Several good scouting days with great walleye fishing had me eager to get back out today with clients. Gaetan & Michel had wanted a mixed bag day and that’s exactly what they were in for. I would be targeting three different species and if it all worked out, they would both slam today!

We started with walleye and in no time, had 5 in the boat. Four were keepers, but one was way over the slot size and returned. Several missed bites were had by both as well before we switched to a different species.

Sturgeon was up next and although they both landed one, the fish were smaller than I had hoped for. We spent a while looking for the bigger marks but could only come up with these two fish. Time to switch species again!

I headed to another area much shallower and it was here that they got into the bass. I think there were more missed fish than landed ones but at least the actin was pretty good, for a while. Once it stopped, I left the area and decided to try one more spot before switching back to the walleye again.

We spent the remainder of the day focusing on fish to bring home and added a couple more to the livewell for them. Several larger ones were also landed that had to be returned before we called it a day.

Michel and Gaetan had set out to catch a bunch of different fish today and I completed their request. They were even going home with a limit of walleye that they would be enjoying tonight. They will be back again in a couple of days for another trip and most likely want the same mix of fish too. Hopefully I can make it happen once again and end their season with a bang. Bon appetite guys!!

I had the pleasure of fishing with Andrew and his family today for sturgeon. Agnieszka and Nicolas were eager to get their first prehistoric looking fish but not as much as Andrew was. With conditions almost perfect, there was no doubt that they would get bit!

After a long run to the starting area, I wasted no time getting the lines in the water in hopes of a quick bite. After about 15 minutes Andrew got to feel the power of these things when he was into a nice fish. It definitely gave him a good fight by ripping line from the reel and he felt the strength of the sturgeon. Although not a giant, it was a good fish and worthy of a few pics before the release.

Nicolas was up next and not long after his father’s fish, he too was into one of his own. Once again, the battle was a good one and Nicolas soon had the fish along side the boat for me to grab. It was about the size of the first one and also returned after a few more pics.

Agnieszka was up next and unfortunately, she only managed to get a juvenile one on her turn. Although cute, it was way smaller than I had hoped for and returned to grow. Andrew had the next one and we had waited quite a while for this bite. It seemed like the fish had just shut down and nothing was feeding where we were. Fortunately, he was tight to another one and it looked like a big one too! Plenty of line went off the reel as he tried to bring the fish to the boat. I had visions of needing the net for this one, but soon saw that it wasn’t required. Another decent fish but not the dinosaur I was searching for!

We had made several adjustments by moving areas throughout the morning, but weren’t able to get any more bites. I was seeing less fish on the bottom and even tried a few other places when the wind switched to a north west. Unfortunately, they too proved to be slow as well and we eventually gave up fishing for sturgeon. A unanimous decision was made, to try for walleye!

The remainder of the trip was spent making multiple drifts over deep flats and several fish were caught. Agnieszka had the hot hand with a couple of overs and some keepers as well. Plenty of fish were missed by everyone but it was Andrew that had the worst luck as nothing seemed to want to stay pinned. He was either missing the bites or just having them come off when hooked. Nicolas was fortunate enough to land a couple of good keeper eyes as well and they left with four nice fish for their dinner tonight.

Andrew and his family had wanted to catch sturgeon and they had all done that today. They had also ended their fishing day with several nice walleye to take home. Plan B definitely came in handy as the sturgeon were in a bit of a funk today, causing us to make a change. It all worked out in the end as they finished with a bang! Overall, it was another great day for fishing!!

Friday the 13^th and Justin was joining me in search of several firsts. He had smallmouth, sturgeon and walleye on the list and I aimed to complete it. I just didn’t know how the winds would play into the plans for us today. A big west to start, followed by a bigger north west around mid-day would make it a challenge, but I was ready.

I decided to begin with sturgeon and after scouting several of the regular areas, that were void of fish, I made an even longer run. I had been getting plenty of sturgeon at this spot, but they were on the smaller side. Hopefully today they would be big!

Justin ticked off his first species no problem and boated double digits throughout the morning. Despite the big waves, we were still able to hold enough to see the bites. He was amazed at how strong these things were and enjoyed catching each and every one of them! We stayed on them and he ended it with a bonus, redhorse sucker before we were done.

Smallmouth was the next target and he got into a smaller one quickly on a blade. Despite the slow bites he still managed to tick another fish off his list. I hit a few other areas near this one and he finally got into several more decent sized fish on one of them. The fish were biting lightly and many others were completely missed as well. After catching as many as we could from here, I decided to try one other place, looking for a few bigger bass.

