The Great Come Back

Rick, Dan & Dave were with me for a two day trip and as expected, Mother Nature was cruel. The first morning saw a misty rain, NW winds and a cold front. The water temps were barely 58 and down 5 degrees from a few days earlier. The big question was would they bite? With the air also in the 50’s, these guys were real happy I had extra rain gear! We headed into what seemed like a fog and began where I had just crushed them the last time out. After an hour of nada, I realized I needed to make adjustments. We tried a little deeper off a main channel edge and Dan managed to pick up a smallie. Although not what I was searching for, it did seal one of their three bets for the day. First, biggest & most were on the line as always and this one couldn’t be beat. Rick also picked up a bass and finally a decent walleye and I thought we were onto something. Apparently I was wrong as that was all she wrote! We jumped all over after this and finally got into some pike in an area that should have been much warmer. To my surprise, it was also 58 degrees and the fish weren’t on the move here either! Although we picked at them and caught several more, it wasn’t great. By the time were finished in here there must have been 20 or more lures lying on the dash. I had changed depths & sizes so many times just trying to find a pattern. We needed to find an area where something wanted to eat and I was on the move once again. The rest of the day was pretty much the same with a fish or two here & there but not the size or numbers I was expecting. By 4:00 we had seen enough and pulled the plug for the day. Three walleye, a few bass and about 15 pike was the grand total today and I was glad it was over. Although we never really got any significant rain, it was enough to add to the misery. A light drizzle just made the fishing all that more enjoyably! At least they would be sampling blackened, Cajun walleye tonight as an appetizer and getting some sort of revenge! Tomorrow could only get better!! The second day started out much better with Dan sealing the first fish bet in under 10 minutes. Rick followed not long after and the games were on! I was finally able to get them into fish and it seemed like they were eating. I guess the long fast yesterday made them eager to bite today! We trolled many areas and fish were caught in every one. Walleye, pike and occasional bass were being landed under slightly better conditions this morning. Rick & Dave were getting into fish but Dave was having a tough time getting his first. Being stuck in the middle of these two, he was fishing a real tiny area and I needed to put the odds in his favor. I decided to short line him with a deeper diving lure and he went on a rally. His crankbait was the first to pass by the fish and he landed the next four in a row. Obviously Rick & Dan wanted revenge and their lures also got switched. For the next several hours, there were pike & walleye coming in hand over fist. As the numbers climbed, so did their adrenaline. By fishing over slightly deeper water I was able to target the fish that had backed out of the warmer, shallow water. Dan even managed to land big fish of the day with a walleye that went 6.5 pounds! Although there were many pike close to that size, it was Walter that took the bet. We trolled this area for quite a while and only moved on when the fish stopped feeding. By then, the numbers had climbed significantly and all was good. I thought I would try the starting spot from the previous day as the sunshine was warming the water up. We pulled in and almost immediately, Dan landed another walleye. The water temperature was officially over 60 degrees and apparently the fish were beginning to feed here as well. We trolled around and they managed to get a bunch more fish, both walleye & bass. One last stop before we ended the day and a couple more fish to add to the numbers before we were done. What a completely different animal today was in comparison to yesterday’s outing. I guess that’s why they call it fishing! Overall this was definitely the way you want it to end with plenty of fish by all. I believe Dan had first & biggest both days running and Rick took the numbers for the weekend. One of these years the guys will have two days in a row of great fishing. Maybe next year Mother Nature will shine instead of raining on their parade again!!