By: Jeff S. Gagnow

Ouch! That hurts….I said with a smile as Lou Woods and I were cruising down river in the pouring rain! We couldn’t have picked a better couple of hours to go fish; I don’t think we made it a mile down river before the monsoons hit and we were going 50 mph into the abyss. We are fisherman though and this time of year we opt out of ‘common sense’ and head straight for ‘lack of’.

That fact was the Walleyes are running and they are being caught in most of the river system. Lou and I decided to head several miles south of Fremont and truth be told it was Lou’s idea. I mean I was catching fish by the launch in Fremont the day before; you know a lot closer to the comfort of the (warm and dry) bait shop (Wolf River Outfitters).

Nonetheless between Lou Woods, Randy Williams, and myself (Jeff Gagnow); we are dedicated to preserving the sport and keeping the public updated as to what is happening, or so we tell our wives. As we reach our destination and pull up behind Lou’s Dad it was decided that it was raining hard enough and we were wet enough that our ‘rain gear’ was acted more like a really expensive sponge!

Hands numb and without a net for the minnow bucket (my fault) we make our first drift…..minutes later Lou lands the first fish of the afternoon and the rush of adrenaline warms us quickly. Minutes after that I MISS my first fish of the afternoon only to be pressured into using a stinger hook (for the record I don’t like them) but yet I listen to my much older and wiser (presumably) peers. Over the next hour and a half in the wind, rain, and chilled air Lou and I had shared dozens of laughs; boated two limits of fish and most importantly out fished his Dad.

Is there a moral to this story, of course there is: no matter how good of friends you are if it’s raining in March - stay home! Yes I am kidding, the fact is no matter the weather when your fishing the sun is always shining….And as for this fisherman; this past Saturday afternoon in the wind and driving rain won’t soon be forgotten. We only get so many sunrises and sunsets; everyday that passes is one less so for gosh sakes grab your gear and you’re fishing buddy and head out!

And hey if the weather does get to severe; stop into the bait shop (Wolf River Outfitters) located in downtown Fremont and share some of your stories with us; we would be glad to hear em!