Multiple Firsts
July 8, 2018
July 7th 2018 (afternoon)
A little after noon, I met Peter & his girlfriend Shan and headed back out on the lake for the afternoon trip. They were from Jersey and had driven in from Quebec city this morning to enjoy some fishing. Peter was looking for a few firsts and I didn’t want to disappoint him. We headed right back to where I left them biting!
This was the first time he had fished from a boat like this and he was looking forward to catching fish. Most of his experience had been from shore and he was limited to where he could go. Today he would see firsthand what a boat could do!
We made a long run in rough water due to all the boats out but it was much less wavy when we arrived. I wasted no time getting the lines in and showed them how to get the rods from the holders when the fish hit. It’s never easy when you’re not familiar with the down easters!
It was a little longer this time before we had the first reel fire but still in less than 5 minutes! Immediately Peter was on the rod and reeled in his first ever northern. He was on his way to getting his wish if I could get him a walleye and I wasn’t worried. I knew if we covered enough water we would see a few!
Shan definitely didn’t have as much experience as Peter but when the next reel went off, she brought in her first pike as well. It was larger than Peter’s and definitely worthy of a pic before the release. We continued trolling the area and they both landed a number of decent pike, but the walleye were eluding us. I knew they were here and switched depths to see if I could find an area that they might be holding. Several pike later, Shan got her shot at a nice golden one and brought to net her first walleye ever. Neither of them had seen one other than in pictures, but now they had their own photos! Multiple shots were taken before it was released and I went right back to searching for more.
The pike weren’t any trouble catching as they reeled in all kinds of them through the afternoon. In fact they were fighting so many that a pontoon boat thought he would get in the action too! He literally came right over to where we were and started fishing. I just trolled away and kept catching! Eventually he moved closer again, but we never saw him catch a thing. We on the other hand were just pounding on the fish one after the other, probably frustrating him even more.
With this show going on, I never lost focus on the task at hand. I was still searching for a big walleye for Peter to catch and eventually he got his wish. A little deeper water had him locked up with a really nice one that eventually made it to the net. This one really fought hard and made several strong runs at the boat delaying me from landing his catch. Eventually however, the inevitable occurred and it was over! This wasn’t just a walleye but a really big one for him and his first ever! We both shot multiple pics from various angles before he released his trophy catch! He had accomplished what he had set out to do and that was to land a couple of firsts.
I left about an hour to fish for another first for him and pulled the plug trolling after several more pike. He had hoped to catch a smallmouth and I was sure that wouldn’t be a problem either. I moved over to an area close by and had him toss soft plastics for brownies. First spot and he missed his first two on the hookset. No problem, there would be more! Second spot nada and time was ticking. The winds had dropped completely and it was scorching hot and flat. Not the best conditions, but still doable!
I headed over to the third and last area and fished it for about 30 minutes without a single taker. Although we did see about a dozen or more cruising around and big, nothing wanted to bite. In the end, we just ran out of time and pulled the plug on any chance at a smallie, for now. I probably should have left a little more time to drop shot deeper water with these conditions, but the walleye had used up more than I wanted. Regardless, he still had a great time and the next time he fishes for smallies, I know he will land some with the presentations I showed him. Always tough when you’re limited to time and we definitely were today. It’s even harder when you see them and they’re going the other way, not wanting to eat!!
