Phil was back today, with his son Levi for another banner day of fishing. Levi also brought along his girlfriend Lindsay who had not fished since she was a kid. It would be like learning all over again! Fortunately the fish were cooperating and that’s always a good thing!

Our first spot had Levi hooking up and the others followed in suit. All three of them landed a bunch of keeper sized walleye as well as a few overs. Both Lindsay and Levi also managed to bring in good sized northerns from the same spot. Phil was the only one to be fortunate enough to catch a nice smallie and then the wind died. We had been drifting over the area but were now forced to go to casting it due to no movement. Plenty more fish were landed before I decided to try another place for bass instead. I rigged up a topwater for Phil and soft plastics for the others. Phil hoped for something of a surface bite and wanted to give it a try.

Several casts in while Phil wasn’t paying attention, a smallie smashed his lure and was instantly gone. At least we knew that they would hit on the surface! A bunch of bass were caught on soft plastic before he had another shot at one and the same thing happened. A couple more did the same thing after and then one finally connected. He officially managed to get one on the pop-r! Many more fish were landed on the soft plastics and Phil caught another on the topwater lure once again. He loved fishing the surface and was quite happy with just the two he had gotten!

After a short time swimming for Levi & Lindsay, we decided to change locations and made one more final move. I headed to a place to drift now that the wind had picked up and they weren’t disappointed. Everyone managed to land a few more bass and Phil caught the biggest one of the day. We definitely ended on a high!

This outing was filled with plenty of adjustments but at least we weren’t pounding big waves like I was used to seeing lately. Although the winds stopped completely, I was able to work around the flat calm and continue to catch fish. Several changes were made to make this another successful and productive day. Who could ask for anything more!

Camilla brought her husband and two sons out this morning and everyone had a blast! The winds weren’t too bad to begin but built as the morning went on. Before I knew it, we were back in big waves as usual! At least the fish were biting and everyone caught. Although more fish were missed or lost, there were still plenty of bass & walleye landed.

This afternoon I had Brahm and his grandson Russell out and the conditions were slightly worse. They had a difficult time knowing if it was bottom or a bite and unfortunately also missed more than they landed. Russell did manage to catch a nice sized northern on a drop shot rig that gave him a great fight. Along with the pike they boated several bass too! A little tougher than the morning shift but still a great way to spend the afternoon!

After a no show yesterday from someone that booked the day on line, I was back at it today. Richard and his son William were with me and guess what, it was windy once again! Four out of the five days this week were blowing hard and the waves were big! Of course yesterday was calm as I had the day off!

I headed to an area that had been producing good numbers of quality bass & walleye and rigged up the drop shot rods. A heavy weight was needed to allow them to feel bottom with the speed we were drifting and instructions on how to fish the rig. Although it was hard at times, they figured it out and it wasn’t long before Richard was on the board. His first fish was a nice smallie and it wasn’t going to be his last. They both boated a good number of fish throughout the day, but I think they lost or missed more than they caught. Despite the heavier weights, they were still having a tough time feeling the bottom and knowing when a fish bit. I had to inform them several times to set the hook! It’s not uncommon under these conditions when you’re not familiar with this technique!

With the conditions as they were, we were forced to remain in one area all day. Three to four footers were the norm and I wasn’t going to beat everyone up going to other places to fish. I concentrated on one spot and made multiple drifts over different sections and waypoints. Each time the run back up to start a new drift was painful as I had to keep the bow up and run it slower than I would have liked. We were in some pretty good rollers!

Although there weren’t as many fish landed as I would have liked, the numbers of fish on and missed strikes were definitely up there. It could have been a banner day for sure! In the end, they both learned a lot and were quite happy with the results. William was even able to bring a walleye home to try after landing a good keeper right at the end! It would have been sooner if his dad had of put the previous one he caught in the proper livewell instead of back in the water! Oh well, I’ll catch it again another time perhaps!

Eddie was in town on vacation with his family and decided to fish solo with me for the day. For the first time this week, the winds were not bad when we headed out. I had a good chop on the water for a drift and decided to start with a dropshot. It didn’t take long and both bass and walleye were coming in the boat. Nothing huge but the action was good right from the start! It was a lucky day for the walleye because they were all going to be released today. He was heading back to New Brunswick after the fishing and wouldn’t be taking them home with him.

We spent the day using various techniques in different areas but I think he liked the deep water dropshot one best. It was the first time he experienced current and by vertically fishing the rig, he was able to catch a bunch of bass. We tried shallow as well with soft plastics and managed several more but returned to the dropshot in the end. This was the most productive method today and plenty of walleye were returned to fight another day. So were the bass too but that’s normal every day!

Luis was in Montreal on vacation and spent a half day fishing with me today. He was from Puerto Rico and had never caught freshwater fish before. He definitely fended well, catching all kinds of bass and walleye in the few short hours we were out. The winds may not have been nearly as bad as they were yesterday but they were definitely blowing once again. Despite the big rollers, the fishing was great!