The Hail Mary - another fishing story

[gordy28]

Lately I have been going back through some old fishing journals to find blog post inspiration

A few notes stood out - the notion of a big swing on a tactic or a spot - the Fishing Hail Mary so to speak 

Brought some big smiles to my face thinking about some of these wings that took us from skunk to touchdown lol

https://www.northernjacks.com/post/the-hail-mary

 

[Rizzo]

...here is the greatest hail Mary of all time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhSqtbu_24M

[Out4Trout]

Successful Hail Mary's are always a great memory.

Quite a few years ago, trolling for lake trout. We had quite consistent success on this lake, and had come to expect 1 or more fish >7lbs each outing with 2 people/2 rods.

But this one particular day, while they were showing on the sonar, but just would not bite. We trolled around for hours, trying different depths, stacked lines with one rod fishing 100/50 another 75/37. We were doing what we always did but without the expected success. As the sun dipped to the northwest, eventually dropping out of sight... the sky turned orange and the water flattened out. The chill in the air was starting and it was time to pull the pin. 

We decided to do one last "hail mary" run over Steamboat Shoal, then pop the releases and wind up, calling it a skunk. We trolled the shoal, then kicked the boat into neutral. I popped my release, and while reeling in... wham!! My buddy is doing the same, and... wham x2!! We had doubled, and brought in 2 nice lakers, one was 9lbs the other 8. Kicked back into fwd to tension the lines to allow netting one at a time. 

Since that experience, I now make it habit and it has paid dividends. The big trout will follow the lure and when the action changes, tension off the line, spoon fluttering down... they hit. But on that particular day it was a hail mary for us... went from skunk to elation in the last 10 minutes.

[gordy28]

Rizzo - great video.  Its one of those videos that all of the people who know I love to fish send me

Out4Trout - awesome story and that's exactly what I was trying to convey - those things only work at a 10% clip but they are remembered 100% of the time

[Lake Erie Bait and Tackle]

Awesome!