After a couple of cancellations and postponements, I was back out with Valerie and Max today. Although not a great looking one, we were fishing nonetheless! With plenty of rain and possible thunder storms forecasted, traffic would be at a minimum. Canada Day usually brings out as many boats as St. Jean Baptist, but the weather would kill that today. Valerie didn’t seem to care about rain and neither did Max as we made our way out. They were wanting pike today and I knew they wouldn’t be disappointed! I figured with the cold night and shift to SE winds this morning that the fish would be a little deeper and began there. Although we had a few rips and managed one small northern in the first 15 minutes, it wasn’t what I expected. A quick change of locations had them tight lined and multiple pike were coming aboard. Max even managed to get what looked like a 10 pounder when it sky rocketed into the air behind the boat. Once in the net however, I realized that it was skinny and closer to 8 pounds. It definitely had the length of a ten but needed a little more girth. We were fortunate enough to be able to fish rainless for a few hours this morning but around 11:00, I had to put the top up. From that point on, the rain started to fall and we were happy to be under to roof. It didn’t seem to matter to the fish though as the reels kept going off. Not all the hits were aggressive and throttling down with light hits was becoming the norm. With water temps around 65 degrees, it was no wonder that the fish weren’t aggressive. I’m beginning to wonder if it will ever top 70 degrees again! We fished through several downpours and remained relatively dry, if not for the winds. Spray managed to get us from the sides at times but it was a lot better than getting poured on! I covered a lot of water today but remained trolling for most of it. Both walleye and pike were hooked on a regular basis and there was very little down time throughout the day. Valerie managed to catch the better eyes and Max had top honors with the pike. There were even a few rather large fish that were never even seen. They came unpinned before we could see them leaving us wondering what might have been. Despite all the miserable conditions today, there was a positive side to it. No boat traffic and a vacant ramp at the end of the day. The last hour of fishing even had us exposed to sunshine and allowed me to take the top down after it had dried. We managed a few more fish and then pulled the plug on this one. I’m not sure exactly how many fish they caught but it was a lot. All things considered, I was happy to see bad weather on, “Canada Day”! It felt like a regular weekday and not a major holiday on the water. Overall a very relaxing day of productive fishing!!

Andrew brought along a bunch today! He had his two sons and another friend of theirs for a successful half day of fishing. The boys were really looking forward to catching and despite another cold front, did just that. The morning air temps fell below 60 degrees and dropped the water temps as well. They were back down to 65 degrees and I knew the bite would be light. In fact, most of the hits while trolling were barely heard. One or two clicks from the reel had me hammering the gas, just like the first week of the season. Fortunately we were able to find many fish and the kids had a blast. There were plenty of small pike and some good walleye caught in the half day out. I think the afternoon would have been the better time as the air temps were beginning to warm the water as the morning passed. We were starting to get more and better quality fish the closer we got to departure time. The three kids were taking turns on the reels and all managed to catch in the double digits today. I wanted to finish with everyone landing one last fish and had two to go when we managed another double. Now that’s the way to end a day! We packed everything up and made our way back to the ramp to take out. By now the water was full of boats and it was like running an obstacle course. As always, the docking was nonexistent and I was forced to land the boat on the cement. It’s great having the keel protector in situations like this. I had the boat on the trailer and out of the water before anyone had even moved. Weekend warriors were out in full bloom once again today! I was actually glad to be off the water and not have to contend with all this chaos any more. Half days aren’t so bad on the weekends! I think Drew & the gang will remember today with all the fish they landed. They might even be able to apply some of the techniques we used when they return back home. Definitely a successful half day of fishing!!

