After a couple of days of successful walleye fishing, Howard decided to join me for more action. We hit the lake before 10:00 under overcast conditions and were immediately into fish. Water temps were hovering around 62 degrees and a 1 to 2 foot chop was present as well. The winds were out of the south and conditions were just perfect! I don’t think it took more than a few minutes to hook up and many more were to follow. In the 3 or 4 hours we fished, there had to be over 20 walleye caught & released. Fish up to 24 inches were hitting a variety of baits and they were active! It was a phenomenal bite for these low light feeders and I’m sure we would have caught plenty more, as we left them biting. I would be back again tomorrow and wanted to leave a few for the others as well. We headed off and decided to try another species, as we both had our fill of these golden beauties. The rest of the day was equally as productive, with many a bass coming aboard. As with the walleye, they too were aggressively feeding & we took full advantage of this situation. Although a short day, plenty of action was had today!! Unfortunately a cancellation had me prepped & ready for the lake and flying solo today. I decided to explore other areas in search of more golden nuggets! As with previous days this week, they were still on fire as I managed to stumble onto many a fish. I landed big northerns, big smallies and several large walleye as well. The largest walleye would have been pushing 26 inches and actually put up quite a battle for his kind. Next on the menu was new areas for smallies and I wasn’t disappointed again. By covering water with fast moving baits I was able to locate plenty of these footballs and refine sections with slower baits afterwards. Too bad this mornings’ cancellation happened as it would have been a phenomenal day for them to have experienced. Oh well, their loss is my gain. Better luck next time!!

I had a full boat this morning with Stephane, Martin & Yanik on board. This was the first time they had fished with me and I knew it would be tough. We began the day under heavy overcast skies and a howling wind out of the east. We would definitely be limited to the number of spots we could fish! I started in an area that was somewhat sheltered from the waves and put them on fish almost immediately. Martin was the first to lock up with a slowly dragged senko and the others began to get excited. They now knew that there were fish here and wanted some of their own! With Yanik on a spinnerbait & Steph on a tube, I had all the bases covered. I think Yanik had a couple of hits but they proved to be misses when he came in empty handed. Stephane on the other hand started to take advantage to this area by slowly picking up a couple of big ones. He did miss a few but overall landed around 5 before the bite dwindled with the increase of the wind. Another boat was within sight and not doing anything where they were, so I guess they thought it was alright to come over and anchor right where we were catching. Even in some of the worst conditions, people have no etiquette! Another move was in order now so we left this place and moved on. It was a rough ride but I knew I needed to try other places before the weather got any worse. It was here that Yanik finally managed to land a fish of his own, while still on the spinnerbait. Right after Steph missed something on the tube, he brought a nice 3 pound walleye to the net. Looks like someone has fish on the menu tonight! Unfortunately, this was the only one they caught here but not for lack of trying. I had switched Martin over to a tube as well due to the increasing winds, just so he could keep the bait on bottom. I knew there had to be more fish within this place but they were having a hard time just controlling their baits and switched gears completely. We spent the next hour or so trolling another section, just so they could relax for a while. This was difficult at best as several waves were coming over the bow in certain areas and I really had to pay attention. By now we were fishing 2 to 4 footers depending on where we trolled. It became evident that this was going to be a fight we couldn’t win! I knew we were in trouble when the high winds added rain to the mix and it became down right nasty. Miserable conditions just got worse and now the cold started to set in. The rain was going through what they were wearing and it was no longer fun. With their request, I headed back to where we had started and tried for a few more bites. I noticed that the water had gotten dirtier and the waves a little bigger here and knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Within 20 minutes they decided to pull the plug on this day. All three were wet and starting to get cold, so we headed back to the ramp. It wasn’t a nice run back as the waves grew along the way. It actually felt more like Lake Ontario than the lake were on and I too was glad it was over. Mother Nature has a way of turning a so, so day into one of pain and punishment sometimes. This was one of those days! Fortunately they had managed to catch before the conditions worsened and had at least some enjoyment while fishing today. Hopefully the next time out will prove to be a better experience!!

Herm was in today with his grandson Hunter, looking for some bass & walleye action. A little traffic had them arriving later than anticipated and we hit the water around 8:30. Trolling was the first attempt at landing a few quick biters but the east winds and overnight lows had them lock jawed. I was definitely marking plenty of fish but they weren’t moving to eat. It was apparent, we would have to slow down and cast for them instead! I pulled the plug here and shifted to another section where I was pretty sure they would land some smallies. Well, Herm blasted one on his first cast throwing a spinnerbait and Hunter was also tight to another on a tube. Too bad only one came to net but we were sure there’d be more as it had taken about ten seconds to get bit. Ironically, it wasn’t that easy and they had to work plenty to get just a couple more bites. Despite the fact that we were able to see many swimming around, very few had any interest in eating and we were relocating once again. This time however, I headed to deeper water where I hoped they would cooperate. As with before, Herm locked up almost immediately and thoughts of many more entered our minds. There were just too many fish marking in 20 to 30 feet of water not to get bit! We made multiple drifts in different areas all the while hooking into bass between 2 & 4 pounds. Hunter was also getting use to the drop shot technique and pulled a couple of his own in as well. It wasn’t the easiest boat control with a strong SE wind and I really had to work at keeping the boat drifting correctly. Wind against current is never easy and we had a cross wind against the current today. Without adjusting the angle constantly, the lines were all over the place and nobody would get bit. We fished this area for quite some time, making multiple drifts at various depths in order to find the larger bass. The bite was actually a strange one for some reason and many more fish were missed than landed. It seemed like they weren’t eating well and not staying pinned for long. When it became evident that we had overstayed our welcome, I moved once again. As with each area today, someone hooked up right away when we arrived and it was usually a good fish too. Once we remained for a while the fishing got much tougher, forcing us to shift again. This was becoming a bit of a pain as we weren’t able to monopolize on the fish in each area. We did manage to catch pretty much every where we stopped, but they shut down quickly after we arrived and the numbers definitely weren’t there. I hit several more places and we managed one walleye and a handful more smallies before returning back to take out. I knew we were going to get crushed at the ramp and wasn’t surprised to see big waves crashing on the shore when we got back. Although we had rough water and tough conditions while fishing, we weren’t completely on the receiving end of the worst winds. The boat ramp was however and I moved quickly to ensure the least amount of pounding the boat would receive. Although it wasn’t what I had hoped for today, they still had plenty of chances and landed some really nice fish in the end. Hopefully when Herm comes back in a few weeks the fish will be in shallower and a whole lot more stable conditions will be seen. I know he’s crossing his fingers and hoping for better results!!

