John, Scott & Nathan were with me this morning, all looking to catch their very first northerns. I wasted no time and headed right to where they had been biting! Surprisingly enough, the fish were a little lethargic and it took some time before the first reel fired. In fact, the fish didn’t stay pinned and it came off almost immediately!

After trolling around for a while, I finally stumbled onto one little area that began producing. It was here that they all managed to land several fish each, but I couldn’t get bit elsewhere. I just had to keep driving over the same tiny spot multiple times and in different directions to see the rods load. Many of the fish didn’t even make a sound on the reel. These pike were really not active this morning!

Sometime before 10:00 I decided to pull the lines and we went in search of the smallies. These guys were all good fishermen and I was sure they would just slaughter the bass!

Our first stop saw zero action in the shallows and after trying unsuccessfully, we switched it up and headed deeper. I set them all up with a drop shot rod and they once again had no bites! In fact, I wasn’t even marking the fish on this shoal at all and opted for another move once again.

Our next deep water spot only produced one fish and it turned out to be a walleye. Ironically I was marking all kinds of fish on the bottom and made several drifts, with the same results. Eventually I just pulled the plug and headed shallower one more time in hopes of salvaging the day.

Fortunately with the sun up higher now, we began to have some action. They were all throwing soft plastics and a few fish were seen, giving us hope. After a couple of missed bass, Nathan finally hooked up on a really good one from the back of the boat. It turned out to be his only bass, but at least it was big! The others managed to miss a few and catch a couple of small ones from the area. We knew the fish were here but most just didn’t seem to want to bite. They would follow the baits and just turn away!

I thought that a jig might change their attitude but it only managed to hook up once and it was a fouled sturgeon. I jumped around to a couple more spots before we had to leave and they boated a few more fish from the last one.

The morning bite hadn’t been what I expected and we had to work hard for each fish. With overnight temps dropping every night, so has the water. The fish seem to be more active, later in the day now and a much slower approach is needed to catch them.

Despite the slow fishing today, these guys still had a great time on the water. They all managed to get their first pike ever and got to play with a bunch of smallies. In the end, they managed to catch 4 different species and almost 5 with the perch that fell off at the boat! I’ll be back out again tomorrow for an afternoon trip and am curious to see what the results are, later in the day. Hopefully the fish will wake up and become more active again!

Joey & his son Johnnie were looking for some big fish today and I was planning on making it happen. We began by trolling an area in hopes of getting into some pike and walleye and caught both. Johnnie managed to catch several nice northerns along with a pretty good walleye before we changed to a different species. The fish weren’t really active where we were and I wanted them to have more action. We were heading for smallmouth!

After a long run, I set up on a shallow flat and had them cast soft plastics for the bass. It didn’t take long before both were into fish and from that point on, the action never stopped. Joey landed his personal best from here along with many other quality ones too! Johnnie was also hooked up multiple times and he caught his personal best smallie as well!

Once the bite slowed from this spot, we moved to another place a little further away and got right back on the bite again. It wasn’t easy holding them in position due to the big winds but with the aid of the anchor mode on the electric motor, I got it done!

For several more hours they battled fish after fish and Johnnie even bettered his previous personal best from this last area. They had never experienced so many quality bass before and just loved it!

With a little time remaining in their day, I thought we would try something different in slightly deeper water. I ran further offshore to an area and set them up to drop shot. The winds were going to make it difficult but I thought we’d give it a try regardless! We were fishing out in the middle of the lake and in three footers! The drift was a little faster than I would have liked, but it was doable. Too bad they didn’t hook anything but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Both of them had a couple of hits that never became pinned and we called it a day. After 4 drifts over the area with nada, it was time to go!

Despite our last attempt at catching more fish, today was a big success. They had boated three different species and Johnnie had landed fish that he had never caught before! Both of them had even caught their personal best bass too! Hopefully this won’t be the last time I see them as they were already talking about a return trip in the near future. With any luck I will have them back for sturgeon and show them a few of the giants that inhabit our local waters. Either way, I’m sure the fishing will be great once again!

