This was Mike’s last day here, so we decided to give the trophy lake another try before he headed home. As usual, it rained pretty much all day long, with some heavier downpours at times. The air temps reached about 65 degrees towards the end of the day and we actually got about an hour of sunshine around 4:00 PM. Light winds and overcast skies were what we fished in all day and this made it impossible to see any follow ups from the bass. It was a really slow bite until we switched to crank-baits! We landed several smallies up to 5 pounds 5 ounces in a few hours and lost others as well. There was even another lake trout caught on a fin-s tipped jig and one more lost too. The day was a little tougher as the water temps actually dropped to 51 degrees with all the cold rain that fell. Close to 20 more smallmouth bass were caught & released today on mostly crank-baits in 6 to 10 feet of water. All in all, this was a pretty good day considering all these horrible, rainy conditions.

Mike & I went back to the same lake again this morning and we had an even tougher time once more. It rained pretty much all day with downpours at times! The water temps were between 50 & 53 degrees, depending on the areas being fished. We had so much rain overnight that the water clarity was brown in some of the shallower sections of the lake. We began throwing soft plastic jerk-baits over shallow water and only came up with a few fish. The balance of the day was spent fishing deeper water along break-lines and most of the better fish up to 5 pounds were taken this way. Jigs accounted for all of these bigger smallies as well as another brown trout of over 4 pounds. Close to 20 smallmouth bass were caught & released on another miserable day.

Mike & I were back on the water again this morning, on another trophy lake. Water temps were between 51 & 52.5, depending on the area being fished. The skies were overcast when we began, but turned to drizzle & rain not too long after. There was little to no wind and the air temps were slightly over 50 degrees. Jerkbaits were what we began with, but had a hard time getting into many fish. Only two bass were caught on the jerkbaits with a couple of others seen. The best fish of 4.5 pounds came on a jig, once again. With the fishing a little slow, we decided to try another lake for the afternoon and headed off he water before lunch. This would prove to be a good choice as we ended the day with about 20 bass caught & released up to 4.5 pounds. Most of the fish on this lake were taken on soft jerkbaits, but some were caught on jigs as well. The weather was really terrible as we had rain all afternoon long. Water temps were pretty much the same all over at 51.7 degrees. We did end the day with a bonus brown trout of 5 pounds and a couple of lake trout missed. Considering the conditions, we did all right!!!

I spent the day fishing a trophy lake for smallmouth bass with Mike today and what a day it was! Jerkbaits & fin-s tipped jigs accounted for over 30 smallies landed under not so perfect conditions. The weather began overcast and late in the morning started to rain. Air temps reached 60 degrees by late in the afternoon with E/SE winds at 15 to 20 knots, blowing waves of two feet in certain areas. Even the water temps were a little colder than I had expected with the average being just 51 degrees. Only one lake trout was caught today of 5 pounds, but we were after the jumbo smallies. Of the 30 bass landed today, 20 of them were between 4 & 5 pounds and several were over 5 as well. Unfortunately, we didn’t get anything over 6 today, but they were still real quality bronzebacks, nevertheless. All in all a really fantastic day for quality fish!!!

Dave would be fishing with me today and hoped to catch a bass over 6 pounds for his personal best! Another trip to one of the trophy lakes in the area and within 15 minutes after arrival, 3 smallies were boated up to 4.5 pounds. The winds were going to be a pain once again as they were blowing 10 to 20 from the E/SE. In a couple of hours of fishing there were 6 bass and 2 lakers landed with the bass being 3 to 4.5 pounds. Air temps were in the high 50’s and the water temps were in the low 50’s. I decided a move was in order and headed to another location with deep water adjacent to a flat. Another lake trout was missed and a couple of big smallies followed the lures, but no takers. In the next area however, Dave finally got his wish! He hooked into a real giant and the fight began! Even with these water temps being 48 degrees. the fish actually managed to jump a few times before she came to the net. A quick measurement of 21 inches by 16 inches put this fish right in the 6-pound category. A couple of quick pictures and back she went. We continued to fish in a few more areas and Dave caught plenty more smallies up to 5 pounds before lunch. After we finished our “Shore Lunch” we were back into fish almost immediately! With the winds getting stronger, I think this was activating the bass as Dave pounded them in the next half hour. One small area produced at least 10 fish with most of them being 4 to 5 pounds, once again. Controlling the boat in three footers without being blown onto the shore wasn’t an easy task, but we managed! Eventually I had to try something else and ran to what I thought was a sheltered area on the other side of the lake. It seemed that the wind just swirled from a different direction here and really wasn’t much different at all. Dave hooked into a fish on his first cast and realized immediately that it wasn’t a bass. It turned out to be a Salmon around 4 pounds and proceeded to go ballistic. The outcome was inevitable as it soon tore off the hook after three spectacular jumps and line screaming runs. It was too bad too, as this would have been a lovely addition to the livewell, with the laker. Another half dozen or so smallies up to 5 pounds were landed in the next short while, before we decided to call it quits. The day ended with at least 25 or 30 smallies caught & released with the average size being over 4.5 pounds. Another spectacular day to say the least!!