Sarley: Sometimes it’s better to follow your instincts than a resort owner’s advice

All of us seem to be looking for that magical spot where we can catch fish all day. A spot like this can be referred to as a honey hole. Nobody is giving that location out, if it indeed exists at all.

I think when people go fishing on vacation, they are likely to ask the resort owner where the best places to fish would be. Do you really expect the fellow to offer up the best fishing spots in the lake? I think they save the best spots for themselves, or for friends, or for valued repeat customers. I think they will offer a few spots where you will catch some fish, but it won’t be any personal honey holes.

I had gone up to Canada a few times with a group of guys and we had a good time. We followed the suggestions of the lodge owner, and we went to his spots and caught walleyes and northern pike in good volume. The walleyes were 14-16-inch fish, nothing to write home about. The pike were of the “hammer handle” variety. They would be fun for kids, but we were looking for more of a challenge.

One day it dawned on me that I knew enough about fishing and that I should be able to find my own honey holes. I took off in a boat with my buddy George while the other two fishermen headed to the usual places recommended by the lodge owner. Thinking about it, I realized that lodge owners only needed to put you on decent fishing in order to keep you coming back year after year. Great fishing was being kept a secret.

I began to run the boat, looking for prospective fish haunts. I settled on the mouth of a bay that abutted a rock wall. The bay appeared to be loaded with downed timber and plenty of cabbage weeds. It was 10 feet deep and the light wind was blowing into the bay. I drifted the boat into the rock wall and let out my anchor.

George and I each placed minnows on the jig heads that were on our lines. Bam, a doubleheader. We unhooked the pair of walleyes. These were the biggest walleyes that we had caught in our past two trips to this lake.

We rebaited and almost immediately hooked another pair of fish. The fish at the lodge owner’s spot were rather tiny. The fish we were catching here at my spot were 2-5 pounds, I kid you not.

I told George to keep fishing with the minnows and I tied on a Rapala lure. I was certain that we were going to run out of minnows because the walleyes were that darned hungry.

We showed up to meet our partners with a cooler full of fish. We had our limit for the entire week’s trip. We asked our partners if they would like us to catch some fish for them. Of course, we wouldn’t let on to where we had caught our fish.

After lunch I figured that a shallow saddle area between two islands might hold pike. I was right again. We trolled medium-diving lures down the center of the saddle and caught pike after pike. We caught better fish, not the hammer handles the lodge owner figured would make us content.

The moral of the story is that we all know plenty about fishing and we should use our own knowledge and instincts to find fish. You are the key to your own success.

• Daily Herald Outdoors columnist Steve Sarley can be reached at sarfishing@yahoo.com.