Although this morning was below 50 degrees at the start, it warmed up to over 70 degrees during the day. The winds had diminished considerably and we were able to get out on the lake without any problem. From 3 footers yesterday to under a foot today, west winds had fallen to under 10 knots and I was glad! We did attempt a troll for the first hour or so but I decided to call it quickly when it wasn’t happening. Time to drop shot and it didn’t take long after the lines went in. Jim hit the first one this morning and Marie followed with one of her own moments later. They were already ahead of the game today with a couple of quick fish! They even had a double a couple of times during the morning bringing the numbers up even quicker. Marie was in the front of the boat and should have had first crack at the fish based on how I was moving. For some reason, she was letting them get by and Jim was taking advantage of each & every one. As she fell behind in the score, he added to it. Every time she did land one, he followed with one of his own and the math grew in his favor. It didn’t matter though as there were plenty more fish to be caught today. We stayed in this area making multiple drifts in various depth ranges all the while catching fish. I wanted to take advantage of the conditions and eventually decided to relocate to a different area all together. It was here that Jim managed to get into a few on a tube but they were lethargic for some reason. Marie was throwing a spinnerbait but all she had was follows. I switched her up to a jig in hopes of better results but we still saw more than they were catching. Only a handful of bass were landed with a few others lost but they did catch a first. Each of them got to battle a sturgeon and this had made it all worth while. From here I switched to another sandy section of the lake and covered water until we stumbled onto a pod of decent bass. These fish are really still in a summertime pattern and not desperate to eat yet. With the water temps remaining above 70 degrees, their eagerness to eat everything in site hasn’t been triggered. To them, winter is still a long way from arriving and it shows. In a couple more weeks, this will all change and they will begin to feed on everything in site! Jim managed to get a few bass to open their mouths here and fought them right into the net. As I moved along, Marie got to tangle with a couple that unfortunately, only remained on briefly. They were definitely not hungry and it showed! Several bumps resulted in more missed & lost fish than landed in this spot. When I realized that it wasn’t going to get any better, I went back to the place that we had begun and drop shotted it once again. They both got to tangle with several more and landed about half of them before we pulled the plug for today. Despite the arrival of our first cold front of the season, we were successful. By moving around when needed and concentrating in the right areas, they had managed to land a fair amount of quality bass. Slow presentations were required in order to monopolize on the small strike zones the last couple of days. Bring on the fall and cooling water temps, as the best fishing is yet to come!!

Jim & Marie were back this year and looking forward to fishing, once again. Although I had been concentrating locally on water closer to home, today I would have to travel to another lake due to the winds. They were to blow 20 knots with stronger gusts from the west and I knew it would be tough. A quick drive had us launching in flatter water and the areas to be fished definitely looked doable! Today was a complete change from yesterday, with the weather dropping into the 50’s overnight. High heat & humidity had air temps in the low 80’s before but a cold front had severely reduced them today. The big question was would they bite? With the changes so drastic, I decided to attempt trolling for the bulk of the morning. Unfortunately this proved to be unsuccessful and we eventually pulled the plug sometime around mid day. It was time to put some fish in the boat and I knew just the place. We made another run and I set up the drop shot rods, instructing them on what to do. They had done this before and knew what was involved, making it a whole lot easier. It took a while to locate exactly what I was looking for, but when I did, rods became bent! I think it was Marie that drew first blood with a decent three pounder and we were glad to see it. This started the ball rolling and although it wasn’t fast & furious, we did pick at them for quite a while. I made multiple drifts over the area and they hooked into fish on just about every one. Most of the bass were larger than the first but there were a few smaller ones as well. I think we had 3 that were in the high 4’s and possibly one around 5 by the time we pulled the plug here and relocated. The next area didn’t produce the size but several quick bites were had immediately after we arrived. Just like the previous spot, we drifted over the edge and picked at them on each pass. Time was getting on now and after another unsuccessful spot, we decided to call it and headed back to take out. The first day of the cold front hadn’t shut us out but they did have to work for each bite they had. I’m sure if I had of concentrated entirely on the bass, they would have had plenty more action. The first 4 hours of the day hadn’t yielded a single bite and this really cut into our production. Fortunately we had come back in the afternoon and salvaged the day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on local waters tomorrow and they’ll tangle with many more smallies. It’s all up to “Mother Nature”!!