Yvan was with me today and flying solo! He was up for anything so we were going to do it all, starting with a troll. Flat calm conditions, for a change, greeted us and a couple of smallies were the first to come aboard. They had completed their spawn and officially moved offshore to bulk up. A pleasant surprise, but not really what I had expected from the place we were fishing! We held in the area and managed several more fish including pike, walleye and another smallie, before moving on.

The second spot yielded a bass, casting small cranks, on the very first cast. Although there were plenty of fish in the area, we only managed one more bass and a surprise, long nosed gar! It too ate the crankbait!

I tried a couple of other shallow spots for smallies and we only managed one bass on soft plastics. I found that the water closer to shore was quite stained and I think this was accounting for the lack of fish in the areas. Time for another changeup!

I decided to troll again and hit a weedy area nearby in hopes of a few more biters. We did manage another half dozen fish and this time they were all northerns. I think we had a walleye or two on the hooks but unfortunately, they didn’t stay pinned for confirmation!

As time was getting on, I decided to make a long run in hopes of bigger and better fish. I tried trolling again in this place but had to pull the plug quickly when I couldn’t keep the rods clean. The floating eel grass on the surface was so annoying that I relocated altogether to avoid the hassle.

This new area was definitely a lot better with almost zero floating vegetation. The wind had also picked up slightly, adding to the improvement. We trolled once again over key waypoints and ended with several more pike. The last fish to fire the reel turned out to be a high-end keeper walleye and signaled the end of our day. I always like to end on a fish and this was definitely the way, to call it a day!

Yvan may have been up to anything at the start of the day and everything was what he got! We covered plenty of water and caught many a fish in the process. In the end, he had slammed on the fish species and even saw an exotic one in the mix. The gar was definitely not something you see every day. Overall, it was a great day to spend on the water!!

After enduring some biblical storms yesterday and all through the evening, I was back out today with a family of four. Tehmina and her husband Jonathan, along with their two sons, Xavier & Elias were spending the morning fishing with me. Conditions were tough to start and although I was marking plenty of bait and fish, they didn’t seem to want to bite. Eventually we began catching and they were all surprised with the size. Several walleye that were overs came aboard and photos were taken before the release. It was tough catching a keeper but we finally managed one high end fish that was boxed. They also caught some pike and decided to take one good fish back with their walleye.

Although fishing was tough, everyone had a great time and they were going to be having fish for dinner tonight. I think the afternoon bite would have been better but we pulled off the water before. They had a great morning out with the family and were happy to have been able to get out after the storm. I think another day should have these fish settled down a bit more and with any luck, tomorrow will be even better. More great days ahead!!

This was the last day for Gary and his son Jake and they hoped to get into a smallie bite. For a change, the waters were almost flat, making for a much smoother ride. I hit a bunch of spots with only a few fish showing in each before finally ending on one with numbers. Although mostly smaller in size, they did catch several fish each. Jake landed the best one just under 20 inches and was thrilled to have caught his personal best.

Unfortunately, we had to cut the day shorter than expected with an electrical storm approaching. A quick check on the radar and we were gone. Thunder and lightning were heard and seen in the distance and I wasn’t hanging around any longer. The 3-day trip for Gary had proved to be a success with 3 new species being caught. Being from Colorado, they had never seen pike, walleye or smallmouth bass. Now they had caught all of them! Talk about returning at another time for sturgeon and possibly muskie was thrown around before we parted ways. With any luck a fall trip in the coming years will complete these two, along with more smallies and walleye. I look forward to seeing them again should they decide to come back and will try my best to make it happen!!

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!!