The blessings of friendship and the burden of friends can be a challenge on a fishing trip.

It was the first day of summer and we were heading for a walleye fishing excursion on Lake Erie. This was planned over a year in advance and was promised to four of my friends who couldn’t make the trip a year before.

I have an unusual array of friendships that run in wide age range from 2 to 92. Each person brings something different to our relationship but each one is special.

On this trip I was going to be with my old pal Beaver Boy, Tony Andreassi, Ken Bryan and Kevin Thompson. We were heading out on the Trophy with Captain Walt Ermansons. Walt is known as the Gray Ghost of Ashtabula Harbor and is renowned in the area for his knack for finding walleye.

I was very pleased Ken and Tony joined us on this trip as they both were in their 70s and 80s. They truly are wonderful in disposition and their love of life and actively participate in any off-the-wall plan I throw at them.

Today was the first trip of the year for us to fish walleye on Lake Erie and it was going to be a beauty. The moon was golden and huge as it hung low on the horizon. It was great to see, but a bright moon like that meant that the walleye were most likely feeding all night long. Even though we were leaving the boat dock at 5 a.m. we could have problems enticing fish that were full to take our offerings.

The lake air was cool and the water was calm, this we wouldn’t mind but on the other hand a beautiful sunrise greeted us with a perfect day for gardeners.

Captain Walt was skeptical about the beautiful day and the moonlit night as they normally would make fishing tough for the light, shy fish. We headed out to about 60 feet of water and started to set out our gear. Beaver Boy loves doing this as he truly is a technician and appreciates all measured and science angles of fishing. He is always Captain Walt’s First Mate on our excursions and really helps out the cause.

We all agreed that Tony, Kevin, and Ken should get the first crack at any fish hitting our lines and it didn’t take long. The rod bounced as we had a hit and Tony took control. Two sheep head junk fish later, Tony was convinced we were setting him up … but what can you do … laugh!

A few minutes later, Tony was in a real fight as he landed a 30-inch hog walleye … now the laugh was on us! The fishing was warming up and we soon had landed nine walleye. Ken Bryan was near his pole when it took a deep bounce and the cry “fish on” was made.

Ken was in a big battle and we were all lined up behind him to watch the action. The fish was losing the fight and coming closer to the boat and we saw a mouth come out of the water that could swallow softballs. The net was stretched out and Kevin walked Ken backward to bring this monster into the net. As we brought the net into the boat, Captain Walt exclaimed, “What a fish!”

The fish measured 31 inches in length, very heavy and a true brute.

The boys of summer had the two best fish of the trip but our day wasn’t done.

Against all odds the fish kept hitting and we slowly but surely filled the fish box. We were doing so well that we had to start on another fish box and put a nice effort together to have all of us meet our daily limit of 30 fish total.

At the docks we worked on having the fish cleaned and bagged for the drive home and our walleye fish fillets ended up in the 65-70 pound range — quite a success for the sunny day and full moon conditions.

Captain Walt genuinely felt we were being looked over as we exceeded his greatest expectations by saying, “It’s just another day on the Trophy!”

For more information on Lake Erie fishing and charter services contact Captain Walt at www.trophycharters.com.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.