St-Jean Baptist day on the lake and I expected it to be a zoo out there! We even had to find another place to launch as the usual ramp was closed for the day with festivities scheduled. I picked them up at their Hotel shortly after 7:00 and they were pumped. After yesterday’s banner day on the water, they were excited for what today would hold. I decided to go directly for smallies as this was the last species for them to get a personal best. Being from Maryland, the smallmouth is pretty scarce. Although they exist, they tend to be on the smaller side. Norbert had caught a bunch before but less than two pounds was the largest he had taken. Nick had never landed one and looked forward to catching his first. The winds were blowing pretty good this morning and were scheduled to gust to almost 30 knots by afternoon, so I took advantage of this situation early. They were only 10 to 15 from the west presently and definitely doable where I was headed. I set them both up with a crankbait and instructed them on how to fish it, with emphasis on the tiny hooks. No hooksets and sweep sideways was the theory but broken when the first few fish hit. Nick managed to lose two or three before he settled down and listened to the original instructions. Tiny hooks and strong bass tend to cause a lot of lost fish when too much pressure is applied. Along with raised hooksets, there were plenty of ways to mess it up! When they finally caught on, an instant double was their reward. Obviously there were a lot of fish here as Nick had lost two others on the same cast before hooking up! Although 3 pounds was the biggest so far, I expected better fish to come. A couple of quick pics and back to the task at hand! I think they lost more fish than they landed but were happy with the ones they did get to the net nonetheless. In the end, 3.5 pounds proved to be the largest and I went searching for bigger and better nearby. It was difficult to locate the ones I was searching for and after multiple area changes; 3.5 pounds still remained the best. By now the winds had kicked up pretty good and I knew I could get a good trolling bite happening if they wanted. They quickly accepted the challenge and we were off to another area a few miles away. I wasn’t sure what these fish were doing but knew I would find out soon! Within an hour I had figured them out and was now into a pattern that was working just fine. Big fish were coming aboard regularly and both pike & walleye were the mix. Although Nick was big fish winner for yesterday, it turned full circle today. Norbert managed to land a 6.25 pound walleye and a 7 pound northern to add to the 3.5 pound smallie earlier in the day. He had slammed beautifully! We stuck it out till 4:30 when the final reel screamed and Nick put another 5 pound walleye in the net. Now that’s the way to end the day! I had said that we would pull the plug at 4:30 and right on cue, the fish struck the lure. They definitely finished with a bang and had a great two days just catching all kinds of quality fish. They had memories, pictures and even some walleye fillets to go home with. Something tells me that this isn’t the last time I’ll see them. Talk of next year is already being tossed around and there may be a few more bodies tagging along too. A great two days of fishing and loads of personal bests!!

Norbert & his son Nick were with me this morning, both looking for personal bests. Although they had caught walleye before, they were on the small side and hoped for some bigger ones today. Pike were pretty much non existent back home and I knew I could accomplish that, many times over! After picking up their licenses, we hit the water in a heavy fog. Visibility was alright, but the fog was all over and we had to be careful while running. This proved to be in our favor as we never saw a boat all day! Seeing as this was a long weekend, it was a pleasant surprise. We set the lines and trolled the area for a little while before the first reel fired. Nick was into a nice northern and glad to catch his first ever pike. His dad had botched up a net job when he was younger! Quick pics and back for more as another reel fired with a good fish. This one was a nice walleye and talk of fillets was on their mind. Into the livewell this 18 incher went and back to trolling we did as well. By now they were elated as Nick had managed to fulfill his wish with these two fish. All that was left was a smallie and we had two days to get him that! Not long after we reset the lines, another reel fired and I could tell by the fight that he had a good walleye. When I finally caught a glimpse near the boat, I realized that this would be his trophy! Anyone that says walleye don’t fight, have never experienced these ones. This fish made multiple runs and ripped plenty of line from the reel in an attempt to escape, but eventually ended up in the net. They were both excited to see how big it was and once measured, went just under 27 inches. On the boga it was almost 7 pounds and many pics were taken before it was released. Wow, how could you top that! Well we did as plenty more big fish were caught throughout the day including a northern over 8 pounds, four walleye between 5 & 6 pounds and multiple others as well. We even had a rally late in the afternoon that saw a triple header of walleye! Who could ask for anything more with all the fish they landed throughout the day. It was a banner one with very little down time and nobody else around to get in our way. By 3:30 we decided to pull the plug as I had several fish to fillet and we were going to eat a few of them for dinner. Blackened Cajun Walleye was on the menu & they couldn’t wait!

