Outdoor Adventures in Oswego County, NY: How to Catch a Swedish Fish

Posing with the night's catch!

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to take my first Charter fishing trip on Lake Ontario! Captain Jerry Giocondo of Catch 22 Fishing Charters offered to take out me, my coworker Laurie, and the other crazy blogger, Spider. (You can check out his blog about the same trip here: Although I must warn you, he actually knows what he is talking about).

For all of my faithful blog readers who are worried that I might lower my standards and actually CATCH a fish… you have nothing to worry about - I didn’t let you down! In true Jessica Trump fashion I failed, but I am still going to blog about it because it was one of the best times I’ve ever had during an unsuccessful fishing trip!

Before the trip started, Jan bought us some goodies to get us in the fishing spirit. Gummy Worms and Swedish Fish! We joked that the Swedish fish would be the only fish that we would catch (a little foreshadowing for how the rest of the evening would go).

Laurie and I met up with Spider and Capt. Jerry around 5:30pm on the west side Marina in the Oswego Harbor. The weather was gorgeous, a perfect August night for fishing. But then most every night (or day for that matter) is perfect for fishing in Oswego County. We were on a hunt to catch some Lake Salmon or Trout.

The first thing I learned on our fishing trip was that if talking was a sport at the Olympics… Spider would take home the gold and Laurie would take home the silver. And I thought I talked a lot! I couldn’t even get a word in… I felt like the quiet kid in the back of the class… and if you know me you know I was NEVER the quiet kid in the back of the class. It was a good thing I had a lot of Swedish fish to eat and keep me company.

Once we were out on the lake we waited patiently for our first bite. I already told Laurie that I got the first chance because if she caught a fish before me, she was going head first into the lake without a life jacket.

The first fish took our bait (you’ll have to read Spider’s blog to find out what that bait was, because I have no idea). I jumped up and Capt. Jerry gave me a quick lesson on how to fight a fish! As I reeled I quickly caught on to the rhythm and I felt like a real fisherwoman! Spider came over with his camera and took about 20 photos of me because he said I had a lot of "expression" and that I was "animated". The truth is, the fish weighed so much I was in extreme "agony". Needless to say… the 70lb fish that I fought got away. I was left with a broken spirit and a broken arm.

There was another bite and it was Laurie’s turn to fight. She lost her fish too (maybe because I was giving her the “if-that-fish-makes-it-on-the-boat-you’re-going-overboard” look).

It turns out that most fishermen were having bad luck on that particular night. So we didn’t feel as bad. What we didn’t bring home in fish, we brought home in experience (and a few leftover swedish fish). Capt. Jerry did a great job of teaching us the technique. Fighting the fish was so much fun that I would do it all over again even if I still didn’t catch any fish!