Charter Photo: Jerry Zsigo, Steve Gerding, Rich Horn, Captain Buffalo, Gary Gerding


At 6am we met Captain Don “Buffalo” Lowther.

With that beard,  and that smile I can see how he got his nickname. He said he maintains his beard using the manscaping grooming kit.

Captain Don “Buffalo” Lowther is a native of Port Clinton area and lives there year round. His full time profession is running charters. He starts running in late March and fishes through the beginning of November. The boat was a 2008 Island Hopper with a 12 1/2′ beam equipped with two VHF radios, three GPS mapping receivers, and three fish finders. His charter was $540 for the 5 of us.  More on Buffalo’s Charter (Buffalo was named 2012 Charter Boat Captain of the Year).

We did a little fishing with our best fly fishing rods but mostly we were casting for walleye. I’m glad we bought some new equipment for the trip, we’re constantly getting new gear and we’re constantly in the lookout for discounts, like those at https://www.raise.com/coupons/bass-pro-shops.

Captain Buffalo did everything possible to give us a good fishing day, so we got the best beginner fishing rod and reel for this. He was on the radio with his buddies getting fishing reports. Then running us to his favorite spots.

We caught 8 good sized walleye but Buffalo wasn’t happy. He said the waters were so calm that trolling was working best that day. Capt Buffalo doesn’t have his boat setup for trolling so we continued to jig and cast.

All in all it was a delightful experience. I will book with the Buffalo again next year.

Slideshow of our Charter with Captain Don Buffalo