After being down for a few days, due to a tow vehicle issue, I was forced to buy a new truck. The old one just died on the way home from my last trip and I needed something to pull the boat. It had served me well for 13 years and I replaced it with another Silverado, quickly! Hopefully this one would do the same!

Alina and her husband hit the water with me this morning for what was supposed to be a full day of fishing. We began with a terrible NE wind that wasn’t good for any of the places I wanted to fish. After trying a key area and finding it next to impossible to work, I decided to make an even longer run in search of smoother waters. It was here that they both began catching one bass after the other and some of them were really good size! We remained in the area and I worked it over thoroughly before making another short move. The next spot wasn’t quite as good as the first, but there were several more good fish landed as well.

I had made another shift in locations and began pulling the boat down current, against the wind. We were working deeper water when her husband hooked into something substantially larger than what they had been catching. I knew it had to be a sturgeon and most likely snagged! To my surprise, after almost 10 minutes, he had it to the surface and I saw that it had eaten the dropshot bait. This was only the third time in twice as many years that someone was bitten on this artificial. It was quite large and definitely the biggest fish he had ever caught! I was able to get part of the body in the net and somehow brought it aboard for them to take a few pics. Alina had been shooting in video mote through the entire battle and they couldn’t have been more excited! Shortly after, the fish was released and they called it a day. I was surprised to hear this, but they were quite satisfied and ready to leave. Today had surpassed any expectations that they had and ended on a high!

Mother Nature may have been a little nasty today with the hateful NE wind, but I was still able to make it another successful trip. The number of big bass landed in only a few short hours was great, but the huge sturgeon was the icing on the cake. Another great day of fishing!!

Connie & Wayne joined me this morning for another great bass outing again. The numbers were definitely there and several of the fish were a good size. Their long drive in from Vermont was definitely worth the early wake up to get here on time. Both Connie and Wayne landed many football sized smallies in the short half day trip. In fact, we left them biting once again, ending on a double! Overall, another great day for fishing!!

An afternoon trip today with Brian & Troy, turned out to be very productive. They were from Missouri, the show me state and I did just that! They pounded on smallies the entire time out and we ended the day with some of the bigger ones. Both guys landed their personal best brownies, several times over. When the winds picked up big, I switched them over to the blades and Troy landed a couple more before we were done. Overall, a great time with a couple of great guys!!

I had double trips again today and began with Nick and his 2 colleges this morning. Not having fished much before they had a tough time getting started, but they eventually turned it around. A quick walleye spot only saw 1 high end keeper come aboard that was released later in the day. The bass area produced plenty of opportunities for them and they did manage several decent fish in the time we were out. They even called it a little earlier as they had been fishing long enough and decided to end their trip. Overall, a good half day outing!

The afternoon swap out saw a group of people that had been with me before. Peter, Justin and Greg were hoping for a great trip and I wasn’t about to disappoint! The conditions were about as perfect as you could ask for, with zero wind and high temperatures. It felt more like July than October today!

I decided to try a big fish spot first and everyone landed multiple fish, with several of them being personal bests. I had remained in this one area for as long as the fish wanted to bite before moving on. It was on fire with the big ones!

After spending a considerable amount of time in our first area, I finally made a long run to the second spot. This place proved to be even better than the first with high numbers of bass being landed. Although there were plenty of missed fish and others that just came off the hooks, these guys fended quite well. So much so that we never changed locations again! Our next move was back to the docks to take out, as we just ran out of time. Yes, we actually left the fish biting!

Today was a great day to be on the water and I think everyone else felt the same way. There were many other boats out there too! We definitely fended better than most as several of them tried to move in on us in the second place we fished. Peter and his buddies just couldn’t stop talking about the outcome of today all the way back to the ramp. It was surely the best day they had ever spent fishing and the numbers of big fish they caught were just insane. I know for sure that they’ll be talking about this one for a while and have plenty of great pics as proof of their success. Bragging rights all around boys!!

Jim & Marie were back for their annual fall fishing trip and they once again brought the wind. We were going to experience a big north blow for the entire time they were here. I was also going to have to switch puddles and fish!

The first day saw us taking a road trip and heading east. The winds would be much more tolerable where I was going and hopefully there would be fish. First cast by Marie saw a healthy 2-pound bass and I really thought we were going to hammer them. Boy, was I wrong! She had only one more smaller bass hooked on a crank, but it came off before reaching the boat. Our second spot produced nothing and we were on the move again. I was going to have a tough time today by the way it was looking!

Although the day began slowly, we managed to grind it out. There was only one spot that gave up any numbers and we stayed there for the entire time they were biting. Jim did however pick up one nice walleye from the area and it made for our first pic of the day.

The entire afternoon saw us covering water with a fish or two here and there, but no concentrations. The water levels were extremely low and I think this had the fish set up differently. More current was definitely better today! Although it wasn’t what I had expected, they did manage to catch a bunch of fish and that’s all that counts. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better!

Day two saw us heading to the usual body of water that I focus on most of the year. The winds weren’t great, but they seemed doable! I was going to give it a try and hoped for more and bigger today.

We made a long run to get the day started and began shallow to get out of the worst winds. They were blowing pretty good from the N/NE but were somewhat less where we were. As usual, Marie got the day started with the first bass, but it didn’t take Jim long before he too contributed. I had them both dropshotting and plenty of fish were caught and or missed while we were here. When it got slow, I moved offshore a bit and they continued to catch again. Today was the total opposite of what yesterday was, with each place holding numbers. Size was a different story but our next place did have several good ones landed before we almost ran out of time.

With the day passing quickly, they didn’t have much time left in their trip. I thought I would try one last area in the middle of nowhere to complete the day. It was here that they landed quality and I couldn’t leave them biting. I had to extent their time as it was just too good! Both Jim and Marie managed to catch their biggest fish of the trip and we only left when they stopped biting. Talk about a great way to end the day!

Water levels were definitely one of the reasons for tough fishing, but the NE winds were the biggest culprit. Mother Nature made fishing tough, as usual, but we overcame her wrath! It may have been a challenge but adjustments in presentation and moving around gave them the success they had. It’s always a great time when they are here and this trip was no different. I can’t wait for them to come back again next year!!