Another Roller Coaster Day
August 21, 2017
Dave was back with his son Mathieu again today but this time he brought Otis & his son, Mehki as well. The two young boys were looking forward to catching a few fish, as were their parents. With the conditions not great to be running around I focussed my efforts on drop shitting in 3 foot waves. They had only the afternoon to catch fish and I wasn’t going to beat them up moving all over the place to get it done.
We stopped in a new area that had been producing the last couple of times out and I instructed everyone on what to do. With almost no fishing before, Otis hooked into the first walleye of the day. Mathieu was right there behind him with one of his own too. One fish went into the livewell and the other one was released due to the size. Almost immediately after Otis was back in, he hooked into a nice smallmouth that battled him right into the net. He hadn’t been fishing for 3 minutes and had already landed two different species. His son Mehki also hooked into a really nice smallie but unfortunately it came off on one of the jumps. Not to worry, there were plenty more to come!
With multiple drifts being made, fish were coming aboard often and everyone was catching. Both bass & walleye had been landed and some of the eyes had joined the first one in the tank. It was also a great distraction for the boys as they made many checks on the fish throughout the day.
As the time passed, the winds picked up and the drifts got quicker. They were now blowing 15 to 25 knots from the W/SW and the waves were larger as well. Although we were still catching fish, it did make it a little more difficult to feel the bites. Many fish were lost or missed on the hook sets. Not all of them however as Otis and Dave landed some really large bass and Dave caught the biggest walleye of the day too. It may not have been easy fishing but with the proper boat control and patience, we got the job done.
I shifted locations with the last 30 minutes remaining and although the boys weren’t fishing, they somehow managed to reel in several fish. A couple more walleye made it to the tank for them to cook up tonight! Some nice bass were caught as well and then we were done.
The half day trip this afternoon was filled with plenty of exciting moments. Some of them weren’t even mentioned! High numbers of fish were caught with some really nice fish for the pics. The kids had a blast catching all kinds of fish on their own and with the help of their dads too! Dave & Otis had seen firsthand just how effective fishing in the wind could be with a drop shot rig. It looks like they might come back again this season and with any luck, in less wind. Either way, I’ll put them on plenty more fish for everyone to catch making it another memorable outing. Today was just that!
