Curt & Peter joined me today on a local lake hoping to catch some northern pike and oh how they did just that! We rolled out just after 7:30 A.M. in a light drizzle that dissipated rather quickly after we arrived at our first location. Winds were out of the north but real light and it was overcast as I set the rods out, searching for our first biter. Air temps were in the 60’s and expected to go into the mid 70’s and the water temps were hovering around 63.5 degrees once again. Our first rip was a drive bye and I wasn’t too pleased, but we soon locked up minutes later and Curt was into his first of many northerns for the day. Several more fish came aboard and then Peter grabbed the rod to find a beautiful walleye over 24 inched in length attached to the lure. It was starting off pretty good this morning and I anticipated that it was only going to get better! About ten minutes and several northerns later, Peter picked up another rod with an even bigger walleye locked on the lure and couldn’t believe its size. At around 26 inches is was rather thin from the recent spawn and should have weighed in at somewhere closer to 7 pounds. Not wanting to be left out, Curt picked up one of his own a little smaller and now we had three in the livewell for later pics. The morning was filled with fish every few minutes for a while and then it just shut down completely. I had to do some searching but soon was back into them once more and Peter was landing big northerns this time. I think the largest one of the day had to go to Curt at just over 34 inches in length. These fish too were a little on the light side from the previous spawn and feeding to bulk up after. With the cold water temps they were a little more lethargic than I would have liked and I had to change locations and presentations several times throughout the day in order to keep the rods bent. I kept with the program and it really paid off for Peter when another rod fired in the afternoon and he was landing the largest walleye of his life. This one should have been closer to 10 pounds but like all the others, a little thin from the spawn. It was over 28 inches and a real beauty of a fish none the less! Several quick pics and right back to the lake she went unharmed. For the remainder of the day we continued to catch many, many more northerns and even a couple more walleye. At one point they had a double header and Peter reeled in another big walleye over 25 inches and Curt landed a pike over 32 inches. They were tight to the same area, obviously! The winds picked up later in the afternoon and were blowing from the east at around 10 knots causing me to change tactics once more in order to continue getting the bites I wanted. Apparently, I was doing something right because the fish just kept coming and these guys just kept reeling in one after another, all day long! By 4:30 P.M. we decided to call it a day as Curt reeled in the last northern. I really don’t know how many fish came aboard today but it was more than enough to keep everyone happy. Their first Canadian trolling experience was a great success and they will both be taking home knowledge for future outings along with the memories from this spectacular day. Oh Canada!!

Although I had only been on the water once this week, it was a successful 5 hours of fishing. Today I was back out again with Norm and his faithful companion, Buddha. We launched just after 7:00 A.M. and were on our way to an unbelievable fishing day. We would be trolling for pike & walleye once again and hopefully catching more walleye than pike. The weather was overcast, though we were suppose to have mostly sunshine and the air had a cold chill to it too. The temps were only 60 degrees at best and the water was pretty much the same as we began our troll. I was surprised to see that the water had cooled off almost 10 degrees in just a week and wasn’t sure how the fish were going to react. As always, the first reel to go had a small northern attached to the lure but that’s alright, the skunk was gone. We managed to only catch pike throughout the early part of the morning, but did have a guest appearance from a big largemouth bass. It hit the same presentation where I had been catching pike & walleye and was quite the surprise! Not until some time after 10:30 did we encounter the elusive walleye! Lately they were above average in size and this one wasn’t any different! At around 24 inches in length it was a solid 4.5 pounds with the full belly it was sporting. Not long after, doubles and a mixed bag was taken. Both fish were decent size with the northern running above 6 pounds and the walleye in the 5 pound class once again. We landed a couple more walleye in the next half hour along with many, many more northerns and decided to move to newer water in search of more fish. This was to prove to be a slower than expected ordeal as we didn’t have too much success other than more pike. We managed to make our way back to the zones we were doing so well in when the long line began screaming once more. To both our surprise, it wasn’t anything either of us had expected and just peeling line from the reel, nonstop. I was thinking Muskie when this beast took to the air and I realized it was a huge sturgeon. Norm hadn’t seen the leap but it was quite spectacular! First thoughts were that we had snagged it with the lure, but it actually had the hooks in the mouth. I knew I was going to have to stay on top of this dinosaur and dropped the electric motor to be able to follow it around. The battle lasted for about 35 minutes before I was able to grab her by the tail with both hands. Man, are these things strong! We lifted it up for a couple of quick picks and released her back to where she belonged. Back to trolling we went, both hoping that this wouldn’t happen again! For the remainder of the afternoon, we managed to get into plenty more northerns but weren’t able to find any more walleye. We did however catch several of their cousins the perch and they were rather large too. Somewhere after 4:00 P.M. we decided to call it a day and head back. Of course the sun had finally come out, just in time for us to leave. Gotta love the weather forecasters! Overall it was quite an impressive day with a few surprises thrown into the mix. We had managed to get into plenty of fish and the prehistoric beast was the icing on the cake!!

