Darren’s Family Day
July 26, 2020
Darren brought his whole family today and we ventured out in search of some fish. Grace and their children; Ethan, Jordan & Lilly were hoping for a great day and I didn’t want to disappoint. We were going trolling!
Once I reached our starting spot, I wasted no time getting the lines in, searching for our first bite. It took a little longer than I am use to before a fish was found and it never even made the reel go off. I had checked the lines and found the fish on. Go figure! Several more of the pike and walleye through the day would also be doing the same thing, requiring constant supervision!
Every one managed to get into fish and we even had a couple of doubles too. Once I located some active fish, I stayed in the area to get as many bites as I could.
This morning passed by quickly! Numbers of pike & walleye were landed by everyone and plenty of other fish missed as well. The bites weren’t great and being on my “A Game” was an absolute must. If I hadn’t checked the lines constantly, I don’t know if they would have landed as many fish as they did!
We were scheduled to fish until midday, but packed it up around 11:30. Grace had to be at work by 1:00 and we were changing this morning’s group for Darren’s brother Mark and his son Evan.
The afternoon saw us concentrating on drop shots and somewhat deeper water. Bass & walleye were the targeted species and drifting over rocks was the best way to go. We would be making many passes over the areas and hopefully the fish would bite!
It didn’t take long before lines were tight as Evan put the first bass in the boat. Soon after both Mark and Darren joined in but it was Darren’s walleye that was the most impressive. It went into the livewell for the 4th keeper today! The morning gang had managed to put 3 nice fish in the box and he was on his way to a limit!
I knew this morning that the boat traffic would increase and we were definitely seeing it now! Every type of boat was out, but who could blame them! These days don’t come around too often and especially on the weekend!
I made plenty of drifts over each area and most of them produced fish. When it slowed, I’d move over a bit and do it again. By making these adjustments I was able to pick at the fish, keeping them hooked up. Evan was the least experienced and apparently that played in his favor. He boated the largest bass a few times as well as a couple of big walleye. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good!
We never really went too far this afternoon and they managed to catch plenty of good bass & walleye. By drop shotting deeper rocks in the midday sun, they were able to take advantage of the inactive period, boating many quality fish.
All good things must come to an end and this day was about to be over. With just a few minutes remaining, I decided to hold on an area that was showing a bunch of walleye and immediately, Evan had another one. Although on the small side, he did put it in the boat. In fact, in the last 5 minutes he managed to land 3 more walleye before we were done.
Today was filled with plenty of action from trolling right into drop shotting. By utilizing these techniques I was able to accommodate everyone in the boat. It actually felt like I did two half day trips with everything that was done! Oh well, this was just another day at the office, for me!
