Cindy & Alain joined me on the water today for a real multi species day. We headed out around 7:30 and trolled for a while, catching mostly walleye. Although there were a few smallies landed, it was the large walleye we were after! The heat wave was still upon us and the humidity was high making the temps feel a whole lot worse than they actually were. It had been a while since either of them had caught walleye and they were also looking forward to eating a few tonight. The only problem I was having was getting the slot fish to eat. It seemed that the bigger ones wanted to eat as we were releasing fish from 22 to 26 inches. Eventually we managed to get into some of the 18 inchers that I preferred and kept a few for the table. Once we had the fish we needed, I pulled out and headed somewhere else looking for smallies. A series of stops were made in the next few hours and all had fish. They managed to get into plenty of bass on a variety of soft plastics and a few exotics as well. Cindy had a nice sturgeon that battled her like the prehistoric beast it was and she couldn’t believe its strength. Alain landed another cool fish when a drum over 10 pounds ate a tube, fishing for smallies. These two were definitely a bonus and added to the fish total for today. Towards the end of the afternoon, we slid onto a huge flat where the fish were really active. Once we found them, doubles seemed to be the norm! They ended the day on a high as several big smallies were taken in a short time. Obviously the wind had them active and we were glad. Most of the day had been flat calm and a real scorcher. Even the water temps had climbed to almost 77 degrees with this heat. I don’t really know what the final count was but it was high as Cindy & Alain had caught a boat load. They both had a Grand Slam with an exotic species to complete their limit. What a great day on the lake!!

Today I had a few regulars as Hassan & his brother Sam were joined by their friend Martin for a good smallie day. We hit the lake at the crack of almost 9 and fished till about 3:30. Conditions were the first day with a semi cold front as the morning chill wasn’t the norm lately. They actually had to wear their jackets for most of the morning! The fishing was a little tough too as the water had cooled off almost 4 degrees overnight. Winds were out of the NW blowing 10 to 15 knots causing boat control to be a little difficult during our first drift. They were drop shotting over a series of bumps but I was missing the sweet spots because of the cross current movement. After about 30 minutes or so of this and only a half dozen fish, I pulled the plug and went elsewhere. We continued with the drop shotting technique in another area a few miles away but this time they were casting their presentations along a steep break. Hassan managed to get the best fish here as a long bass looking like a post spawner, fell victim to his offering. It should have weighed close to 5 pounds but barely made the four pound weight. A few more smallies were landed along with a couple of nice walleye but I still wasn’t satisfied with these results. One more move had them into fish on jigs almost instantly and we refined the water here, for the remainder of the day. Most of the fish were averaging 2 to 3 pounds but Hassan managed to pull out a few in the four pound class mixed in. I shifted between senkos and tubes and plenty of action was had by all. I don’t really know the final count of fish landed but I do know it was about 1/3 of what it could have been. These fish were really biting strange and many bass were missed on the hook set. With hot, humid and stable weather for a long period, the first cold night had them fairly lethargic for most of the day. Not one fish chased a spinnerbait and Martin threw it for quite a while! If it weren’t for the slow presentations, it could have been a very poor day for results. This gang had just witnessed the difference between active and negative fish and come out on top. A little adjustment was all that was needed to turn this day around. Overall, a very educational day for these three amigos!!

I was back on the lake again today for the second half of the weekend insanity. David & his son Mike met me shortly after 7 and we were on our way almost immediately. It was going to be another scorcher with humidex temps in the mid to upper 30’s. With practically no wind present, we were going to fry! The water temps had been climbing each day and were hovering at 76 plus degrees due to the extended heat wave. I wanted to get Mike into fish quickly, so we went straight into a troll for the walleye and weren’t disappointed. Within 3 minutes the first reel went off and he was battling an average 3 pounder to the net. Almost as soon as I reset the line, the other down rod went off and another decent walleye was also hooked up. It was going to be one of those mornings and I was glad that I had made the decision to troll. I was on fish and they were eating! In the hour or so that we trolled, there were about a dozen or more fish landed with the majority being walleye. Mike wanted to take a few home for his family so we livewelled 3 nice 18 inchers without any problem. David had wanted to fly fish for the smallies so I pulled the plug after a successful, short early morning bite. We were off in search of big bass and hopefully would succeed as well! In the first area, we were not as fortunate with the activity as both Mike & David were casting prime water without a touch. Mike was covering this place with a spinnerbait and David was casting a fly. Although plenty of quality bass were seen, it seemed like they were all shut down. I had one pick up a senko that dropped the bait when Mike tried to set on it. They really weren’t hungry and I wasn’t sticking around to wait for the dinner bell to ring. I slid into another area quite a ways away and hooked up on one over 3 pounds on a tube just searching. Mike was still chunking the blades and David was hauling a leech pattern hoping for a take. We sighted a few nice fish just cruising the area when a big black one swam under the boat. I instructed David to keep an eye out the back of the boat as I tried to move forward to expose her. Well as if on cue, she appeared and David carefully presented the fly for her to see. It was as if we were fishing the flats for bones because he got to see the take and it was spectacular. He was locked up on a powerful, mid four pounder and she was pissed! Several jumps and runs had him loving the fight on his 6 weight rod and so did we. I decided to net the fish once she was close enough so as not to stress her out too bad. Once the hook was removed, David got to hold his prize for a few pics and feel the weight she possessed. Definitely a solid 4.5 pound chunk! A few quick shots and off she went, back to wherever she had come from. We moved around plenty and eventually got to another section of the lake that I knew was holding only big fish. I let David out on these flats and told him where to go. He was now in the middle of the lake, wading for smallies with a fly rod. What an incredible view he must have had as he was one with the fish. Unfortunately this area turned out to be a disappointing one when he broke off a real big smallie on almost his first cast. After that, all he could do was look at them swimming around. Mike had similar results as well when he lost a four pounder on the blades. Despite plenty of fish in this area, they weren’t so fortunate with the end results. They had spooked and were now just getting out of the way. This type of fishing is more like hunting as careful boat positioning, casting and stalking is required to entice these giants to bite. One wrong move and the element of surprise is gone! We pulled out shortly after when we saw that we were fighting a losing battle and moved elsewhere. It was here that David put down the fly gear and picked up a spinning rod to begin catching some of those smallies. Both Mike & David managed to get into several fish in this area as the pre frontal system lurking in the distance had them active. Now it seemed like all the fish were eating and it was about time! Too bad this was also cut short when I decided to pull the plug here and get closer to the take out. The skies weren’t looking very good and I didn’t want to get stuck with a mad dash to the dock. We actually got a chance to drop the lines back in for a troll again and landed a half dozen nice fish in 20 minutes. Once more this was cut short as I headed to the ramp quickly, with the storm right on my tail. If it wasn’t for the fiasco at the shore I would have been able to pull the boat out in time, but you just never know what to expect. I must have been in the truck for close to 10 minutes before I took 1 minute to load it on the trailer. Nine minutes too late as the skies let lose and dumped a real big load on us in the parking lot. I got soaked despite a rain jacket while prepping the boat to roll out. Between removing the fish and packing everything up, it looked like I had fallen in the lake. Oh well, you gotta love the weekend warriors at boat ramps! Overall an interesting, tough yet productive day on the water!!