After several successful scouting days on the water this week, I was really looking forward to today. Roger & Robin were with me and hopefully the fish would bite again. We launched shortly after 7:00 and I immediately went to the area that had produced the better walleye yesterday. Winds were blowing out of the NW at 10 or so knots and were scheduled to increase later in the day. Water temps were 62 degrees and stained. With all the rain lately, higher than usual levels had really caused the lake to be mud. In fact, there was floating debris in many areas just like the spring. We set a spread and trolled the area looking for active fish for about an hour before I realized they weren’t going to cooperate. I immediately shifted to another shallower place nearby and fired off several of the reels. Too bad most of these fish were pike or “Slough Sharks” as they called them. We did manage to get one walleye here but it was on the smaller side and another change was about to be made. I thought the water might be warmer on the other side of the lake and opted for the run. It was here that the reels went off plenty but once again most were small pike. Robin did however manage to land a real nice walleye of 4.5 pounds, but apparently it was alone. With winds lying down the dog pecker knats were inevitable and they didn’t disappoint! We combed this place for quite a while until we were fed up of the anorexic northerns and went casting for bass. Ironically, other than a couple of follows and one jump off in this area, they weren’t to bite. I know that I could have moved shallow and probably managed a few small males but I was after the larger, post spawn females instead. Oh yeah, another big walleye was on briefly as well! Our last stop was to be in a place that should have put out a combination of fish but for some reason, they too weren’t cooperating. Winds were up now and blowing 20 or more out of the NW creating a nice roll. Two more short strikes and one 2 pound walleye was all we saw for this place. They had wanted to leave by 3:00 and unfortunately we were now out of time. It was definitely a day full of light bites & short strikes where we fished. Other than all the skinny northerns, the action was hit & miss, literally! Roger had warned me at the start of the day that he was bad luck so we just blamed it all on him! Despite everything, they still caught a bunch of fish and left content. I do hope however that our weather begins to look more like summer and soon! Between rain, wind & cold, the fish aren’t really settling into their summer locations as of yet. One day they are there and the next day, gone!!

Rick, Dan & Dave were with me for a two day trip and as expected, Mother Nature was cruel. The first morning saw a misty rain, NW winds and a cold front. The water temps were barely 58 and down 5 degrees from a few days earlier. The big question was would they bite? With the air also in the 50’s, these guys were real happy I had extra rain gear! We headed into what seemed like a fog and began where I had just crushed them the last time out. After an hour of nada, I realized I needed to make adjustments. We tried a little deeper off a main channel edge and Dan managed to pick up a smallie. Although not what I was searching for, it did seal one of their three bets for the day. First, biggest & most were on the line as always and this one couldn’t be beat. Rick also picked up a bass and finally a decent walleye and I thought we were onto something. Apparently I was wrong as that was all she wrote! We jumped all over after this and finally got into some pike in an area that should have been much warmer. To my surprise, it was also 58 degrees and the fish weren’t on the move here either! Although we picked at them and caught several more, it wasn’t great. By the time were finished in here there must have been 20 or more lures lying on the dash. I had changed depths & sizes so many times just trying to find a pattern. We needed to find an area where something wanted to eat and I was on the move once again. The rest of the day was pretty much the same with a fish or two here & there but not the size or numbers I was expecting. By 4:00 we had seen enough and pulled the plug for the day. Three walleye, a few bass and about 15 pike was the grand total today and I was glad it was over. Although we never really got any significant rain, it was enough to add to the misery. A light drizzle just made the fishing all that more enjoyably! At least they would be sampling blackened, Cajun walleye tonight as an appetizer and getting some sort of revenge! Tomorrow could only get better!! The second day started out much better with Dan sealing the first fish bet in under 10 minutes. Rick followed not long after and the games were on! I was finally able to get them into fish and it seemed like they were eating. I guess the long fast yesterday made them eager to bite today! We trolled many areas and fish were caught in every one. Walleye, pike and occasional bass were being landed under slightly better conditions this morning. Rick & Dave were getting into fish but Dave was having a tough time getting his first. Being stuck in the middle of these two, he was fishing a real tiny area and I needed to put the odds in his favor. I decided to short line