Gross has put in countless hours doing all kinds of fishing, but if he has a specialty it’s catching walleyes, mostly at Lake Erie. Now he is sharing that knowledge with his recently published book, “Trolling Big-Water Walleyes.”
While much of the 120-page book is written in first-person with Gross imparting his own walleye wisdom, he has also enlisted the opinions of several charter captains and pro walleye fishermen. Included among Gross’s experts are tournament pro Mark Brumbaugh from Darke County and charter boat captain Peg Van Vleet from Huber Heights.
While Gross writes about walleye fishing in general, he devotes most of his space to Lake Erie and other large bodies of water, the Great Lakes in particular. As Gross points out – using a quote from Brumbaugh – walleye fishing isn’t the same on small lakes as it is on a large lake such as Erie. In a small lake like C.J. Brown, walleyes hang around structure because that’s often where they find and gobble up smaller fish looking for some protection. In a large lake, walleyes roam all over, chasing baitfish like emerald shiners.
So those lakes must be fished in different ways.
I have usually made it very clear to others around me that trolling is not my preferred way to fish Lake Erie. And I know a few captains who share my opinion so they don’t offer trolling as an option. The main reason I don’t like trolling is I want to feel the fish bite. It, to me, is the second biggest thrill in fishing (the first being landing a fish.)
When you troll from a charter boat, the rods are in holders and the lines are attached to planer boards. So the fishermen watch to see which rod has a fish on and depending on whose turn it is, they reel in the catch. There’s no bite, just a fish that doesn’t have much fight in it after being dragged behind the boat.
But – and it’s one giant BUT – it has been proven that trolling puts fish in the boat at much faster rate than casting, a fact Gross and his experts agree upon.
Once while fishing with Denny Lutz we were having no luck at all. We were casting in a large group of boats on a very calm day. The fleet’s landing nets were staying upright. Nobody was pulling in a walleye.
That’s when Lutz offered us the chance to try trolling.
In a few minutes, we were trolling spoons. And pretty soon it was “fish on!” and we were steadily filling the fish box.
No doubt, trolling has become a very popular way to fish Lake Erie and other large lakes. That’s how many charter captains and tournament pros make their living.
Gross, who is a retired wildlife officer and editor and now a freelance writer and photographer who lives in north central Ohio, covers just about every aspect of trolling in the book, including equipment – rods, line, lures, etc., even boats – techniques, trends and tips.
At the end of the book, Gross writes a brief fictional chapter about the life of a 20-year-old walleye. It was a neat way to wrap up the book.
You can purchase the book at Amazon.com or order it from local bookstores.
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