Well I almost had the day off, but a last minute booking changed that today! A group of 6 from Texas, in for a bachelor party, decided that they wanted to fish for a few hours this afternoon. I required the help of Don again to assist with the other two people and I would take four.

They finally arrived sometime after 1:30 and were scheduled to fish until 4:00. A slight change of plans had 2 of them remaining on shore when the stepped on the dock and felt the rolling waves. I ended up heading out in big water, with the remaining four.

It didn’t take long once I set up to hook into the first fish. In fact, it wound up being a double and two of them were on the board. A short time later, another pike was landed and then there were three!

It seemed like forever to finally get into the fourth fish, but eventually all of them landed pike. My biggest problem was finding clean enough water to fish. There were so much floating weeds everywhere that it was next to impossible to keep the rods clean! At one point I had to troll out of the best area, just to find water that was even fishable.

With a limited time to fish, I was definitely under the gun to produce. I managed to get a few more bites, but unfortunately the only walleye came unpinned before it got to the boat. It was a real good one too as a couple of us saw the fish on the surface!

Before we knew it, 4:00 arrived and we headed back to take out. Although it was a little slower than I had wanted, everyone caught fish and enjoyed their time spent out in the boat. Being from Texas, they usually fish for largemouth bass and catching pike was something they always wanted to do.

I think that this was the longest any of them had gone this weekend without alcohol, but the no drinking policy I have was in place and it stuck. They wasted no time however when they returned, meeting up with the other two and getting right back in the game.

Despite the short time spent on the water, it was great meeting this group, sharing a few fish and a whole lot of laughs. I’m sure tonight won’t be as quiet as today and it definitely won’t be as short. Good luck guys!

I had an afternoon booking today so I decided to head out early, to do a little scouting. I’ve been so busy lately that I haven’t been able to check much out! Each place I looked at held fish and I spent a few minutes casting them to confirm that they were walleye. After releasing a couple of overs, I began looking for areas that I had never fished before. I didn’t find much, other than a couple of small places holding perch & bait, but they definitely had potential!

Anthony, Michael, Max & Sam met me at the dock before 11:30 and I headed back out to fish. I was bringing them for northerns to start off and hoped that they would cooperate!

Five minutes into the troll we were locked up and it was a good one! A couple of minutes later another and I knew it was going to be on fire! I spent about three hours or so combing an area and there were so many fish caught that they just lost count. I also saw an equal amount of fish lost or reels ripping to confirm that there were definitely a bunch of fish where I was. I’m not sure just how many they caught but with the amount of doubles they had, it was a lot.

After they had their fill of the pike, I decided to bring them somewhere for bass. They would now be casting soft plastics to much shallower fish in hopes of aggressive bites.

Once I arrived, I rigged the rods and showed them what to do. I believe it was Michael that hooked up and on his very first cast! He also landed another really good one shortly after and was thrilled to be fighting these smallies for the first time. The others had their chances but it was only Max that finally brought one to the boat. They were all setting too early and only keeping them on briefly, before they got off!

Time passed quickly this afternoon and before we knew it, it was 4:00. I packed everything up and headed back. Surprisingly, there wasn’t as much boat traffic on the lake today, for a weekend. With practically no wind, the ride was quite comfortable too!

This gang had experienced the best day of fishing that they ever had and caught more fish than they could have imagined, in one day! Plenty of quality northerns came in the boat along with a few good bass in the end. It was definitely a trip that they will remember for a long time!

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!