Ken & his son Grant were with me this morning, as well as his father Dennis and brother Rob. We were going to be trolling with this many bodies in the boat and I headed right to where I hoped the fish would be.

With 4 lines in the water, it didn’t take long for the first reel to fire. Unfortunately it was short lived when the line broke before I could pass the rod to Grant. No worries, there would surely be more!

About 20 minutes passed with only one mishap and I was beginning to wonder what was going on. A slight adjustment in depth and I had my answer! These fish were shallower this morning and for the next hour or so, the reels were firing often. We had singles, doubles and even a couple of triple headers! The action was just insane, with big pike and some really nice walleye making it to the net.

For a while it seemed like every fish in the area wanted to eat but that was all about to change. Way off in the distance we saw lightning and I was done! A check on the radar confirmed my worst fear as the storm was heading straight for us. We packed up quickly and raced back to the dock, trying to beat the storm.

We may have managed to stay ahead of the thunder and lightning but we passed right through torrential rains along our way. We even drove right into the clear skies once again! I knew that I had made the right decision when I arrived back at the dock. I couldn’t see the other side of the lake and witnessed several more lightning flashes in the sky, from dry land. I wasn’t sure if we would be able to get back out or not but when I looked at the radar again, I knew we were done. In fact, my afternoon booking was also not going to happen with what was expected to follow!

Although short, this morning was filled with chaotic action! Once the bite started, it was fast & furious. Mother Nature definitely won out today, but not before we threw in a few good punches! The prefrontal weather system had the fish super charged and it was just on fire! Too bad we had to pull the plug, but safety always comes first. There will always be more fish to be caught tomorrow!

Well Monday came and unfortunately it also came with the wrath of Mother Nature. She blew the lake up giant making for tough fishing, but Dan & I stuck it out until the end. We still managed to catch some nice ones, but the deep water smallmouth fishing was cut short when we just couldn’t continue to vertically fish in the open lake!

Today was a better day with Rick & his wife Penny as we trolled almost the entire time out. Plenty of big northerns were landed by both under the comfort of the roof. A light SW wind kept the bugs away for most part and the shade made it quite comfortable to fish. There was no need to do anything else, as pike were the primary choice of fish to catch. We did manage to get a couple of other species though, with bass & walleye coming aboard as well. Overall it was just a relaxing day of fishing!

Today was another double trip day with a morning family and an afternoon mother & son. The first half of the day saw plenty of action with pike & big walleye coming aboard by trolling. As they were hoping to take some fish home with them, I decided to relocate with a couple of hours remaining. It was here that they finally put a couple of keeper eyes in the livewell by drop shotting. Plenty of other unders were boated as well before their time was done!

Melissa & her son Levi joined me for the second part of the day and we decided to try for bass. I made a long run to an area that I was sure would produce. Within minutes of our arrival, a small one jumped off the hooks confirming that they were definitely here. For about an hour we scoured the shallow flat but were only fortunate enough to land a handful of decent sized smallies. There were plenty of others missed as well though, before we relocated again.

Our second area wasn’t much better with more lost fish here. I even saw all kinds of cruisers that just didn’t seem to want to eat! Eventually I just pulled the plug here and shifted gears completely! We were going trolling!

With the lack of wind and bright sunny skies, we were feeling the effects of the heat and the run felt great. I wasn’t sure where I was going to go but after all the boat traffic, I realized that trolling was definitely the right decision. The roof was going up!

I quickly got the lines in and soon after the first reel fired, Levi was into a keeper walleye. It was his first ever eye and worthy of a pic. The remainder of the time here provided them with plenty more action and another first. They both landed several more northerns and even had a quality double header!

Today was an interesting one to say the least. Both trips yielded nice fish with plenty of action on the troll. Although I wasn’t able to get to most of the places I wanted to fish, I still made it work.

With a full schedule again this coming week it will be nice to be out with fewer boats on the water. Nice weekends always bring out the worst and this Sunday was definitely bad! Fortunately I stayed away from the crowds and was able to fish effectively in all areas. Taking out at the ramp however was a complete $%#& show but eventually I got the job done. I can’t wait for Monday and the peace and quiet of the work week!