I was back on a local lake once more today with Jeff & his son Dave from Calgary for another mixed bag kind of day. The winds were going to be our worst nemesis as we were faced with strong ones from the west gusting to over 25 knots at times. Waves were 2 to 3 footers with an occasional rogue thrown in for fun. Water temps were hovering around 74 degrees where we were fishing and the air temps were in the 80’s with bluebird skies & sunshine all day long. We began with soft plastics and spinnerbaits trying to entice both the active and lethargic bass at the same time. Dave managed to get into a largemouth bass of a little over 2 pounds almost immediately on a spinnerbait. This was rather strange as it was a smallie holding area and I had never seen a largie on it before. We saw several huge smallies roaming all around without showing any interest in what we were throwing and decided to relocate. Jeff hooked up on a 3 pounder while working a senko and I really thought we were going to get them good when I saw others all around. Too bad, as that was to be it for this location. We relocated once again and it was here that Jeff hooked into a real giant of a smallmouth. Unfortunately after the third jump, she threw the jig and went the other way. Many fish in the same size class were swimming in the area and I held us there just trying to get something going. There was only a couple more bass landed with several other hits before we changed it up again. This time we were going to try trolling for pike & walleye and I set the lines in hopes of at least hitting a few. After close to an hour a rod finally fired and Dave was into what I thought was a good pike only to be amazed to see that it was actually a small Muskie. You just never know! Lots of floating vegetation and high rollers made this a little more difficult than I was hoping for and we opted for another change into shallower water for some largemouth bass instead. Although it was still real windy at least we didn’t have the waves to contend with. It wasn’t long before Dave was reeling in the first bass along a weed line and his dad soon followed up with one considerably smaller. There were definitely bass here and we were going to spend the rest of the afternoon just combing this section, looking for others. Our day was about to be brought to an abrupt end as thunder started rolling in the background and I knew lightening wasn’t far behind. Safety first when it comes to electrical storms! With the boat on the trailer and us ready to go, the skies let loose and heavy rains began to fall. Timing is definitely everything! Several more rumbles and a few bolts of lightening had us realizing just how right that move actually was. Overall it was a rather slow day on the water but they had caught fish and tried many different options doing so. The Muskie was the icing on the cake and despite its size, David’s first. Hopefully we’ll get back out sometime soon and they’ll see just how good this fishery can really be!!

Back out again today with Bryan & Kenny for another mixed bag kinda day. They were in for a bachelor party and thankfully I had them before their event! The weather started out decent in the morning with light winds and overcast conditions. We trolled up a bunch of walleye and several smallies before we were chased off the lake by threatening thunder showers. Along with this also came strong winds from the west gusting at over 40km. Waves had increased to 3 footers and some even higher as we headed back to the ramp to wait it out. Once it seemed safe enough we hit the lake again and tried trolling where we had previous success. This wasn’t going to happen though, as there were still 3 foot rollers and the water had muddied up too bad to get bit. There were also tons of floating weeds just making it even worse! Plan B had us relocating to another section where we found ourselves getting into more pike, walleye and smallies once again. When we had enough of this trolling we shifted to a section a little further away in hopes of casting up some more bass on lighter tackle. It was here that Kenny managed to take his personal best smallie at just over 4 pounds on a spinnerbait. Bryan was also catching a few of his own on soft plastics, but having a hard time feeling the pick up in this wind. We kept moving all the while hooking a few here & there and made one last attempt at another troll back where we began before calling it a day. We had endured most everything Mother Nature had to offer and succeeded overall. The afternoon had changed from clouds & flat to high sun and big rollers from the 25 knot winds out of the west. Talk about a mixed up day! Despite these little annoyances we had endured all we could handle and were satisfied with the results. I know that these guys will have a great weekend touring all the well known establishments in Montreal during the remainder of their bachelor party stay. Something tells me that the fishing was just the start of their fun!!

