Stepping Out Of My Comfort Zone & Onto A Fishing Boat

I spent my 31st birthday on the waters of Lake Erie fishing for walleye. If I am being honest, and I am, it wasn't the ideal way I'd like to spend any of my birthdays. My dad had booked a trip with Checkey Charter's for a weekend in August but due to inclement weather, the date got postponed & rescheduled on September 6th. I have gone fishing on charters a few times with my dad when I was younger but it's never really been my thing. He talked us into spending the day with him & we decided to go for it.

Leading up to actually fishing, I realized that my anxiety was taking over. The closer we got to the dock the more unenthused I became. Then we had to actually get on the boat...I found my seat & that is where I stayed for most of the trip. I don't get seasick but I do get vertigo which I am able to keep calm as long as I remain seated. As we made our way through the waves towards the middle of the lake I felt my anxiety creeping up again. The shoreline gradually became smaller and smaller. Zach said he couldn't tell I was nervous because I was smiling big & laughing until I told him. (This is something I do when I'm scared or nervous lol it's always been my defense mechanism). I also think that is why I am able to talk myself through uncomfortable situations. If you can smile & laugh, you can get through anything.

My experiences on a boat have been slim in my adult life. The whole way out my dad was telling stories about coming in from the ocean in the middle of a storm after a day at sea fishing & how large the waves were. He was trying to comfort everyone, explaining that the size of the waves we were on wasn't dangerous since it was our first time on Lake Erie. The only thing that story did was make me not want to go deep-sea fishing. I never want to experience that especially considering the 2-foot waves were enough to make me turn around if I was driving the boat.

When we finally reached a spot to start fishing we slowed down & began trolling. It was so much better than what I was expecting. I was able to calm myself down & enjoy the rest of the day....well I made my first catch & that was a slow experience also. I felt guilty for catching it & ultimately killing it, but as the day continued & I learned more about what we were doing I began to really enjoy the experience.

They made me hold it for the picture.

It made for a long day, but definitely worth it! Here is what our day looked like:

4:00am- wake up

4:30am-Out the door to carpool to Erie

5:00am-On the road to Erie

6:45am-Arrive at dock

7:00am- on the water and making our way towards the fish

8:30-10:30am- catch a lot of fish and the first monster (30")

10:30am- eat a sandwich

11:00-1:30pm- dead time

1:30pm-start catching fish again & the second monster (31")

3:30pm-head in

5:00pm-arrive at dock

5:30pm-clean fish

6:00pm-head home

9:00pm- made it home & went to sleep!

Captain Dave showing the biggest fish of the day!

If you've ever gone fishing then you understand that you don't always catch fish. It may be a lot of waiting at first. His name Checkeye Charter's actually stems from something his grandfather used to tell him as a boy. "Czekaj" Pronounced "check- eye" which means wait in polish. Our Captain set us up for a great time and kept moving until we found the right spot & luckily we had an amazing day.

If you are looking for a similar experience please don't hesitate to check out Checkeye Charter's on Facebook & tell Captain Dave I sent you.

Below is what we caught and were able to take home. We all maxed out at 6-fish each. The two trophy fish in the middle was caught by my husband & brother-in-law. Bonus: we got a ton of fresh fish for the freezer this winter & had a fish-fry on Labor Day.

I'm so glad that we decided to go because it really was a great time. We made lots of new memories and ended up having a wonderful experience. I hope that you take a risk & do something out of your comfort zone before summer officially ends. If you do, I want to hear all about it. Be sure to send me an email at erikka_alwayswillow@gmail.com

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More pictures from the trip are below!

Take care!

Always, Erikka