Veteran Mom, Veteran Daughter, and Teenage Son Epic Trip

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Today our Nonprofit organization Cast It Forward had Navy Veteran Michele along with her children Rio, herself a Navy veteran and teenage son Riley on board for an epic and not soon to be forgotten walleye trip.
 

Michele came to us through our organization’s relationship with Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism (NEOPAT). She proudly served our country from 1991-1995 achieving the rank of E5 Signalman. Rio served from 2018-2022 achieving the rank of E4 Sonar Tech. Riley is a senior in high school with a full schedule. He is active in sports, exercises regularly, has a job and is currently on his high school’s swim team.
 

Recognizing that life happens all too quickly, Michele, a seasoned boater herself, came to us wanting to spend some quality time on the water with her children. Needless to say, we were honored to make that happen.
 

We launched and fished the Geneva area with great results, and this group boated some of our biggest fish of this late summer season.
 

We covered depths between 71’-73’ and ran our presentations above the thermocline located 64’ down. Dipseys set at #1/120’-140’ and #3/130’-150’ using small Stinger and small and large Badmo spoons with silver backs all consistently caught fish throughout. Double Willow worm harnesses and Walleye Nation Creations Reapers in “Hunke Hammer” pattern also contributed to the cause and rounded out our program.
 

Trolling speeds were run between 2.1-2.6 mph, winds were S@8, surface temp 72 degrees and barometric pressure read 29.96 InHg.
 

Please join us in thanking Michele & Rio for their service to our country and in wishing their entire family good health and prosperity.
 

Today was a day that will be remembered, appreciated, and recognized for quite some time.
 

Good luck in your fishing adventures.
 

Hope to see you out on the water!
 

Today’s veterans fishing trip was made possible by the NEOPAT organization. NEOPAT is a nonprofit organization committed to supporting and honoring our heroes.
 

We offer our heartfelt thanks and deepest appreciation to NEOPAT for their ongoing support.

Today our Nonprofit Organization Cast It Forward had Vietnam Army Veteran and Grandfather Tom and his grandson Alex on board with us for their first ever Lake Erie walleye experience.

Tom proudly served our country as an Army combat engineer. A devoted grandfather, he wanted to share quality fishing time with his grandson. A freshman in high school, Alex is a good student and active in sports playing both soccer and baseball. We were honored to make this experience happen for them.

Although Lake Erie was a bit rough today, the bite out of Geneva offered non-stop action. It took us longer to make the 34 mile round trip run than it did to put a limit of fish in the boat.

It was a complete and total Dipsey presentation for us today. The fish were set up 50’ - 65’ down over 72’-74’ of water. Settings of #3 -140’, #1 -140’, & #1 - 125’ run with harnesses and spoons fired fast and often. 

As a point of interest, early on we noticed the walleye spiting up massive amounts of baitfish, so we made the adjustment and downsized our spoon presentation accordingly to match the size and color of the forage. The results were fast, furious and immediate.

With the surging waves our speeds ranged between 2.0 - 2.7 mph, surface water temp 73 degrees, water clarity 5’, winds SSW @ 12 and barometric pressure read 30.12 InHg.

We thank Tom and Alex for the opportunity to give them their first Lake Erie experience together and wish them a lifetime of adventurous fishing and
outdoor activities together.

Also a special thank you to today to fellow Cast It Forward board member Dave Sobey for his excellent first mate service today.

Good luck in your fishing adventures.

Hope to see you out on the water!

Today our Nonprofit Organization Cast It Forward hosted a fun day of fishing and boating for families from the Victory Gallop organization of Akron, Ohio.

Victory Gallop is a nonprofit organization that provides therapeutic and recreational horseback riding for children with behavioral and/or emotional challenges and life-threatening illnesses.

We introduced these family groups of anglers to the basics of casting and fishing along with the proper care and handling of fish. Through practice and persistence they all caught (and safely released) bass and bluegill throughout the day. 

We took a break for a cookout lunch, and talked more about the benefits of fishing and the many positive aspects of spending time outside. We also discussed the importance of respecting the out of doors. To this end, we all did a “sweep” of our area before we left and made sure that our entire area was left better than how we found it.

At the end of our day together and in the spirit of our “Cast It Forward” mission, we provided each aspiring angler their very own fishing rod / reel combo, stocked tackle kit, fishing hat, and fishing shirt. We hope to inspire each participant into continued participation and ongoing appreciation for our great sport and great outdoors. 

We thank this fun group from the Victory Gallop organization for our day together and for their participating in our program.

Today our Nonprofit Organization Cast It Forward held an event for the awesome families from The Upside of Down Syndrome of Northeast Ohio.

Attended by over 50 people, today’s event was held in the Rocky River Reservation. Attendees enjoyed learning about our Great Lake courtesy of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, were instructed on and participated in hands on casting & retrieving, and were treated to an extended Lake Erie boat ride on our organization’s Hewescraft Boats vessel.

In between we took a break for lunch and enjoyed grilled hamburgers and hot dogs courtesy of our own grill master Dave Sobey.

As we wrapped up our time together and in the spirit of our “Cast It Forward” mission, we provided each participant with their very own fishing rod / reel combo, stocked tackle kit, fishing hat, and fishing shirt.

It was truly an awesome day spent with this inspiring group and we look forward to spending time together again soon with the great people from the Upside of Downs of Northeast Ohio.