Lynette and her family spend a great afternoon on the water today, catching all kinds of fish. Although mostly pike, there were several nice walleye in the mix, but all too big! Water temps were barely 51 degrees and it took some finesse work to make them bite. Their son Phillip may have landed almost all of the fish, but his mother was able to reel a few in when we had doubles. A great day to be fishing!

I was back out again this morning, searching for more pike. The water temps remained chilly at barely 50 degrees as I trolled the shallows. Yao and his wife were in from China and had a great time this morning, with their half day trip. Yao caught plenty of pike and his wife even managed the first walleye of the season. No pic, as it was still out of season and released quickly. Despite the lethargic nature of these fish, we still managed to get a bunch. Another great morning of fishing!

May 3^rd 2025

Mahmoud and his friends were with me today for a bachelor party gift. It required an additional boat and I requested the aid of Mike, another local guide. Together we managed to troll up almost 25 pike for the gang, in about 3 hours of fishing. Water temps were extremely cold, causing us to work the areas slowly in order to get bit. Overall, a very successful day for the season opener!

A half day trip today saw me hooking up at 10:00 as the weather was looking better by mid-day. It was quite cold in the morning along with a big NW wind, so sunshine was going to be our friend. I had a big group of four and decided to go where the numbers were, once again. Alfred, Sandrou, Marcos & Soufiane were excited to get started so we wasted no time getting the boat wet. I just hoped that the fish would be active!

Multiple spots were hit in the 4 hours on the water and everyone of them produced fish. Plenty of numbers were caught and a few of them were better than average bass. Sandrou definitely caught the most today but the others had their chances as well. This 4-hour trip was a gift from Alfred’s wife as a birthday present and a great one to be shared with his friends and family. Overall, they couldn’t have asked for a better day on the water for November! It may have been cold out, but the fishing was hot and that’s all that counts!!

Mike joined me today for another slugfest of smallmouth bass! He spent it flying solo and caught a good number of these brown beauties. Although mostly small to medium again, he single handedly managed double digits many times over. He even landed one of the largest pike this fall. Oh yeah, almost a muskie too! This thing ate his dropshot weight at the boat and literally splashed him when it took to the air. This was after it bit off a crankbait boatside as well! In fact, we had to relocate from this area due to the toothy critter shutting down the bass bite entirely.

Some smaller fish were landed once again on the second spot, causing us to move around even more. I was on the quest for big smallies but we were on numbers instead. Everywhere we went Mike landed fish, but he had a tough time breaking the 3-pound size. Our final location saw us holding for over an hour and he bumped up the numbers once again. I don’t know how many fish he landed today, but it was insane for only one person. Add to this the number of missed strikes and lost fish, and who knows what it could have been.

Despite everything today, Mike had probably one of the most incredible days on the water. It was so good that he’s even considering another trip before this season ends. Mother Nature will have the final say on that matter with the weather changing quickly. Hopefully it won’t end too soon, as the bite will only get better in the coming weeks. Too many fish, too little time!!