A condensed version of this past week was the easiest method to cover everything that happened. Plenty of new areas were located holding numerous smallies as well as walleye, once again. With the unseasonably low water levels, some of the better fish had relocated and so did I. I used this week to discover places I had only looked at before and was pleasantly surprised. Lots of big smallmouth and in some areas, high numbers as well. I was even surprised to be able to take a couple of family members out this week. On Thursday, I hooked up with my father in law and fished for four hours, until the heat drove us off the lake. He managed to land several walleye up to 5 pounds, smallmouth & a northern of almost 8 pounds. This was a successful half day despite all the floating vegetation! On Friday, I was able to hook up with my brother and get him into some really nice fish too. Several big smallies fell victim to a variety of baits and even a huge sturgeon came aboard. This was the first time he had ever battled these prehistoric animals and the raw power just amazed him. We even trolled a while looking to get him his first ever muskie and almost made it happen. When the reel went off I knew it was a giant! Unfortunately, before we could get a look at this beast the line went limp. Although disappointing, he did get to play with it for a short time and feel the strength they posses. As with most muskie, she was the only encounter we had for the day. Too bad as I would have loved to get him a better slam and take the northerns he caught right out of the mix. Oh well, a reason to come back again! Saturday I hit the water at the crack of 10 and almost wished I hadn’t. The insane ramp disaster continued as we tried to launch the boat. I really wish people weren’t like horses wearing blinders, aware of their surroundings and others within! Once I finally made it out, we were greeted with hundreds of sailboats looking more like an obstacle course. I managed to get around the worst and headed as far away from them as I could get, hoping for a reprieve. I was able to drop the lines in and troll some areas but the weeds once again made it difficult. We found certain sections less covered and concentrated our efforts around them when the reels began to fire. Walleye, pike and an occasional smallie were landed with the largest Walter weighing slightly over 7 pounds. The heat was unbearable as we moved around looking for other areas to fish. I did find one section not too bad and in less than an hour boated close to a dozen more eyes. Eventually the weeds and boat traffic just made it too bad to fish and we pulled the plug on it all together. I didn’t know what I was in store for at the ramp and figured I give us plenty of time to take out. People just seem to park on the dock lately and limited space makes it almost impossible to do anything. They have even been launching and spending up to a half hour or more tied up while they search for a parking spot on the street. Obviously too cheep to pay for a season ramp pass while others suffer at their expense! Thankfully I made it out with only minimal headaches and hopefully educated others in the process. Despite the minor weekend insanity, we did have a good half day of fishing. Mondays can’t come soon enough for me!!

Christiane & I headed out this morning, seeing as how the fishing had been so good. We put in shortly after 8:00 and tried pulling plugs once again. Unfortunately, the NW winds had more weeds all over the area making the troll somewhat difficult. Cleaning the rods seems to be the only way to make the reels go and I had to stay on them. I miss the early season when you could troll for miles without ever checking the lines! Although there were plenty of fish marking in the deep, all we could come up with were a pike and a smallmouth. I decided to head shallower just to see if maybe they were still in from the morning and the reels started to fire. They were mostly bass but I think the couple we lost may have been the walleye we were looking for. It wasn’t until I moved even shallower that we started catching them. They were in tight and not in much water either! I had to make several adjustments and then we began catching. A bunch of walleye between 17 & 23 inches were caught and we kept just enough for dinner tonight. With the winds increasing and the boat traffic growing, I thought we would try one other area and call it a day. After drop shotting for a while and catching several smallies, I decided to try trolling this area for a change. The last 10 minutes resulted in a lost giant smallie when he took to the air and the largest walleye of the day. A quick pic of this 24 inch beauty, followed by her release and back we went. I really didn’t want to be on the lake much past noon as the amount of boats were getting thick. Even the ramp was a disaster once again, as people still think they’re the only ones on the planet. I wish there was a course in ramp etiquette they could all take because common sense seems rare at best! Despite this ending, our morning was still a success as we were having fish for dinner. You gotta love that, who could ask for anything more!!