Double Booking Day

With the ramp still closed, I had to find an alternate place to launch again! Normally it wouldn’t have been a big problem but today I had two half day bookings and needed to pick up the second couple, while dropping off the first one. Fortunately everything went well, including the fishing!

I picked up Bryan and launched, heading to a place that had been on fire only a few of days earlier. What a disappointment to see the water color & temp from the days before. We tried regardless, but without any success in the first half hour, I pulled the plug quickly. We made a long run to a backup area and were immediately on fish. Although mostly pike, there were several walleye in the mix as well. The water temps weren’t great at 53 degrees but the colour was definitely better. After getting his fill of the northerns, I decided to try another area closer to where we launched. We trolled the shallower rocks and found a few more fish for him to play with. No  pike but several walleye and a couple of bass! He had never caught a smallie and was amazed at how hard they fought. We were actually trolling our way back towards the ramp when I got the call. One more fish and I was on my way for the second set of clients. Bryan had managed to catch plenty of fish this morning, despite difficult weather conditions from the previous days. He left quite happy with the results as he had mentioned that he’s usually very unlucky when he fishes. Not today buddy!

Back at the ramp I made the exchange and was right back at it hard! With the sunshine upon us and the temperatures quite a bit warmer, I decided to try the first area one more time. When I arrived I found the water to be a few degrees warmer but still pretty dirty. With lines in, I started the troll and not long after a reel fired. Finocchio was into his first ever walleye and it was a decent one. Being from Italy, he was use to catching pike but had never seen a walleye before. Obviously the fish were here and I fished hard to try & get more bites. We covered plenty of water and picked at them, but not with the consistency I wanted. Eventually I was forced to move and made another long run to cleaner water. Right on cue, it didn’t take long to get the first bite, with another northern falling victim to a slow trolled lure. We remained here for most of the day and he fought many fish in the process. A combination of pike & walleye were landed before we headed to the last area of the day. Back in the shallows, more walleye were caught and Finocchio even hooked into a couple of smallies as well. He too was amazed at how hard they fought as he had never caught one before. Time flew by today both in the morning as well as the afternoon. Before we knew it, 5:00 was upon us and it was time to go! This was a treat for them as it was a stopover on their way to Mexico. It was their honeymoon and they had spent a few days in the Laurentions at a beautiful resort up until today. Finocchio loved fishing so much that he managed to squeeze a half day into their tight schedule. I would have done the same! Although his wife wasn’t much into fishing, she thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon watching him land fish after fish. Plenty of pics were taken by her ensuring many memories of their time spent in Montreal. Hopefully this is only the start of a lifetime of memories to come!