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?

Well I guess others are also upset with the ramp closures as it was open when I arrived this morning. Someone had launched before me and removed everything, making it much easier to drive to the water and launch.

Darren & I hit the lake just after 7:00 and raced to what we thought would be our first spot. Unfortunately someone was already there and I headed to another close by. Too bad it was also occupied! I never like fishing near others as it cues them in on what to do, so I ran much further to get away from these two boats. The smallies are completely done with their spawning pretty much everywhere on this lake and feeding is now on their minds. Faster moving baits are becoming the norm and covering water isn’t a problem to find fish. I had a couple of areas that were holding decent bass and it didn’t take long after we arrived for Darren to hook up. Although not a giant, he thought he was! A number of fish came to the boat on soft plastics before I decided to hit another place hoping for bigger. Once we arrived, it was insane! Almost every cast was yielding a fish and they were schooling where we were. Darren was locked up every time I turned around and we had this place to ourselves. Unfortunately, there was one other boat much further out just drifting in open water and he was watching us pound on the fish. I don’t know how many fish were hooked and either landed or lost but the numbers were high. We eventually moved to another point a distance away and while we were catching there, the boat went directly to where we were before. This is a regular occurrence that happens almost daily and is even worse on the weekends! We stayed on the point for a while and after catching plenty more fish, moved much further away to try another shoal. This place unfortunately wasn’t what I had expected it to be and we didn’t stay too long. I opted to hit another place hidden from most and when I stopped on it, I saw the same boat fishing where we were not long ago. This was all I needed and now I just got completely out of the area and ran to where we wouldn’t be seen. Unbelievable! I realized that if we were going to escape being seen on places, we were going to have to change it up completely. Time to troll. I set everything up and started covering water looking for some eyes for Darren to take home tonight. It had been a few days since I had dropped the lines in and I wasn’t sure where to begin. These fish are constantly on the move and so was I. With the high water, they are everywhere nowadays and running deeper baits was the way to go, or so I thought. We had covered plenty of open water without a touch despite marking bait & fish when I noticed a good mark on the bottom. I immediately grabbed one of the rods and started a slow free spool getting the lure to go deeper. Bingo, we were locked up! I love it when you can call the shots like that! Darren reeled in a really nice walleye but unfortunately it was an over and had to be released. I continued the troll for a while longer without any success and decided to go back to casting for bass & walleye in an area not too far away. Go figure, we never saw another boat by doing what we just did!

The next spot produced a bunch of fish both bass & walleye and Darren was able to finally put one in the boat. He was hoping for a few walleye to take home but it wasn’t looking good. There was only one and time was nearing the end. We had spent most of the day on bass but that was alright as he had landed plenty of decent ones today. I figured that if we had any chance of getting into more, we were going to have to drop shot a few other areas in deeper water to get it done. I ran to a place that was producing and we made a drift along a rock spine. We both noticed a boat pretty far from where we were and didn’t think anything about it until they started their motor and came much closer to do the same thing. They were now about 50 yards from us hoping to cash in on a new spot I guess. I immediately pulled out of the area and headed much further away. No need to educate them as well. We dropped the lines and made several drifts over a series of rocks and added a couple more eyes to the well for Darren to take home. We also landed several smallies as well. We had bent rods so often that we hadn’t noticed another boat move in below us and start to troll. This day was never going to end! It’s unbelievable how many people have to find fish by finding other fishermen catching. I’ll never understand how they think! We called it a day and headed off the lake. This had been a great day filled with plenty of decent fish and we were officially done. Back at the ramp a couple of other boats were putting in and I was glad to be leaving because you never know what was going to happen next if we had of stayed out any longer. The way our day had gone, we might have had a party around us again! At least the weather was cooperative for us today!

Mike & Corey were with me today and it was blowing hard again! We were faced with very similar conditions to yesterday and I knew we were going to get beat up once again. I headed to our first location in only 2 footers with an occasional three but it was just starting. Oh yeah, I had to remove all kinds of barriers in order to launch too! I tried to find somewhat sheltered areas to fish but that’s not where the fish were. They caught a bunch of small bass before I bit the bullet and moved offshore for the punishment. Cory was throwing a small crankbait and catching both walleye and bass frequently but Mike’s blade wasn’t getting any attention. I quickly switched up rods for him and now both of them were hitting fish at the same rate. The winds were blowing 15 to 25 knots from the west and causing weird washing machine waves on the water. Not ideal conditions for operating an electric motor while trying to stay on the spot. Several times I had to reposition as the combination of the current & wind moved me to where I didn’t want to be. If I remained in the right area, they caught. If not, they didn’t and after what felt like two hours of bouncing in the waves, we took a long run to another location. I don’t remember how many fish they landed but it was a lot. Maybe not as many as they lost on those tiny hooks though!

This next area was a treat getting to and even more holding in as the rollers seemed like they were from two different directions. Although the winds were from the west, the waves were out of both the SW & W for whatever reason. This was really difficult on the electric motor, twisting while on one foot! There were definitely fish here as Mike had multiple follows and missed a few that seemed hooked. I had pounded on them here before, while in calm conditions, but they were now struggling to even feel the takes. Mike did manage however to hook & land the largest one of the day and it was a real beauty. He followed it up with a couple of others that were also quality too! After a while of this rocking I opted for a complete change and moved to a drop shot area nearby. Although the waves were big here too, we were able to make multiple drifts and catch fish. I was expecting walleye & bass and they caught a bunch but they also caught the first two pike I had ever seen from here. After multiple drifts over this flat, I relocated again and spent the remainder of the day in open water taking a pounding again. By now the waves were sustained threes with an occasional four just for fun. Not easy drop shotting in this crap! I was forced to use a drift sock for the first time in a while just to slow down enough to feel the bottom. Although they did catch a bunch more fish from these areas, they were on the smaller side. By 4:00 we were done and I headed back to take out. Another fun run back at a 45 degree angle to the huge rollers! Fortunately someone was waiting with the trailer again and all I had to do was drive the boat on. Wow, I love the valet service lately!

They ended up getting into a lot of fish today, but the quality was lacking due to me being limited to where I could  fish. I know the weather is suppose to calm down for the remainder of the week and am looking forward to not getting beat up for a few days. Who knows, maybe I might even be able to find some sturgeon to pound on with the calm waters ahead. I can’t wait!