This was going to be an interesting day as the weather forecast called for 100% rain for the entire outing. Thankfully, they weren’t totally right and for once it was for the good. We launched in overcast conditions and little to no wind and were fishing not long after. Although the air temps were just 68 degrees, the humidity made it feel a whole lot warmer. Rick & his son Jeroen were from Europe and in for a real treat as I set the lines to begin the troll. If it was only half as good as yesterday they would be thrilled, but I knew better. Three lines in the water made for 33% better odds and I was banking on this when the first rod fired within the one minute mark. It was a small northern but it broke the ice. There were plenty more pike before I finally got the first walleye to eat. This fish came from shallow water and not anywhere near the areas I fished yesterday. It was a beautiful 5 pound plus eye and into the livewell for some shots later it went. Although Rick had caught the cousin of this fish before in Holland, he had never really seen one with yellow coloration. The Zander pales in comparison to the beautiful Dore that we have here in Quebec and he was impressed. When we finally located some fish it was just crazy as reels were firing off every couple of minutes making this really exciting. I knew we weren’t going to be lucky all day with the weather and eventually we had the rain move in on us. It didn’t last too long but it was annoying as we were always putting it on and taking it off. Sort of like “Wax On Wax Off”! By covering plenty of water and focusing on specific areas I was able to keep them on fish all day long. There were even 4 more beautiful walleye landed with 3 of them close to if not six pounds. Northerns up to 7 pounds were caught along with many, many others slightly smaller too. It may not have been the best all around weather day but the action was fast & furious from start to finish. At one point in the afternoon, we even had the clouds break up and sunshine move in for a while. This was really a messed up day, weather wise and we were overcoming it with the quantity of fish being caught. I may have stayed out even longer if it weren’t for the thunder that we heard close to 5 o’clock. This is never good and within minutes we were blasting off in the direction of the boat ramp. I’m not a big fan of electricity and when thunder sounds, lightning isn’t far behind! I don’t think either of them were too disappointed as this was probably the most fish they had ever caught in a one day outing. They must have boated around 60 fish today and lost plenty of others along the way too! Action from start to finish, non stop! They will definitely be taking loads of memories home with them as well as some excellent pics of their catches of the day. Another safe trip on the lake with no mishaps, despite the amazingly low water levels!!

First day out on local water and boy was it scary! Darren joined me on the “Maiden Voyage” in pursuit of walleye & pike. With the water levels so low, I was really careful as to where I ran and the launch wasn’t too pretty either. I am however thankful for the jack plate that I have as I am able to raise the motor as much as 8 inches. We were blessed with sunshine and S/W winds of 5 to 10 knots along with highs that came close to 80 degrees. I focused entirely on trolling today in order to get a feel for the water and what was going on in the lake. Everything changes when you lose 3 feet of water level and an adjustment was needed to locate these fish today. The water temps were between 63.5 & 68.5 degrees throughout the day as we moved along. The first reel to fire was a rather small northern but it took the skunk out of the boat anyway. After travelling a fair distance and changing up lures to meet the conditions we finally locked into what I was after. Many northerns were landed before this walleye was brought to net but she was worth the wait. It was close to a 5 pounder and real fat too! Clouds had moved in a little earlier and these fish were becoming active because we popped another clone moments after the first one was boated. In between the pike bites we were taking a walleye here & there and before we knew it, we had landed two limits worth. It would have been a sin to kill these fish as they were all between 3 & 5 pounds. I had to make another adjustment when the sun came out and switch depths as well as lures in order to keep the bite going, but I figured out the winning combo. By the end of the day there were over 50 fish landed as well as plenty more lost along the way. It was a very successful first trip of the season and nothing got damaged in the process. I did run through some skinny water at times but with the motor elevated, it was a breeze. I can’t wait to get back out again tomorrow with clients from Holland!!

Mike was joining me today and we hit the lake just after 7:00 A.M. with hopes for a great day. The weather had warmed up considerably and hadn’t cooled off much overnight. It was 56 degrees when we started and the water temps were above 66 when I set the lines. Although the lake was blowing at 10 to 15 from the south, the area I was in hadn’t a ripple. Mostly cloud cover with an occasional sunny break made the trolling quite pleasant. Too bad the fish weren’t active here as it was over an hour before we had a reel fire and it was another drive bye. Eventually I found a sole fish suspended 15 down over 40 feet of water and once again stalled the boat letting the lines drop into the strike zone before hitting the gas again. Seconds later the short, deep line screamed and it was game on. Mike had the first fish of the day and of his life on the fly and boy was it a crazy one. It must have gone to the air at least a dozen times and blazed line from the reel the whole time. It was touch & go several times as to whether or not he was going to land this fish but we were finally able to get it into the net. To my amazement, it wasn’t a salmon but rather a very nice rainbow of over 3 pounds. Bonus fish! After battling this trout on the fly rod, Mike wished that he had taken me up on the spring season salmon fishing much earlier. We combed this section a little longer without another touch before I decided to hit the other area I had found yesterday afternoon. When I arrived, I wished that I had hit it earlier as the wind was blowing pretty good and there were fish everywhere. Along with all the suspended hooks there was also the presence of baitfish and I knew we were going to get bit. Within minutes over 120 feet of water, the long line started screaming and before I could even get it out of the rod holder, the salmon was going aerial, way back. Mike was having a blast battling these fish on light tackle and couldn’t believe just how much fun they actually were. Unfortunately, this salmon was a little short at just under 16 inches and had to be released. I reset the lines and started trolling again and within 10 minutes the long line went off once more and Mike was into another silver bullet. I think this salmon came close to the rainbow with the number of jumps it made before getting to the net. Once again we had to release the fish as it was 1/8 of an inch shy of the legal limit. I was sure we were going to get into a bunch more and wasn’t worried! To my amazement, the winds let up almost completely and when they died, so did the bite. It was like I was in a ghost town as nothing was marking on the sonar at all anymore. I covered different water trying to find them again and around one point started marking fish when both reels went off at the same time. Too bad one was a perch and the other a juvenile salmon! We kept at it in search of active fish but only picked at them for the remainder of the day. A couple of short lake trout and another salmon were added to our catch but none of them were legal and went back to the water unharmed. Although it would have been nice for Mike to take a salmon or two home along with the rainbow, he still had a blast fighting these scrappy little aerial acrobats on the fly. I’m sure when I let him know next season that the bite is on that he will be one of the first to book a day, knowing what he knows now!!