Scott & his son Tristan joined me this morning for another multi species fishing day. Scott has been a long time client from almost as long as his son is old and wanted Tristan to experience a great day of fishing. They came to the right place as they were about to find out! Although the air temps were cool at 60 degrees this morning, it was expected to warm up a little later. Unfortunately the water temps had fallen overnight and went to a chilly 65 degrees where we began. I knew a slow troll was going to be necessary and dropped it down to under 2mph in order to get bit. A bunch of pike were landed in the first hour along with a couple of walleye and one rather heavy fish left with a lure. I knew exactly what that was as I had been encountering several large toothy critters lately! In fact a little later Tristan was handed the rod from his dad and had the pleasure of fighting his first ever lunge. It wasn’t a giant, just a perfect size for him to catch. Several pics were taken before the release and right back to trolling we went. Although we began with flat water, the winds had now started blowing from the NW creating a pretty good chop on the lake. We just can’t seem to get away from the cold blowing air lately! I wanted to give them a variety of fish today and later in the morning decided to switch to smallies and another technique. I opted for a semi sheltered section of the lake in order for them to be able to cast. Once again however, the water temps were cold and the fish were like ghosts. Tristan managed to hook & land a few smaller bass while his dad struggled to even get a hit. We could see a bunch of quality ones swimming in certain areas but they didn’t want to know anything about us. I hit a few spots along the way and they finally picked up several decent bass. Although not what I had expected, at least there were enough fish to keep us interested. I had one other place I wanted to fish before resuming the trolling and made the long run to the spot. We were now out in the open water and the winds were blowing pretty good making presentation difficult. After about an hour and only a few fish I pulled the plug and headed elsewhere! Scott had never been successful with the drop shot so we decided to give it a try in deeper water. I instructed them on what to do and told both of them not to set the hook when they got bit. Almost immediately Scott got bit and hammered the fish with a solid hook set. He came up completely empty when the fish bit him off. I reinstructed him again on just reeling to load the rod and raise it high with pressure. It’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks! After this, Tristan managed to get a couple of smallies and we boated a few walleye as well. Scott was coming up a little short as he missed several bites from setting hooks too quick. Once he figured out the technique properly, he finally hooked a couple of bass himself and his skunk was gone! I’s all about technique & confidence! Hopefully now he’ll be able to apply this to areas back home where he fishes, successfully. As the time was getting on we decided to get a couple more fish and pull the plug. Scott had a long drive home and at 12 years old, Tristan would only be sleeping. I couldn’t believe the boat ramp when I got back. Middle of the week and a freaking zoo! I really wish people would be a little more courteous and learn that 20 or more minutes to take a boat out isn’t normal. Blocking docks for extended periods of time while you screw around isn’t great either. I waited over 20 minutes while one person occupied the ramp and three other boats waited to launch. Unbelievable! By the time it was all over I had been at the dock for almost 30 minutes but it only took me 1 minute to get out. It’s really hard to be patient when shit like this is going on. I guess “You Can’t Fix Stupid”! Almost a perfect end to a perfect day!!

Brian & his daughter Lauren were with me this morning on a sketchy kind of day. The weather forecast had changed so much lately that we didn’t know what to expect. What was originally 20 to 30mm of rain, somehow turned into nada. I expected the worst and hoped for the best as we launched the boat and headed on the water. Lauren had over 30 IGFA records for the female junior division and hoped to add a few more today. We would be searching for several line class records in both fly and conventional. She began on the fly rod and Brian conventional tackle just to keep the fish honest. As always, lady luck shined on her and she drew first blood with a small pike. I told them that there would be much larger today and after a quick pic, she released the little guy. As she had never caught northerns before it was a thrill nonetheless. She quickly hooked into another one not long after right about the same size and was loving it on the fly. Her dad however wasn’t doing as well and I continued changing up lures until he finally connected. His however was a walleye and right in the slot. If we were keeping anything today, this would have made it into the livewell. It was the fish’s lucky day as a pic was all that they wanted! We played around this area for several hours picking at them but I wasn’t impressed with the numbers or even the size. Time for a relocation and hopefully better results. I moved around a lot and had them casting flies shallow but to no avail. Time to shift again and this time it was a good choice. I had gone deeper and found a really good concentration of fish off shore. Lauren was locking up every few minutes on the fly and several of the fish were good pike and walleye. They managed to get quite a few fish that would qualify and we livewelled all the good ones for later registration. Her dad was also into fish on the fly now and they were both having a blast. The weather had held off all day with only overcast skies but little to no wind. I knew we would eventually have some rain but hoped it wouldn’t arrive until we were off the water. Both Brian & Lauren were running flies, so I decided to get a third rod out and use the rod holder for them. This extra line also managed several fish and conventional tackle was adding even more fish to the livewell to be qualified later. Lauren got the shock of her life on the next fly hook up. Shortly after the pike leaped out of the water, the fish got much heavier. The rod loaded even more and line was now going out. Whatever she was into was big and I was second guessing the fish that I had seen jump. Well, after a few minutes I knew what had happened and she was officially into her very first ever musky. Yuup, the musky ate the pike that ate the fly! I had no idea how this was to end and hoped for a shot at the beast with a deep walleye net. I knew that if I could just get the front half in the net, I could grab the back end and haul it into the boat. When Lauren finally brought the fish up high enough for us to see, she was in shock. This thing was giant and had her pike crossways in its mouth. At any time all the fish had to do was open its mouth and let it go. Fortunately for us, it had no intentions of releasing its grip on dinner. A few times she almost had it close enough for a shot with the net but not close enough for my liking. I knew I would only get one chance and wanted to make it count. Well as bad luck would have it, the damn fly pulled out and the musky left with its meal. Although heartbreaking, there was really nothing we could have done differently. She said that this was the biggest fish she had ever hooked into and although a little disappointed, happy to have done battle with it. We regrouped and got the lines back in the water and managed several more fish in the remainder of the day. One last hookup and we called it a day. It was right around 4:00 and we had fish to register on shore. The rules state that you have to be on land for all the weight, measurements and pics so off we went. By the time it was all said and done, they had 7 more line class records to send in. Bass, walleye & pike with an almost musky! They had come to Montreal to check out a possible University for her to go to next year. With any luck she’ll chose McGill and have more chances at redemption. Today was almost as much fun for me as it was for them. I always love a challenge and going after records was it! We were even lucky with the weather and never even got a drop all day. Basically this turned out to be a great day on the water and the only thing that could have made it better  was “The One That Got Away”!

