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The V.Q. 2024 Summer Slam Victory Recap

Knowing this year’s class of steelhead were BIG, we knew this year’s pro division winner would definitely need (6) steelhead to compete for the win. Not only would they need (6) but they would need to average 8 pounds or better with a good average for their walleyes.

We headed offshore on Saturday with a plan to fish for walleye and steelhead with a dual program. We fished our steelhead spoons from just above the thermocline to just below and kept our walleye offerings in the 40-50 foot range. Saturday was a beautiful day and made fishing easy. We ended up with a great day, landing around 17 steelhead and 1 coho salmon about 7.8# and 30 plus walleyes. 

After day 1, we were in 1st place by a pound or so. Not a very comfortable lead. The bigger steelhead from the past week were somewhere??? We caught a lot but figured we needed a bigger class of fish to ensure a win on Day 2.

On Day 2, I decided to fish further east in search of the Big Pellets. Our day started good, taking walleyes and occasional steel at a nice pace but no big steelhead yet. After we had 6 steelhead (1 good one) in the box and a few decent eyes that would go to the dance, I made decision to point the VQ 5 east in search of bigger fish. That decision paid off. We took a 10# steelhead on that troll and our biggest eye. Then we quadded with 3 big steelhead and 1 walleye. We lost the walleye while focusing on our triple on big pellets. We ended up getting them all. That triple would give us the “W” and I told the crew the “Fat Lady Has Sung”. The 3 fish weighed a little over 31#. We caught 2 more nice steelhead on that troll east and had 11 in our box. We could keep one more, so let’s hope for 1 more big pellet. We reset and I turned and headed to the triple spot. The starboard out down set at 65 fired and we landed it. This fish weighed 9.5# and we boxed our boat limit steelhead fish. We had (6) jumbos to weigh.

We immediately racked our steelhead program, pointed the VQ SW on a walleye upgrade troll. We deployed a side of 5 core Stealthcores with Deep Storm Thunder sticks. They were firing steadily on our troll home and produced 2 upgrade eyes for us. We knew we had a great box and decided to rack a bit early and take our time heading in. We ended up landing over 30 eyes and 16 steelhead that day.

At the weigh-in, all of the pro’s weighed their best 12 again. The scores were heavier than Day 1, including ours. We weighed a 8-pound heavier box than day 1 and it sunk the scales to 86.20 as the crowd let out some wow’s as the basket was weighed by weigh-master Ray.

We finished with a score of 404.60 overall, besting the 2nd place team by 17 points. We won Day 1, Day 2, Day 2 big fish (11.85# steelhead) and the overall title. A great day, a great weekend and great event.

A big thank you to my Day 1 team (Trevor, Joe, Roger and Carlton), Day 2 team (Trevor, Carlton, and Tom), the EPSFA, sponsors, tournament director (Aleasha), S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie and volunteers for putting together another great event in Erie, PA. What a fishery we have! 

The V.Q. 2023 Summer Slam Victory Recap

Going into a typical Summer Slam, I know that steelhead can play a major factor in winning. They seem to be a bit larger on average than the current average walleye in the Lake and there seem to be a higher % of fish over 7# than walleyes, so landing a “big” steelhead boosts your average even more, if you can get em.

We headed offshore on Saturday am after a weather delay. The balance of the day’s forecast was calling for rain and moderate winds as we headed out. The Lake was decent as we traveled north. Eventually, the wind picked up, then laid down to almost nothing. We were set up by then and we were into a HOT steelhead bite even though we had a dual program out, we were getting mostly bit by welcomed steel. 

Eventually the lake started puffing hard. Like, where’s this coming from. The bites and wind kept coming and coming tho and we didn’t pay much attention to the building seas. Eventually, our bite slowed, and we decided to do a return up troll. The 36 Tiara had a tough time trolling into them, but we continued to get bit and land fish. I was stuck at the helm driving because “auto” would not hold. Eventually, I said, OK boys, were doing a one-way slide to the SE and hope we land upgrades along the way.

Fishing remained good and as we angled SE, our walleye bite improved, and steelhead bite slowed. That was perfect tho because we had plenty of steelhead and were looking to poke big eyes.

When it was time to stop, we had boxed a boat limit of steelhead (18) with 3 released and (21) walleyes with several released. It was tremendous fishing for the shortened day. A 50 plus bite outing and we felt good about our chances of winning day 1.

At the weigh-in, all of the pro’s weighed their best 12. Some guys toughed it out most of the fishing period, some shortened their day due to the big waves. V.Q. won day #1 and was sitting in 1stby about 4# with the overall in our sights.

On Day 2, we were met with much more favorable conditions, the Lake was calm, and the skies were blue. A perfect day 2. We headed back to our Day 1 spot expecting things to be a bit different due to the prior days wind and moving water. 

Day 2 was another great day of fishing, not as intense as day 1 but we boxed another boat limit of steelhead and a brown along with 24 walleyes. 

At the weigh-in, all of the pro’s weighed their best 12 again. The scores were heavier than Day 1, including ours. We weighed a 12-pound heavier box, however, finished 3rd on Day 2 by 1.3#. However, it was still good enough for another overall win in Erie PA. 

A big thank you to my team (Doug, Wes, Wyatt, Trevor and Carlton), the EPSFA, sponsors, tournament director (Aleasha), S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie and volunteers for putting together another great event in Erie, PA. What a fishery!