Where’s Walleye?

No, I’m not referring to the popular book-game (?) “Where’s Waldo?” with the above title. But if you didn’t understand the reference from the title, Where’s Waldo is a game where you just look for this guy in a picture book:

Instead, I’m declaring my intentions for the rest of this fall. Priority A, B, and C through Y is to catch a Walleye fish (priority Z is to not get kicked out of the PhD program I’m in but that’s obviously not as important). The Susky, the ‘nango (Chenango), the Ozzy (Otselic), and Tigger (Tioughnioga) River’s are all within arm’s reach and all allegedly have a good population of Walleye – problem is I’ve never seen one. I keep trying and zilch. It’s gotten to the point where I just go for long walks and ponder if anything is actually real. See below:

Why care so much about Walleye (Wallie)? A few reasons. There’s basically four main fish out here in New York that would be very tough if not impossible for me to catch in Massachusetts. The one I’ve caught the most is the Smallie (Smallmouth Bass). In fact, after getting skunked FIVE straight fishing trips I just caught a decent sized one earlier today. I found a spot about 15 minutes away on the Susky and was hoping for a Wallie. I walked along the shore and found this fallen tree:

I thought, maybe, that a predator like a Walleye may be lounging around here. Why did I think this? Well two days before at another similar spot I’m pretty sure I hooked a lunker Wallie – it was the strongest fish I’ve ever hooked but the line snapped. I think the line snapped around a log because Wallies’ teeth aren’t sharp enough to cut a strong line. So I cast a jig with a rubber worm on it a few times hoping for a bite. Well, ask and ye shall receive!

It was a decent Smallie! Not a Wallie of course but when you don’t catch a fish for five straight trips anything and everything is a cause for celebration. But anyways, I said there were four fish in NY that have my attention and I’ve already caught two of them – Smallies and a Northern Pike. I’ve actually caught two Northern Pike, they are the number two on the food chain around here and if you need a reminder they look like this:

That one is a little baby Pike but he was still a pissed off little ‘effer when on shore. The other two fish I haven’t caught are of course the Walleye and then the Muskellenge (Musky for short). Why are Walleye more appealing? The answer is three-fold. 1) The Walleye is more abundant and therefore I wont have to work as hard to catch one (very important for blogging purposes). 2) The Walleye apparently is one of if not the best tasting freshwater fish out there and I fully intend on frying one in a beer batter. And 3) …..well, I suggest you google “Musky fish” and then you tell me if you’d actually want to catch one of those dinosaurs – Musky make Northern Pike look like playful kittens.

So that’s that. I wanted everything to be on-the-level with my loyal readership. Trout was the goal this past summer, but Walleye is officially Public Enemy Number One this fall. Lately the Susky has been straight up laughing at me so I’ve got a chip on my shoulder. Similar to this summer with trout, I’m like a dog with a bone – I’m not letting go of this goal. Speaking of dogs with bones, poor Bubz is actually no longer allowed to chew bones. He unfortunately has been diagnosed with a “bad toof”. He wasn’t doing well for a few days:

I noticed he had a swelling a little below his eye and took him to the vet. Poor guy has an abscessed tooth. It was definitely bothering him but after a few days with antibiotics he seems to be pain free and back to his normal self…. other than the fact I’m still not letting him chew on bones because I don’t want to bother his tooth too much. Which is a good thing, right? Well Bubz disagrees. He used to get his bones after his dinner, so now each night I’m subjected to literally hours of this:

He just decides to sit 6 inches away and not break eye contact. It’s as impressive as it is annoying. At this point I don’t know who’s more stubborn, me with fishing or Bubz with food. I suppose we’ve learned from each other the following:

Set a goal and never give up.

Cast and pray,

Jon