Loving The Troll

Curt & Peter joined me today on a local lake hoping to catch some northern pike and oh how they did just that! We rolled out just after 7:30 A.M. in a light drizzle that dissipated rather quickly after we arrived at our first location. Winds were out of the north but real light and it was overcast as I set the rods out, searching for our first biter. Air temps were in the 60’s and expected to go into the mid 70’s and the water temps were hovering around 63.5 degrees once again. Our first rip was a drive bye and I wasn’t too pleased, but we soon locked up minutes later and Curt was into his first of many northerns for the day. Several more fish came aboard and then Peter grabbed the rod to find a beautiful walleye over 24 inched in length attached to the lure. It was starting off pretty good this morning and I anticipated that it was only going to get better! About ten minutes and several northerns later, Peter picked up another rod with an even bigger walleye locked on the lure and couldn’t believe its size. At around 26 inches is was rather thin from the recent spawn and should have weighed in at somewhere closer to 7 pounds. Not wanting to be left out, Curt picked up one of his own a little smaller and now we had three in the livewell for later pics. The morning was filled with fish every few minutes for a while and then it just shut down completely. I had to do some searching but soon was back into them once more and Peter was landing big northerns this time. I think the largest one of the day had to go to Curt at just over 34 inches in length. These fish too were a little on the light side from the previous spawn and feeding to bulk up after. With the cold water temps they were a little more lethargic than I would have liked and I had to change locations and presentations several times throughout the day in order to keep the rods bent. I kept with the program and it really paid off for Peter when another rod fired in the afternoon and he was landing the largest walleye of his life. This one should have been closer to 10 pounds but like all the others, a little thin from the spawn. It was over 28 inches and a real beauty of a fish none the less! Several quick pics and right back to the lake she went unharmed. For the remainder of the day we continued to catch many, many more northerns and even a couple more walleye. At one point they had a double header and Peter reeled in another big walleye over 25 inches and Curt landed a pike over 32 inches. They were tight to the same area, obviously! The winds picked up later in the afternoon and were blowing from the east at around 10 knots causing me to change tactics once more in order to continue getting the bites I wanted. Apparently, I was doing something right because the fish just kept coming and these guys just kept reeling in one after another, all day long! By 4:30 P.M. we decided to call it a day as Curt reeled in the last northern. I really don’t know how many fish came aboard today but it was more than enough to keep everyone happy. Their first Canadian trolling experience was a great success and they will both be taking home knowledge for future outings along with the memories from this spectacular day. Oh Canada!!