Intro

In the previous post, I introduced you to the challenge we created for ourselves, to catch four different species of fish in four days. Day one was a true adventure, and you can read about it in that post. This post is about the rest of the trip.

Days 3 and 4 of the 4 in 4 challenge led to some of the best smallmouth action of the early season. And we completed the 4 in 4 challenge…kind of sort of.

I have been away from the blog page for a little while because of an influx of fishing rod orders and a nasty, nasty little virus. SO, thanks for the orders. The Bad Ted Carver series bass model is slaying them, having landed several fish over 7 pounds, and one approaching 7 1/2 pounds. Keep your eye on Capt. Hans. There may be an 8-pounder coming.

Day 2 of the Challenge

But, back to the challenge. We did not fish on the second day because of Ma Nature. Cold, north winds, and freezing rain. So, we visited the Evergreen kayak shop in Mayville, NY. The owner, Mike Kingsley, showed us a number of fishing kayaks and we had a good discussion about the growing popularity of kayak fishing. Then we visited our friend Mike Sperry, Chautauqua guide and owner of Chautauqua Reel Outdoors, the bait and tackle shop in Lakewood. We enjoyed a very good meal at Andriaccio’s Italian restaurant and then got ready for our third day.

Day 3

Although the weather was clearing, it was about 29 degrees at 7:00 A.M. on the next day. We decided to wait for it to warm a bit and started at 9:00. The muddy water had cleared and was nicely tainted. Capt. Hans anticipated that the bass would be leaving their deeper water haunts. He quickly found them up on a flat and Chris had a nice fish on, only about two minutes into our first drift. But the morning fishing was slow. We caught some very nice smallies, but just one or two on each drift. As the day wore on and warmed, our fishing success increased, and we started getting 2 or three on a drift by the end of the day. It seemed like a grind, but we estimated that we had landed between 30 and 40 fish. There were probably 10 to 12 that were over 5 pounds. I cannot give you a count because, well, because we don’t take an actual count. And we only weigh fish that have a chance of exceeding the 6-pound threshold.

But we had caught our third species of fish. On day one here was the surprise brown trout in the lower Niagara River, the Ontario lakers, and now the Erie smallmouths. Chris could not fish on the fourth day, but Len, a buddy of mine and Charlie’s, joined us on Thursday night for dinner and took Chris’ spot on the fourth day.

A Traveler’s Note:

We started at 8:00 on the fourth day. The traffic the day before was extremely heavy due to the 9:00 start. The small boat harbor is right in Buffalo, so a 9:00 start puts you in the rush hour traffic. I will not start that late again in Buffalo. The best start time is not later than 7:00, 7:30 at the latest.

Day 4: Len joins the team

Capt. Hans had predicted a good day of smallmouth fishing. He figured that the winds were right for fishing the areas where he thought the fish would be. Hans is usually always right. He headed to the north gap bar, where there already were a couple of other boats. Using his years of experience and massive amount of accumulated data points, he was able to hit drifts that were more productive than the boats around us. I had a fish within 30 seconds, and it was game on. Rather, the fish were on. We had a bass bonanza. The fishing was steady at the gap, but after a while we tried some other spots.

Species 4

We tried a couple of spots that were not as productive. Ultimately, we made our way to Bird Island and the bass fishing was good again. Then Len landed a nice gaspergu, our fourth species. (I never heard sheepshead called that until I fished with Hans, but in Buffalo, that is what they are called.) Okay, it was not a targeted species, but the fourth species, nevertheless. These fish get a bad rap, but they are a lot of fun when they are not in huge schools. Great fighters!

And 5!

But Len was not done. Shortly, he hooked a fish that gave him a different kind of fight. It stayed down, demonstrating more power than agility. He had a very nice walleye! Our fifth species in three days! And it was not long until I had our second walleye.

Ok, again, not a targeted species on this trip, I concede that. But we had decided not to go for perch because Len was very excited to try Buffalo bassing. And what a good decision it was. The sweet Carver series bass rod kept feeling fish, driving hooks and properly bowing to our adversaries, almost non-stop. By day’s end we estimated that we had caught nearly 60 bass. Most fish were in the 3 1/2 to 4 pound class. Many of them were 5+ pounds. Len proclaimed it the best day of fishing he ever experienced!

Bad Ted Carver bass rod

Len had brought his walleye rod, but he had trouble hooking fish with the monofilament line he had spooled. When he switched to a Bad Ted prototype his success rate immediately improved. Captain Hans decided to exclusively provide his clients with BT Carver series bass rods. Len decided to buy a 2-piece model. The rods are a huge success!

Challenge Summary

We had 3 great days of fishing. And we completed the challenge, sort of. Len was not one of the original four guys, but we had four guys. I always enjoy time with Len, and he is a welcome addition to the team. Also, we did not get a chance to target brown trout, but we did catch one. We decided to not to go for perch, but we did get those two walleyes. And yes, we count gu. We only got to fish 3 days, not four. But we completed our challenge, albeit not the way it was envisioned. The key to our successful fishing in Buffalo always is to be flexible and listen to our guide.

The catching was fun, but the company was everything. We had fun. We went fishing.

Contacting Captain Hans

Once again, we had a great multispecies fishing trip with Capt. Hans. You can see him online at http://www.buffaloharboroutfitters.com or call him at 716-982-4935.

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In the next post, I will talk about the importance of matching your equipment, details that must be attended to, and why the Bad Ted Carver bass rod performed so well.