Well day two was even better than the first with many bass and some big ones too! We began in the sun and never lost sight of it all day. Light wind from the SW allowed a beautiful drift whenever we chose to fish that way and he air temps were just incredible for a November day. I think it warmed up to over 50 degrees and even the water temps climbed slightly. You just know the day is going in the right direction when an almost 5 pounder gets landed on your first cast! Craig couldn’t believe his luck when he set the hook and nothing moved in the current. After a few quick pics she was free to go back to where she came from and we were pumped. Herm was having a difficult time this morning but Craig was on fire. He was just pounding them on almost every cast. Although they weren’t all big ones, they were still a thrill in the fast water. Along with this beautiful day there was also a lot of boat traffic and we had to pick & choose where we wanted to fish based on the availability. As with each day lately, we caught fish everywhere we stopped and some real good ones too. Craig had the lunker of the day when he boated a fish of 20 inches. This thing was also almost 17 inches in length and a real football. Several pics were taken before releasing her back as well and Craig was in his glory. Both of them were now into fish and many of them were over 3 pounds and fighting like champs with the aid of fast water. Although there were a few slow periods throughout the day, there were still a lot of active periods as well and we just couldn’t believe this weather. After having fished in hurricanes, heavy rains and freezing temps recently, this was a real treat. It almost felt like Florida! We fished till about 4:15 and decided to end the day on a high with a few more smallies. I’m not sure how many fish were caught today but the weather will be what everyone will remember most. It’s been at least 3 years since I’ve seen temperatures like this in the month of November and I can’t wait for more. I know it can switch overnight instantly, but I’m going to take advantage of it as long as I can. You might say that Herm & Craig hit this trip right on the head without the violent weather conditions they usually bring. I guess they aren’t that unlucky after all! I know they will be going home fully satiated after this one and remembering it for quite some time!!!!

Craig & Herm were back for the weekend, hoping for some more of those big smallies. It was looking like they finally made it without the hurricanes that they usually bring along! We were expecting a light 5 knot wind from the west but it stayed east all day. Sunshine was what was also forecasted but that only arrived mid afternoon after a morning of heavy cloud cover. Fortunately, the air temps were in the upper 40’s and that was really welcomed after yesterday’s arctic blast. The bite was a little slow at first as we drifted over all kinds of fish and very few actually ate our jigs. Some of the ones that were hitting were also not getting on as they were biting light. A number of fish in the 2 to 4 pound range were taken in the first few hours but nothing like we expected. Several walleye and a couple of northerns also made their way into the boat and were immediately released afterwards. We had covered plenty of water by now and there was still no sign of an honest 5 pound fish until the sun finally poked through the clouds. It was like clockwork as the fish started to bite and kept biting for the remainder of the day. Although Craig’s five pounder was the largest of the day there were still plenty of quality bass caught and by 4 o’clock we were ready to call it a day. We will be back out again tomorrow and hopefully bigger and better things will come. Overall it was still a great day on the water with amazing temperatures for the month of November and we even caught a few fish too!!!

