Another scorcher of a day with the weatherman bang on as usual! We were supposed to have a 10 to 20 knot blow from the SW, but it was absolutely flat calm, all day long! Temps were in the 90’s but it felt more like they were above 100 with all the humidity! Way to go weather morons!

Brian & I headed out at the usual 7:00 am and attempted a trolling bite. It was a little slow to begin, with only a couple of roaming smallies hitting the lures in open water. Eventually however, I did find some good eyes for Brian to play with and he managed to land several big ones. These were his first ever walleye and well worthy of several pics.

The sun had risen by now and the heat was beginning to get unbearable. I decided to pull the plug on trolling and made a long run to another area, looking for more Walters. A quick deep drift over shoals only saw smaller fish so I relocated again into a mid-range area and we began to get into fish. Both bass as well as walleye came to the net by dropshotting and a few even went into the livewell for dinner this evening. Brian was here from Texas with his family and they had never eaten walleye before. This was going to be a real treat for all to enjoy!

Sometime after midday I decided to hit another area and it was here that Brian managed to get his first ever sturgeon. In fact, he managed to land a couple of them before we were satisfied and opted for another species and technique.

I shifted gears and decided to try the shallows for smallmouth bass. Soft plastics were thrown and plenty of medium sized bass were landed. They were everywhere and Brian was taking advantage of their feeding. He pounded on them for well over an hour before the fish just got worn out. Or maybe it was Brian! Either way, we decided to get some air and fired up the big engine for a run, just to get some air circulating.

I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, but decided to try a deep rock line along our way. This proved to be slow with a few fish missed and only a couple of bass landed. I had one last area that I wanted to try close to the takeout and pulled the plug on the area we were in.

We arrived in the darker water near the ramp and fished a couple of deeper spots that seemed to be only holding small fish. Both bass and walleye were caught in this 81-degree water. It’s crazy how fast the temps had risen in the past few days!

Today had a mix of everything going for Brian with a variety of fish and techniques. We did it all and caught on everything, everywhere! He couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining fishing day with everything that went on. I also couldn’t have asked for a better guy to be in the boat with, as it made the day fly by. It’s always nice to have someone that fishes and can adjust to all the techniques being used. In the end, we both left fully satisfied with the outcome of this day and parted ways. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we fish together as he left talking about a return trip next year. This time however, he’s looking at an additional day as one day wasn’t enough. Hopefully he’ll make it happen as I also can’t wait to fish with him again! Great day to be on the water!!

Mike & Rick were with me for 2 days of fishing and it was a scorcher. We did everything from trolling to deep dropshotting to shallow casting for smallies on soft plastics. We caught them each and every way we fished! Despite the excruciating heat & humidity, plenty of fish were landed in the two days on the water. Great times and plenty of memories were had!!

George & his son Andreus fished with me today on another flat, calm weed choked day! We tried trolling an area in the morning but soon gave up quickly. This was looking like another casting day!

I hit a number of areas throughout the day in shallower water and they both managed catching loads of smallmouth bass. Several small walleye were also landed, along with one sturgeon. The bass were of average size until later in the afternoon, when a couple of spots produced larger fish. Regardless, the bass bite was definitely the way to go, as both Andreus and his father boated many smallies in the time we were out.

Today was a real scorcher of a day with high heat and humidity. The lack of wind and sunshine made it feel like the upper 90’s. It was definitely good fishing though and that’s all that counts!!

Matt & his son Joe joined me this morning for a half day trip. They were hoping to get into a few fish that they hadn’t caught before and I planned on making it happen. Trolling was going to be the first method we would be using and a few fish were landed after about an hour of washing lures. At least the floating weeds were tolerable today! Pike and walleye were caught, but not the numbers I had hoped for. I decided that we would make a change and a long run to an area to cast for bass & walleye.

It didn’t take long after we arrived before Matt & his son Joe were both into fish. Walleye were coming in the boat consistently, along with a few bass as well. Matt even managed to land a good sized northern from the area as well!

With time getting on, I decided to remain on this spot as the fish were still biting. We eventually finished off here with them catching several more fish, before we were done.

It was a pleasure fishing this morning with the conditions just about perfect, weather wise. Both Matt & his son had a great time getting into plenty of fish in the short time out. Hopefully the next time they are in the city I will be hearing from them again, for another trip and more great action like today!!

After many great trips, today was one of the most difficult days spent on the water. A cold front moved in overnight and turned yesterday’s SW into an even bigger NE wind. The waves made it more difficult to get a trolling bite going with even more floating vegetation, everywhere. Absolutely impossible to keep the rods clean!

After trying to find water that wasn’t just choked with grass, we finally had a rip that lasted about one second before it was gone. Eventually I did get another to stay pinned and Amy reeled in her first ever smallie. I thought we might get another but unfortunately that was the only one. I tried for about another 30 minutes without anything and eventually pulled the lines out of frustration. I had probably cleaned them over 100 times already and had enough!

I decided to try something different and switched gears completely. I had all four of the guests, casting lures in another area, in hopes of bass bites. John was the first to lock up with a dropshot, but slack line caused the fish to get off on the jump. Mike also lost his first fish on the jump, but at least we had action. They did however both manage to land their next fish and things were starting to look up. It wasn’t easy fishing here with the huge waves and a few more missed strikes were had before Mike finally landed the biggest bass of the trip. We were limited to time with only a four-hour morning trip, so I remained here until it was time to depart. Unfortunately, Mike had the last bite before we packed up and headed back to take out!

Our run back was in three footers and not pleasant! Although we remained dry, it was still a rough ride, with the wind against the current. We made it back to the ramp without incident and were all glad to be out of the cold wind and waves. Fortunately, everyone had caught fish today in these extreme conditions, despite the poor trolling bite. I just hope that the conditions change soon and that the weeds float away allowing me to get back into the troll once again. It has been a great bite for both quality as well as quantity and definitely the best method when I have a full boat, like today. Hoping for better days ahead!