I had made a long run to a small area and realized just how bad the north west winds were, along the way. When I finally stopped to fish, we were in rollers, being blown up current. It didn’t seem to matter however as Justin was locked up on his very first cast. He finally felt the power of what a big smallie was like on this fish and boated his best one of the day. He soon followed it up with an even better one and was loving the blade bite. We stayed in the area for a while longer and managed a few more fish before leaving, to try for walleye.

With limited time remaining, I decided to try a deep-water spot before we were done. Despite the cross drifts I was still able to make several partial drifts over the area and boated a few perch in the process. Justin had many hits from walleye but was unable to keep any on them pinned until the very end. It was literally in the last seconds before leaving that he finally managed to hook and land his very first walleye. Talk about getting it done under the wire!

This day was definitely a challenge with all the species we targeted and the conditions we were dealt, but we got it done. Sturgeon, bass, walleye and perch along with a bonus redhorse sucker were officially added to his list today. This may have been his first-time fishing here, but it won’t be his last! He plans on doing it again the next time he is in the city and probably through the ice as well. I will likely see him after the Christmas holidays and hopefully we will have safe enough ice to get it done. Either way, we’ll find somewhere to fish when he’s here again. Great times were had by all today!!

Back on the water again this morning with Craig & Herm, for day number two! We decided to hit another pond in hopes of a banner day for bass. Walleye would always be a backup, but it was smallies we were after and big ones were the target. Hopefully they would cooperate!

The weather was calling for showers, off and on during the day and we drove to the water with it falling the entire time. Luckily when we launched, it had almost completely stopped, allowing us to run in only clouds.

Our first stop had Herm hooked up later than I expected, but it was a good fish. It definitely wasn’t on fire though, as we were finding out. After missing a couple of fish, Craig too landed another, bigger than Herm’s first one. Although the fish were good ones, they were few & far between!

We hit plenty of the key areas and barely scratched at the fish. After having lunch and waiting out another shower, I decided to go to plan “B” and switched up to walleye instead. We made a long run and settled on a different area in hopes of a few golden fish.

Not long after we arrived, Craig was into the first of many keepers. He boated a nice walleye and this was when it all started. For the next several hours there were plenty of keepers landed, as well as some smaller ones too. With the aid of Garmin, I was able to pinpoint exactly where the fish were positioned, each time we changed spots. The Livescope really made it easy to know where to cast!

The afternoon passed by quickly while they were catching fish and before we knew it, it was time to leave. I packed everything up and headed back to the ramp, ending the day. Although we were originally searching for bass, the walleye made for a great alternative. They were also happy to bring home a limit of fish as well. By having a backup plan, I was able to turn the slow morning into a great day once again. They will both be back again before the season ends and hopefully by that time, the bass will be on fire! It’s not surprising to see the slower than usual start as the season has been unusually late this year. I also hope that the big sturgeon show, soon as their season will end in a few weeks. I guess global warming does exist!!

After several days of high winds and heavy rain, I was finally back on the water with Craig & Herm today! We were going to try for sturgeon and I hoped the big ones would bite. Lately the smaller fish were the only size we have been able to catch and I wanted to use the big net, instead of just carrying it around. With any luck, we would get it wet!

We headed to the area in a big south wind and I wasn’t sure if we would even be able to set up to fish. Although it was expected to switch to a south west during the day, it wasn’t going to happen until later in the morning. We would have to endure whatever she threw at us until then.

After a long run, I idled around and started marking some bigger than usual fish. These were the ones I was hoping to see and it wasn’t long before we were anchored up to fish. It also wasn’t long before we had our first bite and Craig was doing battle with a fish. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a catfish and not one of those big fish I had seen. The next fish was also a cat but twice the size of the first one and required a pic. Shortly after the release we finally got what we had come for when Herm hooked the first sturgeon of the day. As luck would have it, another rod fired and Craig too was into a sturgeon as well. Neither one was the size I wanted, but at least they were the right species!

We continued to fish this area for quite a while and managed to land several more sturgeon before leaving, after lunch. The winds had finally change to a SW and I wanted to try a few other areas and see if some of the big ones had arrived there as well. Unfortunately, after searching both places, I packed up and changed to bass & walleye instead.

Our first spot proved to be empty but the second place had both species and several walleye made it into the livewell for them to take home. The third area was where we remained for the balance of the day and plenty more walleye and perch were landed before we were done. The winds had died off completely however and this had the fish in a negative eating mood. We had to work hard for each bite and many of this fish we saw, didn’t even move. Right around 4:00 we packed up and called it a day!

To say that it was a strange weather day would have been an understatement! We had seen three different winds today and managed to fish through them all with some success. They may not have gotten the monsters I was hoping for but there were still plenty of fish landed making this another great fishing day. Road trip tomorrow for sure as they will be fishing with me again! Hopefully they will have another spectacular day with plenty more fish!!