September 2nd 2018

Michael & Rachel were with me this morning, hoping to catch a few fish. We began drop shotting in a couple of different areas, without any success. Although the fish were marking, they didn’t seem to want to feed! On our next spot, they had the same results! I decided to make a big move and hit a much shallower area in hopes of putting them on some active fish.

They were throwing soft plastics in shallower water looking for feeding fish. It wasn’t on fire but Rachel did manage to land a couple of quality smallies that crushed the baits. I only wish that Michael had been as lucky, but all he had was a blow up 3 feet from the boat.

Time was passing by quickly and I needed to get them into some fish and fast! When all else fails, go trolling! This is exactly what I did and after another long run, I set the lines searching for the fish.

It didn’t take 5 minutes before Michael was into the first pike and at least he was finally on the board. It had been a long morning, but the time had passed quickly. We were not only nearing the end but a storm front was also coning towards us. I made the best of the troll and they managed to get several other pike before we had to go. Ironically these fish didn’t seem to want to feed either as we had more short strikes than actual bites. Very strange with the weather we had coming!

In the end, we pulled the plug a little after 11:00 and headed back to take out. I knew we were going to enter the storm full on but if we stayed, it would only be worse. I was right, when we got about half way back and hit a wall of water! Fortunately the winds didn’t kick up as the rain was at least coming down straight!

This may not have been the kind of day I was accustomed to seeing but we made it work in the end. By changing up, they were able to land some decent fish and finished with some pike. I would have liked to get off the water before the rain began but as usual, Mother Nature always has the last say in these matters. A little wet but I’ve seen worse!!

September 1st 2018

Patrick was with me this afternoon, along with his wife and their two kids. Ella & Louka had never been fishing before and looked forward to catching just about anything. I planned on making it happen!

We headed out before 11:30 and I went straight to where I knew the trolling bite would be best. Within minutes Louka was tight to his first northern, but it wouldn’t be his last! His sister, Ella was up next and soon after landing the first fish, she too had her turn. Unfortunately it came off on the way to the boat, but I wasn’t worried. She would have many other chances throughout the day!

I covered plenty of water as usual but found the fish really scattered today. The conditions weren’t helping either as we had flat calm, with a sun & cloud mix. These fish just didn’t seem to want to move! Despite the lack of aggression, I still managed to find enough fish to keep everyone happy. Both Ella and Louka landed their share of fish throughout the afternoon and their parents even got to reel a couple of them in too!

They were going to cut the day a little short and wanted to finish up about 3:00. With limited time remaining, I lucked out when I got into an area that had multiple reels fire in a short period of time. We ended with a flurry as the kids got to reel in a few more fish each, before we were done.

The lake was like a mirror on our way back so I decided to have Ella help me with the driving. All kids like to be behind the wheel and she was no different! After taking her turn, I allowed Louka to do the same and switched them up on the fly. Other than a few boat waves in places, the lake was about as calm as it could get.

I’m not sure which part of the day the kids preferred but driving the boat was definitely up there. They had both landed a good number of pike and finished with a bang. Sitting behind the wheel with me was just an added treat for them. I think they will all remember this day for a while, or at least until they come back out with me again, as there was already talk of it before we were done! Either way, the memories from their first day of fishing ever will be etched on their minds for a long time, as well as the pile of pictures and videos their parents shot while we were out. Great day with an even greater bunch of people!

August 30th 2018

Allen & his son Kevin joined me today for a little sturgeon fishing. With strong winds out of the NE, I knew it would be a challenge. Waves were rolling, with the current & wind direction opposite and it felt more like a tide. Anchoring up was going to be a challenge!
I searched the area we were to fish briefly and had to use the drift sock to secure our direction after dropping the anchor. The wind was actually pushing the boat upstream otherwise! Once positioned, I set all the lines and gave a brief explanation on what to expect. We were ready!
After 30 minutes or so without a bite, I pulled up and moved around in search of fish once again. This time however, it took much longer before I was able to locate them. Round two with the anchor and sock and the lines were in. When we did finally get a few bites, they weren’t what we were after but rather those pesky goby minnows. They were eating our baits like piranhas! Although we did get an actual bite, it turned out to be an eel and not what I really wanted to see! Time to move again!
I idled around plenty this time before I settled on an area that looked promising enough to drop down. It didn’t take long before Allen got bit and set into the real deal. He was about to do battle with something much larger! It was at that moment that I realized, I had forgotten the net. I was going to have to land his fish the old way, with a glove. I only hoped it wasn’t one of the monsters!
After a few minutes fighting the fish, I finally saw what he was hooked up on and relief was had. It was definitely manageable with only a glove! Minutes later, I grabbed it by the tail and passed it off for Allen to hold. It was not a giant but it was his personal best and worthy of a few pics before the release.
The entire morning wasn’t easy with the wind opposite the current and holding the rods was the only way to fish. There were several missed bites and a couple more eels brought to boatside and released. I had also thought that we were going to be at it all day, but it was cut short when Allen decided to call it instead. We were pulling the plug on the fishing and heading off the water before noon!
Despite the short day in difficult conditions, we still succeeded in landing our targeted species. Along with a few unexpected guests too! I’m sure that if we had of remained out, we would have been able to get into several more sturgeon. Oh well, the fish had a break today! I will be back out again soon searching for more giants in the coming days and with any luck, succeed! I can’t wait for more!!