him with a deeper diving lure and he went on a rally. His crankbait was the first to pass by the fish and he landed the next four in a row. Obviously Rick & Dan wanted revenge and their lures also got switched. For the next several hours, there were pike & walleye coming in hand over fist. As the numbers climbed, so did their adrenaline. By fishing over slightly deeper water I was able to target the fish that had backed out of the warmer, shallow water. Dan even managed to land big fish of the day with a walleye that went 6.5 pounds! Although there were many pike close to that size, it was Walter that took the bet. We trolled this area for quite a while and only moved on when the fish stopped feeding. By then, the numbers had climbed significantly and all was good. I thought I would try the starting spot from the previous day as the sunshine was warming the water up. We pulled in and almost immediately, Dan landed another walleye. The water temperature was officially over 60 degrees and apparently the fish were beginning to feed here as well. We trolled around and they managed to get a bunch more fish, both walleye & bass. One last stop before we ended the day and a couple more fish to add to the numbers before we were done. What a completely different animal today was in comparison to yesterday’s outing. I guess that’s why they call it fishing! Overall this was definitely the way you want it to end with plenty of fish by all. I believe Dan had first & biggest both days running and Rick took the numbers for the weekend. One of these years the guys will have two days in a row of great fishing. Maybe next year Mother Nature will shine instead of raining on their parade again!!

What a season this has been so far! Between cancellations and rescheduling due to the weather, there hasn’t been much to report. Water temperatures have been like a roller coaster and the fish have definitely suffered because of it. May was a month full of surprises and most of them weren’t good. Fortunately today, this would all change! Ron & his friend Jose would have probably the best day of the year to date. Although they would only be fishing for half of it, there were more fish than most full outings. I was scheduled to meet them by 9:00 and fished for 20 or 30 minutes before, while awaiting their arrival. I had wanted to check an area and wasn’t disappointed. In less than 10 minutes I had landed 4 fish and knew where we would start! Within minutes after they had their lines in the water, Jose was locked up on the first fish. He had a nice walleye and their day was off to a great start when Ron doubled up as well. Both were post spawn walleye and the fish were soon returned to grow after a couple of pics. The next time Jose locked up, I told Ron to get ready and just like clock work, he was into another double. This time however, they were both smallies and fought like champs before being released. Within the first 10 minutes they had managed to land 4 fish and well on their way to an unbelievable half day of fishing. Despite the below average water temps of 63 degrees, these fish were ready to eat. We definitely monopolized on the area for several hours and were constantly into fish. Although they may have been smaller than I hoped for, it was non stop action. The morning started out with a NE wind of 5 to 10 knots but eventually switched over to a SW of around the same. These conditions were prime as the last few days had seen hurricane like winds and plenty of rain. When the bite finally slowed down, I decided to switch areas in hopes of finding some bigger fish. To my surprise, they were mostly small ones again and we kept looking. Eventually we went back to where we had begun the day and I decided to explore more water close by. I branched out from our little honey hole and found a few more fish for the guys to play with, but they were all the same size. My afternoon booking had recently cancelled and I offered Ron & Jose the time if they wanted. Seeing as how we were already fishing, I thought I would give them a couple more hours of catching. Unfortunately, they both had some work to do and I dropped them off at the dock and returned alone. This day had already been extremely productive but I wanted to find bigger eyes. I decided to try a summertime spot and although I covered lots of water, I found what I wanted. The first fish to fire the reel was a solid 5 pound walleye and I knew I was onto something. It may have been the only one to eat, but I was marking plenty of others that were there as well. If I was able to fish with more than one rod like earlier, I’m sure there would have been a few other bigguns coming aboard! I fished all over looking for more eaters and found plenty of smaller ones like Ron & Jose had caught. By 4:00 I had enough and pulled the plug for today. It was rewarding to finally get onto something of a pattern as the fish were actually beginning to concentrate. Up until today I was only able to pick at them each time out and patterning them was next to impossible. Hopefully this will continue as I am back on the water this weekend with three others and able to run multiple lines. This will definitely help in refining areas as well as some of the baits at various depths. Now, let’s just hope “Mother Nature” cooperates!!