Gary was back again this morning and he brought along his family. All four of them enjoyed the half day of fishing, catching many pike & walleye. We trolled the entire morning, as it seemed to be working fairly well. I did however see way more fish than we caught, causing this trip to be another grinder once again! I guess the water temps don’t help with 65 degrees being hard to find. Cool weather ahead will cause this to probably fall again. Will the weather ever stabilize this season!!

Gary and his son Jack endured another brutally windy day on the water today. It seemed like everywhere we ventured we were fishing in rollers! The west winds were relentless and trolling seemed to be the only method that allowed them to fish. Even at that, it was tough! We managed to make it work though and plenty of big walleye were brought to net, along with a decent northern. I have them back again tomorrow  and two more will be joining them as well. I only hope for calmer waters and more active fish!!

Tom & Jose were here on business, all the way from Texas! They joined me today for a mix of pike & walleye in not-so-great conditions. The winds had been big and looked like they would remain that way as well for this trip. We fished hard and scratched up a decent number of fish in their 6 hours out. They had to call it early, as plans for dinner had limited their time on the water.

It may have been a short tough day, but at least the sun shined on us all day long!!

Another chilly morning with NE winds again! Peter & Patrick joined me for a half day trip and we headed out looking for some active fish. It’s really hard to find them when the water is still 57 degrees!

With lines in, we began our troll and the first three bites were short strikes. Eventually one did stay pinned though and a good walleye finally came aboard. I covered plenty of water, both deep and shallow, picking at them here and there. Both pike and walleye were being caught but not the numbers I expect to see at this time of the year. I also expect the water to be above 60 degrees!

After grinding it out for a few hours, I made a move and went to a shallower troll in a different area. They both were with rod in hand now as we trolled over the rocky areas. A few more walleye & perch were landed along with a couple of incidental smallies, before we ran out of time. Difficult fishing still plagues me this season with slower than usual action due to the weather. It really needs to warm up so that the water temps can also increase. Although the fish are there, they don’t want to move much to eat. Despite this, I still seem to make it work each and every time out. Decent numbers of fish are being landed but I always expect more. Patience is a virtue and it will happen, soon! Better days are coming!!

The winds were blowing strong again this morning but George and his son Lucas were eager to catch some fish. Lately the conditions haven’t been favorable, but somehow, I always seem to get the job done. Hopefully today wouldn’t be any different!

We headed to our first spot in a big west and I set up quickly for the troll. It took about 30 seconds to fire the first reel but it soon went silent. The line had been cut by a toothy critter and the lure was gone too. In fact, the first 3 rods to get bent all resulted in lost fish. They were definitely biting strange!

I spent the 3 hours that we fished focusing in a couple of areas and managed to get them into plenty of pike and a walleye. Lucas had a blast reeling all the fish in this afternoon. By 3:00 they were ready to leave and I packed it in.

The run back was much worse than our run out but nothing the Ranger couldn’t handle. It may have been a little bumpy in the 3 footers but we all stayed dry. Both Lucas and his father had managed to catch their biggest freshwater fish and were looking forward to eating some of their catch this evening. Overall, everyone had a great time, despite the rough waters we fished today. Some of the fish even cooperated as good numbers of them fell victim to our offerings, in the short three-hour trip. The best is yet to come as the water still needs to warm up. Hopefully the temps will better in June!!