By the end of the night, they were "old pros" at "twitching" Husky Jerks and Wee-R Crayfish for walleyes. They landed 28 fish by the end of the night, including several "doubles." This was a picture of their first double. Just as I took the pic, the fish wiggled out of Olivias hand. While she was trying to pick up the fish off the deck, she commented  "Walleyes are squirmy."

Thanks for the goodies. I may have to do a little "cherry picking" before I forward the prize package to my brother.