Nick brought along his son and his wife today for a morning trip on the water. The winds were blowing out of the W/SW and pretty good for the start. Several drifts over a key area for walleye only produced 1 good keeper eye and a bunch of missed strikes, so plan B had to go into effect sooner than expected. We made a long run, in big waves to get to another area for bass and weren’t disappointed! Everyone caught their share of fish but Sophie managed the biggest ones for the day. I was definitely glad we made the run! Gotta love Mother Nature in the fall!!

Luca and his father Tony joined me this morning, hoping for a great day of fishing. It was a birthday gift for Luca from his parents and he was really excited about getting back on the water again this fall. I had plans of trying for sturgeon first and moving on to bass afterwards.

Although we checked out several places for those dinosaurs, we never really saw much on the sonar. I eventually settled in one spot that had some potential, but was only rewarded with a Red Horse Sucker! Eventually we just pulled the plug and went for bass!

The balance of the day was spent fishing for smallies and there were plenty landed by both. With each area they fished, multiple bass were caught. In the end, I left them biting when we ran out of time. There were so many fish in these areas that I wasn’t able to complete all the spots I wanted. Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to come back another day!

Today was another special day for Luca as he not only got to go fishing on his birthday, but he did it with his dad. This surprise trip was told to him only the night before making it even better. He had also landed his personal best bass today making for the icing on the cake! For once, the weather worked out and the winds were light at best. I guess all the stars were aligned for Luca today!!

Herm and his son Greg were back today and excited about getting out fishing. An earlier injury had Herm sidelined for quite some time and today was the first day back in a while Hopefully the fish would cooperate for them!

Unfortunately, we were greeted with a NE wind this morning blowing at 10 to 15 knots. This made for a difficult drift, or pass, over the area I was fishing. Although the fish were here, they seemed like they had zero interest in biting! I was marking plenty of walleye, but all we had to show for our efforts were perch and bass. After working the area thoroughly, I finally pulled the plug and headed to our next spot.

Both Herm & Greg were fishing slowly with a dropshot rig and they eventually began to hook up. These fish weren’t chasing anything down and you had to be right in their face to get bit. The rewards were big bass and plenty of them too! Herm had the hot hand, no pun intended and managed to catch several really good ones from this area. We stayed here for a while and they both landed their share of quality bass. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and the bite eventually just died. Time for another move!

The weather was warming up nicely, from the chilly start and the boats were out in full force. I wanted to fish a spot further away and found out there were 5 boats in the vicinity, when I got close. Instead, I decided to try a little deeper water outside, hoping that some of them would eventually leave. We managed to get several good fish offshore in the short time we were there. The winds were a bit of a pain causing the drift to be a little sloppy. It was almost stronger than the current we were in and we had to fish the opposite side of the boat for a change! I made a couple of passes before relocating to the shallower water when most of the boats left. A few more bites were had, but not as many as I was hoping for. There was still one other boat fishing the area from a different direction and I think he had been there all morning, catching. I soon realized that it wasn’t worth grinding out a few more bites and with limited time remaining in the day, made another move.

I decided to stop where we had started the day to see if the walleye had changed their attitudes, but not surprisingly, they hadn’t! A couple of passes later, we moved to our last spot to finish off the day. It was here that a couple more bass were seen and one of them was serious quality too! We finally ended the day and headed back to the ramp to take out.

Today was a great one, despite the strong opposing wind direction. Herm had finally gotten out in over 6 months and realized that it was possible to fish again. His son Greg was just happy to catch some fish as well and spend quality time with his dad. It was a win, win for both! I know that Herm will be back again this fall with his usual fishing partner Craig and I can’t wait to have them both out. Quality time and quality fish were had today!!

A long overdue trip with Phil finally happened today. We managed to coordinate our schedules and hit the water this morning, in pursuit of big fish. His youngest son Zev was also along and between the three of us, I was sure it would happen!

The winds were supposed to blow big today and I decided to start in an area that would be unfishable later on. It was here that most of the damage was done, as several walleye were landed. The fish weren’t overly aggressive but we managed to catch a bunch regardless. Zev reeled in a couple of big fish with a personal best 28-inch walleye and another pike even longer. We made multiple passes over a small area to accomplish this and the results were definitely worth the effort.

I had wanted to leave some time to fish for bass and when the winds picked up, I shifted locations to try. It was a little slow at first, but I soon located an area where the big ones were and multiple fish were hooked. Unfortunately, most of them were lost during the battle, but this happens sometimes. We were dropshotting and this required finesse and patience with the howling winds. Some of the bites were difficult to detect if lines were slack but both Zev and Phil managed to get into fish regardless. I even managed to catch one while showing them what they needed to do!

Time had passed quickly today and we decided to return to our first area again, hoping for a few more bites. Unfortunately, the waves were larger and after a couple of passes with only perch, we called it a day. They had experienced some great fishing for a variety of species and were lucky enough to be bringing some of them home. Zev had broken his PB for walleye and a new screen saver on is phone was born! Together, we had landed 3 different species with big fish in each. I was happy to have finally gotten Phil and his son out and we were all thrilled on the outcome of the day. Great times were had by all on this beautiful fall like fishing day!!

I had the pleasure of taking two couples out today, all the way from Texas. Conditions were just about perfect for them as we were faced with another flat calm day. They had scheduled an afternoon trip but we began at 10:00 as I was free in the morning. I knew it was going to be a great day!

Terry drew first blood with a smallie from deep water, as I prepped the other lines. Once completed, everyone got into the game too. There were fish on this shoal and they were catching them good! Greg managed to get the most and the biggest, but their wives also contributed to the total of fish caught. As usual, there were plenty of lost or missed fish as well.

With the deep spot slowing down, I decided to move shallower and this is where we spent the balance of their day. It was just loaded and everyone was catching. Although most of the fish were on the smaller side, they did manage to capture several larger ones from this area. In the end, I think we left them biting.

Today couldn’t have gone better with many bass being caught by everyone. The conditions made for an incredible day, all the way back to the dock. The flat water was just what we needed for the long run and time flew by quickly. I know that if they ever get back to the city that I can expect another outing with them as they had the time of their lives, catching smallies all day long!