Norm & Jean accompanied me on a road trip to the big O for a couple of days of phenomenal salmon fishing this morning. We departed at midnight and hit the water by 5 o’clock with high expectations for some silver beasts, but never expected what was about to come. I had planned this trip around the weather and hoped that Mother Nature wouldn’t change the forecast. We were greeted with almost no wind and mid 70 degree temps upon arrival but it would soon climb into the 90 by days end. Water temps were 67.5 degrees when we set the lines and barely a ripple was seen. I believe the wire line was the first to go off and Jean was into his first salmon ever. It was a good starter fish and a beautiful king of nearly 20 pounds. A few quick picks and a release back to the lake it went. Norm was up next and he was soon into a really nice steelhead that topped the scales at over 12 pounds. We had the makings of a multi species day even here on Lake Ontario and I couldn’t wait to see what was next to come. Well it didn’t take too long before we were landing another salmon but this time it was a great Coho in the mid teens and a third species to boot. One more king and even a nice brown trout had us completing the grand slam and we were thrilled to have accomplished this on the big pond. The area we were in didn’t seem to be producing the numbers that I was use to seeing and the spiny sea fleas were a real problem. Most of the lines were gathering big amounts of fleas, so I decided to take out and relocate to another section of the lake. Let’s just say that this was one of my best moves in a long time! Although it took a little while to zone in on the fish, I finally found the right depth and it was “Game On”! We were having constant action now and the reels were going off like crazy. Down riggers were popping, wire lines were screaming and both Jean and Norm were complaining. It seemed that the fish were just tearing them up and they didn’t have much time to rest in between. My heart bled for them too! I know at least a dozen people that would have traded places with either one of them to be in as much pain. It was like watching a comedy routine when each of them were fighting fish as lines were pulled in order to free up at least one of the sides allowing the fight to be free of tangles. Kings, cohos and steelhead were coming aboard regularly and the numbers were climbing. At one point, Norm spent at least 10 minutes battling a high 20’s king on the wire only to be laughed at by Jean when it was in the net. Apparently he was spent and his arms were burning too! Before we could release the fish the other wire rod fired and it was Jean’s turn to be laughed at. Same thing, different person! Lots of laughs and plenty of fish provided us with excitement for the remainder of the day and when it was all said and done, there must have been 35 fish landed. Just insane fishing for the first of two days on the big “O” !!! Day two started out after only about 5 hours of sleep but who could blame us after the first day. We started in the same areas and were soon fighting fish once again. Kings, cohos and steelhead again were coming in and the battles were once more a laughing experience. It seemed that neither of them wanted to take the wire rods and hoped the riggers would pop when it was their turn. Too bad because the largest fish once again came from the dipsy rods and wire lines and the pain continued. Although it wasn’t as fast & furious as yesterday, it was still satisfying to pound on these silver bullets once again. I think we lost more fish today in a half day than we had lost in an entire day yesterday. For some reason they were biting off or just getting off the lines entirely. By the time we pulled the lines around 12:30 there were over 15 fish landed but at least that many lost too. In just a day and a half 50 silver beasts managed to find their way into the boat and all were released to fight another day. We hadn’t taken too many pics as we wanted to get the fish back as soon as possible without harm. The shots we did take however were definitely worth a thousand words! Both Norm & Jean can’t wait to get back and I think it’ll bee happening real soon. You gotta love the big water silvers!!!

Haissan & W were back again today for some more action but left Danny to work this time. We hooked up shortly after 7:30 and were fishing just after 8:00 in flat calm conditions. It was going to be a scorcher! Without any wind and temps to reach into the 90’s, I knew we were going to fry today. Water temps were around 74 degrees when we set the lines and began our troll for walleye. It was a little slower than I had expected with only a handful of walters, smallies and an occasional pike coming aboard so after a couple of hours, I decided to relocate. The breeze felt pretty good as we ran to our second spot and began casting soft plastic for smallies. Both guys were hooking up regularly and some of these fish were pretty good size too. After spending plenty of time in this location, we decided to run once more and cooled ourselves off in the process. This next area was undoubtedly the right choice as it produced both size as well as numbers of bass. W had been holding onto the lead for a while with his 4.5 pound smallie when Haissan finally captured one of his own. It wasn’t much larger, but it did give him bragging rights and from that point on, it just kept getting better. I’m pretty sure that at one time, Haissan was hooking up on every cast he made. It felt more like we were fishing in a hatchery rather than a lake as there were smallies all over. By 5 o’clock we were officially wasted and decided to call it a day. I think the best part of it was the long run back to the ramp as we were finally cooling off. Unfortunately it all came to an end when we stopped the boat and the air temps felt a whole lot hotter when we were on shore. Despite the heat wave, we were able to endure and capture loads of smallies and some real good ones too. A great day all around!!

Well it finally happened today as we were able to coordinate a day on the water that has taken over a year to organize. John & his son Chris were joining Christiane & me for a fishing day that had the makings of a real beauty. The weather was picture perfect with temps expected to reach into the 90’s but little to no wind might make it feel a whole lot hotter! Water temps had now been over 70 degrees for several days and some of the fish were starting to change locations. I wasn’t worried though as I would begin by trolling areas that were holding a variety of fish species and surely some of them would bite. It didn’t take long before Chris was into the first fish of the day and this one was a walleye of about 3 pounds. Nice starter fish! He managed to catch a few more soon after with a pike thrown into the mix before his dad got into the act too. John seemed to pick the right time as a smallie ripped the line from the reel and proceeded to go to the air. Although it may not have been the largest of the day at just over 2.5 pounds, it was a contender! Not to be outdone, Chris landed another just under 4 pounds to overtake the lead once again. With the lake flat calm and dog pecker knats all over the place we decided to troll away from the area we were catching to see if something a little bit larger might be willing to bite. Unfortunately we only managed to get a couple more walleye and lost a few others in the next half hour making my next decision quite simple. We were off to cast for smallies! Well this didn’t take long as everyone was into fish almost immediately, once again. John managed to get the best one at over 4 pounds but Chris had plenty of opportunities to match or even beat his dad. Christiane even got a few casts of her own in and landed a couple of nice ones herself. In about an hour of casting there had to be at least 15 smallies battled before we decided to move once more. Back to trolling and only one more northern to show for our efforts before we called it a day. Between the floating weeds gathering on the rods and the blazing heat, we were spent. In just several hours of fishing they had managed to get into a bunch of quality fish and had a riot spending quality time on the lake. All fish were released to fight another day too! Can’t wait to get them back out again but John’s schedule can be pretty hectic running a local restaurant. I should know as we see him there at least once or twice a week on a regular basis. The food can only be surpassed by the service as all of his staff treats you like royalty when you eat there. Located in the west island, everyone should give it a try as I’m sure this won’t be a one time visit. This place is packed most days and really fills up on the weekend too. Check it out on line at http://www.delfriscos.ca you won’t be disappointed!