Andre and Gerard were with me today and yes it was another windy day! The big NE blow has been with me for over a week and just won’t go away. It definitely makes fishing a challenge! Instead of making a drift for walleye, I had to slowly go against the current, amongst all the floating weeds. Their die off at this time of year usually goes downstream with the current, but opposing winds are stalling their movement. Just a pain in the butt!

We stuck with the reverse drift for several hours this morning and managed a few walleye, perch, bass and one large northern pike. I eventually made a long run to another location, in hopes of less wind. Apparently, it was the right choice as the waves were considerably smaller and we were able to fish effectively. They casted a dropshot rig over a flat and managed several good smallies. We also tried for sturgeon and had one big bite, landing a nice fish in the process.

I had made another move to an open water spot, but soon found out that it was next to impossible to fish. Our next spot saw a few smallies and one more walleye landed before we pulled the plug here too! Any open water area with current was difficult to fish today as the winds were opposing the flow, creating big waves. I decided to try one last place in hopes of a few more fish before we would be done.

I saw that the waves had subsided some where we had begun and decided to stop and try drifting for the last 30 minutes of the day. I would still have to use the electric motor to pull the boat downstream, but it was doable. Gerard soon proved that with a nice 22-inch walleye and a few pics were taken before their reluctant release. Rules are rules! Soon after he managed another one and this time it made the cut and entered the livewell with the others. Andre also hooked into one as well and their limit was complete. We fished a little longer but never caught anything else, before we called it for the day. Today was quite a challenge, as usual, but we made it work! I covered plenty of water to get the job done and had to bypass lots of good areas, due to the terrible conditions. Regardless, they were taking fish home for dinner and had a great time as usual, catching many other fish. I’m just hoping that this NE wind finally blows itself out and we can get back to normal. There’s still plenty of good fishing left in the season before I store the boat and I want to be out every day that I can. It was definitely a tough, but rewarding outing!!

After a cancellation last Friday, Jiang was finally able to get out with me today. He was in from Shanghai and wanting to catch something big. We were heading to fish for sturgeon and anything else that happened to bite our lines!

Setting up in a NE wind again was getting really old. It definitely wasn’t easy trying to see the bites with the rods in the holders. Eventually, after a few missed strikes, I decided that holding them was the only way to go. This proved to be the right choice as many fish were caught afterwards. Both sturgeon and drum came aboard, along with a few bass as well.

We spent the day on only two places and they were equally as good. A few more sturgeon and bass were also caught in the second area and one really big beast was lost due to an insufficient sized net. I won’t be making that mistake again!

Overall, it was another great outing, even with the crazy NE winds. I don’t think Mother Nature knew what to do! The gusting wind had the boat moving all over, making it next to impossible for the rod holders. In the end, we managed to make it work and made the best of a difficult situation. Just another day in paradise!

Yvan was back with me today and we headed right to an area in the open water. I thought I’d try for walleye before the winds kicked up too big, again! We stayed for almost an hour with only a few fish to show for our efforts, despite seeing all kinds on the sonar. They just didn’t want to eat! I soon decided to pull the plug and try to fish for sturgeon instead.

We weren’t settled in for too long before things started to happen. Yvan did battle with a nice big one soon after arriving and I knew it would only get better. In the next few hours, we had all kinds of fish. Sturgeon, catfish, drum, eel, and bass were all landed. Not wanting to remain here all day, I decided to try another deep-water area in hopes of some good smallies. Apparently, it was the right move as we managed to land all kinds of fish in the remaining time. Most of the bass were quality ones too!

Today was a mix of weather and winds with cloud, rain and sunshine throughout the day. Couple that with a swirling wind from just about every direction at times and you have an example of what we endured. Despite all of this, we still managed to have a great day of fishing!!

Richard and his friend had a late start to a half day of fishing today. We began at 9:00 and were scheduled to stop at 1:00, but ended closer to 2:00. The conditions made it difficult with the wind from the NE, once again. I was able to get them both into a sturgeon at the start, but they were on the smaller side. From there, we switched over to bass and managed a few more, smaller ones and a walleye as well. It wasn’t until the winds died down almost completely that they were able to get a decent bass. Too bad it was the only one! We hit a couple more spots without any luck, before we were done. If I had more time, I would have tried a few different things to get them into more fish. Time flies when it’s only a half day!!

Phil & his son Zev joined me today and what a day they had. Multi species was the target and there were plenty of firsts for Zev! We spent the first few hours anchored up in an area for sturgeon and he boated bass, sturgeon, catfish, redhorse sucker and an eel. A total of 4 new fish for him to start!

I decided to try some deep water smallies next and we managed to get into some good ones. The drifts were a little tricky, with the wind angled against the current once again. Phil had no trouble getting the hang of the vertical presentation and Zev eventually figured it out too with a couple of bass as well.

With limited time remaining, I decided to try another section of the lake for walleye and perch before we were done. Unfortunately, the floating weeds in this area were almost impossible to fish. We did manage to get into a pile of perch but Zev was the only one to land a walleye. Too bad it was an under and released to bite another day. Some of the larger perch were kept for a meal, instead of the anticipated walleye.

This day was filled with plenty of action, from all kinds of fish species. Phil & Zev saw many different kinds of fish and caught a great variety of them. In the end, a bunch of tasty perch made their way home with them too. Overall, a great way to end the day!!