After several emails, Jay just had to get back out and catch some of those big smallmouth that he had been hearing so much about. Unfortunately for him, this wasn’t going to be a very nice weather day! We began with air temps around 34 degrees and it really didn’t get any warmer. Go figure, the weathermen forecasted sun and occasional cloud! We on the other hand had clouds and heavy N/W winds that made it feel more like the lower 20’s. Any wind at this time of the year is not welcomed but a 10 to 20 knot wind from the cold north definitely will take the smile off your face. Water temps also fell and were now barely above the 48 degree mark slowing the fish down even more. Although Jay did manage to land a nice one around 3.5 pounds on the first spot, he was having a difficult time feeling the bottom with all the clothes he had on. The heavy gloves weren’t allowing him the luxury of being able to detect the subtle hits of the bass or even the loose weeds he was having on each retrieve. He did manage to catch several fish throughout the morning but never actually felt like he had gotten a handle on the technique until later in the afternoon. In his defense, I wasn’t having an easy time either with the cross winds affecting our boat control in the current and was missing strikes too. They had to be the lightest hits I had seen so far this fall and detecting them was next to impossible. If you were lucky enough to actually feel the take, they almost always dropped the bait immediately after. They just weren’t actively feeding! All morning and into the afternoon we picked at them and slowly brought up our numbers but not to the amount I was so use to lately. In the last 90 minutes of the day it seemed like Jay had finally gotten the hang of this and he started catching them on a regular basis. In each location we fished, he managed to land a handful of decent sized bass up to just over 4 pounds and the smile was back. By 4:00 we were just about done and after a few more casts it was official, back to the ramp. Along with the ramp there was of course the warm truck and that was the best part of the day. I realized just how cold the day was when I read that the outside air temps were only 33 degrees. I was right, they hadn’t gone up, just stayed the same! Maybe this wasn’t the best day to be on the water, but Jay was away from work and catching fish. When he finally thaws out from the cold I think he might appreciate it a little more. Until then, the only thing on his mind is a warm bowel of soup and maybe a roaring fire. Damn, it was cold!!!

Norm was back once again today to tackle more of those giant brown bass. We hit the water around 8:00 and were into fish almost immediately. With the sun out the air temps of 34 degrees didn’t feel quite as cold and the non existent winds made it even better. We weren’t expecting a much warmer day with the high expected to only reach 40 degrees, but we were pumped. It had been a week or so since Norm was out and saw Allison land the giant that he had been looking for and he wanted his today! Back to the current breaks we went and we began by throwing cranks t to see if we could entice a few of the more active big ones to bite. Several followers were seen and a few of the medium ones actually did commit but not the ones we were looking for. With the water temps below 50 degrees, I decided that we would have to slow down if we wanted to monopolize on them and began throwing jigs. It was definitely the ticket because for the next few hours it was just insane. There were so many fish landed that we just lost count! Bass ranging from 2 to over 4 pounds came aboard, but none of the really bigguns were contacted. It wasn’t until later in the afternoon that a couple of fish over 5 pounds were caught and a few even larger lost. Like all days out lately, there were fish on each and every spot I stopped. This was great because when the sun disappeared earlier and the winds kicked up from the N/NE, it got quite a bit colder. The only reason we didn’t complain about the cold was because we were catching fish. That alone will keep anyone warm! We fished until about four and when the bite slowed, decided to call it a day. Norm may not have gotten any sleep the night before, but he was definitely on his game today. He’s still looking for an honest weighed six pound smallie but he will take days like this anytime. Visions of smallmouth will be dancing in his head tonight!!

Scott & his dad Tom fished with me today for another unbelievable day of catching. We hooked up around 8:00 and were on the water not long after in slightly below freezing temps. The sun was out though, making it feel a little warmer and there was little to no wind as well. The high forecasted for us was to be a chilly one at only 38 degrees max but this time they came prepared. Tom hooked up first but it was only after he had missed 3 strikes on consecutive casts before. A nice chunky 3 pounder had fallen victim to the slowly moved jig and I knew there would be plenty more. It was to be another one of those days where we caught fish all day long in each & every spot we fished. Both Scott & Tom were into bass ranging from 2 to over 5 pounds frequently and loving every minute of it. They even had some bonus walleye today that would be invited to a cook out back home. Somewhere late in the morning, the sun turned to overcast skies but the fish kept biting. At one point it even looked like we might get snow, but fortunately for us, it never happened. We must have fished a dozen areas today and concentrated on the current breaks and edges to monopolize on the aggressive biters. They were there and they were hungry! Although the crankbait bite really wasn’t the ticket like a couple of weeks before, by fine tuning the presentation we were able to have the same results. This river system has all the right ingredients to produce fish right up until ice up and I’m going to be there to test it too. By the time the afternoon neared the end it was getting quite a bit chillier and we decided to call it a day. They had caught more bass in one day than practically their entire season and everyone went home satisfied. Scott had treated his dad to another day on the water and another successful one too! Although they had a long drive back home I don’t think they would run out of conversation along their way as the day would provide plenty of things to be remembered!!