August 28th 2018

Marcia booked a half day with her husband and two nephews and we met up at the usual time. She wanted them to catch fish and pike & walleye were the targeted species this morning. I wasn’t sure what was in store for us but headed to some of the usual areas to give it a try.

After setting the lines, we began our search by trolling big flats. It wasn’t even three minutes when Ziad was into the first pike of the day. They had wanted to take some fish home with them and decided to keep the northern. Minutes later, his brother Amar reeled in another fish and things were beginning to look up. We covered the water and I managed to get everyone into fish pretty quickly. Marcia and Yassar had also landed northerns but I was still in search of the walleye.

We spend a couple of hours covering plenty of water but all we could come up were pike. I think Yassar had a walleye on briefly but unfortunately it came off while reeling it to the boat. We’ll never know! They had all caught several fish so far but I really wanted to get them into something other than pike and decided to make a move to another area further away.

The winds had picked up from the SW and were now blowing 10 to 15 knots, with more to come. I was hoping they would hold off at least until we were done! I reset the lines and started a downstream troll over productive walleye waters. Unfortunately after about 45 minutes of washing lures, I put an end to the troll. I was going to try something different in another area further away. They were about to learn how to drop shot and hopefully catch a few fish in the process!

When I arrived, I could see that it wasn’t going to be easy. The winds had picked up more and the waves were pretty big, but I was marking fish! I wasted no time in getting their lines in the water and instructed them on what to do. Yassar also wasted no time as he hooked into a pretty good smallie not long after missing a couple of bites. This may not have been what I was looking for but it was worthy of a few pics. Marcia hooked up soon after the release and brought a small walleye to the boat that unfortunately had to be released. They had hoped to bring a couple of them home along with the pike from this morning.

I made a couple of drifts, but everyone was still having a hard time getting the hang of things. Bites were being missed and some fish were even getting hooked and immediately lost. I informed them that they were pulling too hard and setting too quickly! Soon after, a few more fish were landed, including one keeper walleye and a really nice perch. They even boated another slightly smaller bass that gave Amar a great fight!

With this many fish marking on the sonar I decided to extend their scheduled time, in hopes of getting into more. I could also see that the winds were growing and didn’t know how much longer we had. Eventually after a few more bites, the waves got too big for them to fish comfortably and we were forced to call it a day.

The run back to the ramp was a treat as I had to take it really slow and keep the nose up in order to stay dry. Some of the rollers were three & four footers and we were going with them. Definitely a recipe for bringing water over the bow if not done right!

The fishing may not have been what I had hoped for today but I was glad they only had a morning scheduled. When I looked back on the lake I realized just how big it had become and It was only going to get worse in the afternoon! They all had a great time regardless of the fishing and conditions and were bringing home a few for dinner too. Everyone managed to land fish both trolling as well as drop shotting and had learned a couple of new techniques in the process. Tough day but good finish!!

August 27th 2018

Peter was back with Mila and Jakub today. They were hoping for some sturgeon and I assured them that they would catch. I just wasn’t sure of the size as these fish were just starting to arrive.

We set up and Mila hooked into one within 10 minutes. Unfortunately it was a juvenile and not exactly what I was after! Regardless, it was his first and they shot some pics of his catch. With the lines back in, several other bites were had but hookups were missed on most. I did however set into a fish and immediately passed the rod to Peter to fight. It wasn’t big, but it sure put up a big battle! He did land the fish but once again it was a juvenile and released quickly.

Jakub was the only one not to have landed anything yet but he soon felt a hit and set into one of his own. Again it was on the smaller side, but also his first!

I hadn’t taken any pics as of yet due to the size and relocated several times looking for bigger fish. I was also having a hard time marking the larger ones and often had to settle on areas I wasn’t really happy with. Despite the many moves, we still had hits in every one of them. Too bad we couldn’t monopolize on them though as most of the bites were missed.

I had thought we were going to be fishing until at least 3:00 but they informed me that they needed to finish by 12:30 instead. I had less than a half hour to try and make this work! One last move had me staying put until the end. In the 30 minutes remaining, Mila managed to hook and land 2 more fish. The first one was a huge drum that went at least 10 pounds. The second one was also another small sturgeon and even smaller than his first one earlier in the morning.

The time had officially run out and I packed everything up and headed back. Mila was flying home tonight and needed time to pack before leaving. We had put all of our eggs in one basket and gambled on the sturgeon today. Although we did get some, they weren’t the caliber that I was hoping for. I really wanted all of them to do battle with a true giant. Despite only catching little ones, they were happy to have caught something that they had never fought before. In the end, everyone had a great battle with a baby dinosaur. Peter will be back out with me again soon but Jakub & Mila won’t be around anymore. Oh well, I guess Peter will have to tell them about the one that didn’t get away! I know that he will land a true giant before the season is done. Bigger bites sill to come!!