Appeldoorn's has offered fishing launches with Captain Dave Hughley for years. This past week I was finally able to get a chance to go on one myself! There aren't words to explain how much fun it was. I have been fishing many, many times in the past but had never had a chance to go on a group launch. The experience was much more interactive and successful than when I go out in our family fishing boat.
Our launch took place on Monday evening (June 25th, 2012) from 7:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. We got to enjoy a beautiful sunset on our way to our 'spot' and relax while having a few beverages and snacks we brought along. Captain Dave knew all the best spots and some great techniques to help us get as many fish as we could! As soon as we arrived to our fishing spot Captain Dave and Kevin ran around prepping all of our poles, providing us with bait, and helping those put the leeches on their poles that weren't comfortable doing it themselves. It wasn't more than a minute before someone got their first bite! It seemed like immediately after we put our poles in we were reeling in fish! I bet we caught between 20-30 fish while we were out there. Unfortunately, they weren't all keepers but we did get to keep enough to enjoy a little fish fry the next day. (Hint: purchase the fish fry batter in a bottle in the gift shop, it was very light and delicious!)
We were lucky enough to catch fish ranging from 10"-27"! I caught the biggest fish I've ever got in my life while on this trip and had so much fun! I'm not normally much of a fisher myself but thought it was time to try a launch and am so glad that I did. The experience was nothing like I had ever done before. I truely believe Captain Dave is the best on the lake and the system him and Kevin have worked out together was flawless. They were right there with a net ready to help every time someone got a bite, would quickly rush to measure it, and help you take a picture if you wanted before either putting it on ice or throwing it back in the lake.
What surprised me even more was Kevin's ability to clean all of the keepers while we were on our way back to the resort. His fish cleaning station was set up perfectly for him to quickly clean all of our fish and bag them up for us to leave with once we arrived back to the dock. The customer service was fantastic and the guys were great.
Guys- if you haven't been on our launch before I encourage you to schedule one whether you are staying at our resort or a neighboring area. If you've had the pleasure of going out with Captain Dave before I am sure you are already looking forward to your next trip.
Ladies- I am not much of a fisher! Honestly, I wasn't that excited about spending the evening on the lake fishing and couldn't believe how much fun I ended up having. I would definitely encourage you to give it a try with your friends or family soon! You don't have to touch any bait or fish if you aren't into that, the launch staff will do everything for you and make sure you are taken care of. For the more adventurous ladies-it's time to roll up your sleeves, catch a monster, and pose for a picture with it on the boat!
Below are some pictures from our launch. You can view our entire album on Facebook by clicking on the like below. If you have any pictures from a 2012 fishing launch at Appeldoorn's email them to info@appeldoorns.com so we can post them in our album!
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