Today was a real treat for David and his father Paul as they experienced their best day of fishing, ever! We launched shortly after 7:30 and with no wind were able to get to our first location effortlessly. Bluebird skies and warm temps were forecasted so there would be plenty of other boats on the water soon. I knew I had to get into fish and fast! With miserable weather scheduled for tomorrow the fleet of cruisers would be taking advantage of this weather too. After 10:00 it would become a living hell on the water! Fortunately the fishing was to be phenomenal and it took only a couple of minutes to hook into their first fish. David reeled in a decent northern and we were on our way. His father was up next and not long after was into something really big. I cleared the other lines and gave him room to battle what turned out to be a musky. On walleye tackle, it’s always a challenge and Paul was ready for the fight. Eventually the fish came to the boat and I locked the Boga Grip on his prize. He had always wanted to land one and at 64 years of age, finally accomplished it. A few quick picks later, it was released and swam off unharmed. We reset the lines and started pounding on fish after fish. Walleye & pike were coming in hand over fist with plenty of doubles and several triples. Whenever we hooked into one you could almost bet another reel would fire within seconds. They landed high numbers and many were photo worthy. They weren’t interested in taking anything home with them, so all fish were released. As the morning went on I was right in my prediction and the cruisers started. Most were courteous, but not all. Paul was fighting yet another large walleye when a giant cruiser drove by less than 20 feet away and threw 4 footers our way. I had to steer the boat sideways in order not to eat the waves. Paul even had to sit down for fear of falling. This guy was a real idiot! It got so bad after a while that I had to relocate to another area for fear of being run over. They were also muddying up the water pretty bad and I was losing my bite. We slid over to a secondary spot not far away and it started all over once again. Doubles and triple headers were the norm and plenty more fish were coming to net. David even landed a small musky and although not as big as his dad’s, he was thrilled with his prize. Eventually this area got muddy too and I had to make a longer run to find cleaner water. With the sun high and the temps hot, it sure was nice to be under the comfort of the bimini. I don’t know if we could have taken the heat for as long without it! There was already talk of cutting the day short just because of all the fish they had caught until we dropped the lines in again. This area was also on fire and the fish just kept coming. There’s no way to tell exactly how many the landed but the action was nonstop. David’s father even tried to nap but the screaming reels kept him awake! After several more fish they decided to call it a day. Although only 2:30 it was way more than they had expected and Paul was done. This had been a birthday gift from his son and he couldn’t have asked for a better present. The fish were active and cooperated completely today. We packed everything up and headed back to the ramp. I was a little worried what it would be like and hoped for the best. Unfortunately there were boats all over it and nowhere to tie up. After waiting five minutes and nobody moving I just pulled up on the cement and went for the trailer. Weekend warriors are unbelievable and never have any consideration for anybody other than themselves! It only took me a couple of minutes and still nobody had moved. In fact long after I had pulled out of the way and packed everything up, these three boats were still tied up. No etiquette ever with weekend traffic, both on & off the water! Despite this inconvenience David & his dad were thrilled with today’s outcome. Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined such a day. They both left tired but fulfilled. Hopefully the next time they decide to give gifts, I’ll see them again! Great day of fishing despite all the headaches!!