What a day we had today! Big waves again to run in and no electric motor when we stopped to fish. After trying to trouble shoot it I finally gave up and went to the kicker for boat positioning. The fish weren’t really striking the baits very well and many came off quickly. Both Sam & Chris had their chances but were struggling on the numbers in the beginning. I moved around plenty when the wind seemed to diminish allowing me to cover water. It’s amazing what you can do when faced with challenges. No electric, no problem! Although they caught fish everywhere we went, they really weren’t active. I thought I’d give Sam & Chris a crash course on trolling and headed to an area for pike & walleye. Well it didn’t take long for the first reel to fire and it was a pike. After it was in the net the $&#@ hit the fan! I had reduced the speed in order to land the fish and somehow the main engine prop caught the other line causing the reel to go off. I thought it was the kicker and quickly shifted it into neutral before it tangled even worse. Well after trying to undo the line from the slowly turning prop on the main, I managed to break the rod tip and tangle it even more. This is where it gets worse! I had not only tangled the line and broke the rod but while shifting into neutral had popped the linkage out of position. Now the small engine was running and I wasn’t able to use it. It was actually still in forward and unable to stop. What a disaster! You gotta love Murphy! It took a while but I finally got everything fixed up and back to the troll we went. Crap happens and today it was a full load! We managed to boat many more pike & walleye in about an hour of trolling and shifted gears to casting one more time for smallies. I ran a distance and got back on them again but the bite was still the same. With the skies looking a little sketchy, I decided to make another long run to open water and drop shot for the remainder of the day. This way we could monitor the weather and dash back if need be.

They had never really used this technique before and I gave them a quick demonstration on what to do. Well they were definitely quick learners as both of them locked up on their very first pass! A couple more walleye made their way into the net and immediately returned. Back in and more hook ups both on bass & walleye. With each pass we made, at least one of them was tight lines and more often, both. On one of the passes, Chris set into something of substantial size and amazingly it turned out to be a small musky. This being his first ever he needed a few pics before it was returned unharmed. They both caught a few more fish before we pulled the plug and ended the day. It was definitely an interesting one filled with plenty of stories and the musky was the highlight, I think! Let’s hope for a little less of a disasterous day tomorrow!

Chris & Sam had three days scheduled with me and today we got it started with a bang. As usual, the lake was giant when we took off, but no match for the Ranger! Being both from Tennessee, they were hoping for some brownie action and that’s exactly what they got. Although I wasn’t able to hit my first spot due to a zodiac anchored on it, I decided to try the open water and take the punishment from gusting winds. Well let’s just say that the weather didn’t seem to matter as Sam put a beating on the fish for over three hours. Chris held his own too and between them, they landed insane amounts of decent sized bass. They even managed to bring over a dozen walleye into the boat as well. After remaining in one area for as long as we had, I finally decided to head to another spot quite a distance away. It was still howling and the waves were 2 & 3 footers with an occasional rogue making it an interesting run. Once I arrived, I almost immediately lost confidence when I saw the grey color of the water we were now in. Although slightly better than the brown water we had hammered the bass in earlier, this area should have been clear. My worries were soon confirmed when after covering plenty of good water, they hadn’t had a touch. I decided to break for lunch and just let the boat drift while we ate and afterwards try for some largemouth. Sam managed to land one and lose a couple of others and Chris had a pike eat his bait directly under the boat, that soon came off. I had planned on going for more smallies and shifted to another offshore area to be punished once again. It wasn’t easy standing on the front deck in the rollers but it was definitely worth it. Both Sam & Chris began beating on the smallies once again and it didn’t seem to matter. They worked this area thoroughly and managed to catch a boatload more of the brown bass. With the day nearing the end, I thought I’d hit a few other areas in deeper water that I hadn’t touched this season and was glad that I had. They managed to catch several more bass and a couple more keeper walleye before we were done. Right around the time I was packing everything up, I received a text from Don asking when I was getting off  I knew exactly why and told him I’d be back at the ramp in about 5 minutes. He had dropped me in this morning and was waiting in the water when I returned. I can definitely get use to this valet service! Especially when the ramp is a zoo on the weekends! Right on cue, I just drove the boat onto the trailer and we pulled out. Now that’s service!

Although we were dealt a crappy hand weather wise, we definitely fended quite well with the fishing. With a few adjustments they were able to capture high numbers of fish throughout the day. I can deal with big winds and waves when the action is this hot, anytime! I can’t wait to see what’s in store for them tomorrow!

What a start to the day we had this morning! As soon as I had pinned the boat up at my house, the skies just opened up! Along with the downpour of rain, there was also thunder and lightning and I couldn’t help but wonder what it was doing to the fish! Fortunately when I arrived at the lake, it had all but ended and only a light drizzle was left. Another double booking today had me requesting Don’s services once again and the two of us headed out with our guests. We both went our separate ways and I decided to take Andre & Bob to an area that had produced great just the day before. I figured that the electrical storm would have made them go deeper and gave it a try. We made several drifts over the key spots and although I was marking plenty of bait & fish, neither of them ever had a strike. At one point I thought it might have been the way they were fishing but even I couldn’t tempt any fish into biting. I hit a few places and had only one small walleye from Bob to show for our efforts. I tried trolling some of the areas and even this couldn’t fire a reel. I did notice that the water was quite off color here so I ran to another section of the lake in order to find cleaner water. It obviously was the right decision as once I located what I wanted, the reels started to go off consistently. Both pike & walleye were now being caught and the first keeper went into the livewell. Unfortunately it took a while to get the second one as the next 4 or five were all overs and needed to be released. Eventually they did add a couple more to the tank and things were looking up. We stayed in this area until early afternoon catching more fish, but would have to settle for just the three before we left. I wanted to try other trolling areas and hit a few more with very few takes. With only a couple hours left in the day, I returned to drop shotting on some deeper rocks, hoping for better results. It didn’t take long to figure out that it was the right move when they doubled up! Too bad only one walleye was a keeper and the other was an under! The remaining time was spent making many drifts throughout the area and plenty more fish were hooked. About 50% of them were landed with a couple more being added to the tank. They even managed several good smallies making this an overall great day.

What had started out as a dismal start had turned into a beautiful day. Sunshine and light winds with warm temps allowed us to move around freely and put plenty of fish in the boat. Both Andre & Bob had learned a few new tricks and landed lots of fish in the process. Who could ask for a better day!

Several weeks back I had a reservation from someone for a fathers day gift. Today they arrived and it couldn’t have been better. The weather was spectacular with temps in the high 70’s throughout the morning. Fish were cooperating and everyone was catching from the start. We spent the entire half day drop shotting open water shoals for walleye & bass and they managed to catch plenty of good sized ones in the process. Bob Jr. had the hot hand along with his nephew Jackson in the beginning but the others eventually came around too. They even managed to livewell several keeper sized walleye for a family gathering at the camp. Everything else was released, including the big sturgeon that came in the last half hour of the trip. Bob Jr. battled it for about 20 minutes before I was able to grab it with a glove. It was quite something on 10 lb. test and a light rod too!

This may have been the first trip for them to this area but something tells me that I haven’t seen the last of them. They had such a great time landing all kinds of fish in only a half day of fishing that I can only imagine what an entire day would have produced. Happy belated fathers day to Bob!

Danial was back out with me again today after last week’s great fishing. This time he brought James and Peter, hoping for similar results. We got another late start and headed straight to a spot for smallmouth. I thought I’d give them a shot at some decent bass for the start. Peter was a novice and I had to teach him the basics on casting but it didn’t take long before he was casting great. It also didn’t take long before he was into the first bass of the day and it was a good one. We were working shallow rocks and everyone had an equal chanc at hooking up. For whatever reason though, Peter put the first four fish in the boat! Eventually the others also got into a few of their own and it was all good. After landing many more, we changed up to a troll in hopes of landing a few walleye for them to bring home. They were liking this style of fishing as it required little work on their part. I however made many adjustments on the lines to ensure that the baits were running at the right depths and clean of debris. It didn’t take long before one of the reels fired and Peter was landing his first ever walleye. It barely made the cut as a keeper and now they had one in the well. Shortly after another reel fired and number two was landed by James, joining the other one in the tank. Both these fish were high end keepers and in great condition. I made several passed in the same general area and managed to pick up a number of good fish in the process. All the others however were overs and way over at that! I’m not sure when we raised the roof but with the lack of wind and scorching heat, it was unanimous! It made for a much more comfortable troll and I was able to concentrate on finding fish in the shade. For the next several hours, they managed to land several pike and a couple more walleye before a change was made. We headed to another area much further away in hopes of continuing the troll. It was so hot that nobody wanted to come out from beneath the top! I reset the lines and covered more water with only limited success. Although I was marking plenty of fish and baitfish too, they just didn’t seem to want to chase. It felt like there was zero current because of the lack of wind. We did manage to get a few more walleye but they were all overs and had to be released. At the very end of the day they decided that they’d like to try drop shotting and I knew it was the right decision. These fish were pressed on the bottom and needed to be finessed into eating. It was almost immediately that Peter brought aboard another good keeper walleye and now there were three. The others were also hooking into fish but having a hard time keeping them pinned. In the remain 30 minutes they manage to land about a half dozen fish and put another keeper walleye in the box too! We had been on the water for almost 9 hours and it was officially time to go. This was without doubt the nicest day so far this season. It actually felt like summer for a change! On top of that there wasn’t a stitch of wind making me raise the roof for the right reason. These guys had experienced a great day of fishing and in picture perfect conditions! Who could ask for anything more?