A “Wow” Kinda Day

Hugues was with me today for the 8th year and this time he brought new blood. Andre was along but for the first time and I hoped it would be as good as it had been. The lake was looking a little nasty upon arrival and I knew it would only get worse as the day went on. The winds were suppose to be from the SW this morning, blowing 10 to 20 knots but in actuality they were out of the NW. Waves were already 2 to 3 foot making the run to our starting location a little bumpy. I had decided to begin in an area that was slightly protected so as not to beat them up too early. With one guy on a crankbait and the other a spinnerbait, I had it covered. They were to fish for the active ones right away and I would slow them down after the fish stopped biting. Well, I really never changed them up as they were locked on plenty of fish with these presentations for well over an hour. It seemed like every time I told them three more casts, someone would hook another fish and we’d stay a little longer. Eventually I just decided to pull the plug and search for larger fish somewhere else. They had played with numbers of average fish and now I wanted them to catch a few giants! On Hugue’s very first cast in the new spot, he got crushed on the spinnerbait and was tight to a good bass. This one just beat him up and went aerial a number of times before I was able to get her in the net. As it was quite windy here, I decided to put the fish in the livewell alongside the earlier caught walleye, for pics later. This area was holding several more bass as we saw when Hugues was fighting his. There had to be about 6 others with it and they were all in the same size class. I had a good feeling about this place and decided to concentrate here a little harder. Once the spinnerbait & crankbait stopped producing, it was time for a slower presentation. Out came the jigs and it was game on! In one area I think Hugues had 5 fish on in 5 casts. Although they both lost a load of fish, they landed a bunch as well and refined their jigging skills. They realized that by slowing down their movements, they got more bites. This would come in handy in a few weeks as they were heading on a fishing trip to remote location. Any new techniques would only help them in landing more fish where they were going. We remained in this area, moving around the entire morning and part of the afternoon due to the winds. When I finally decided to leave it was about 2:00 and the lake was rolling pretty good. Fortunately the winds had switched to SW, but were blowing 20 to 30 knots now. It wasn’t going to be easy but I was going to show them another technique and with any luck we might catch a few more fish in the process. Drop shotting was next on the list and they were looking forward to giving it a try! When I finally settled in and started the drift, I realized we were going to get wet. I was slowing down the drift with the small engine and rogue waves would periodically roll over the back and onto whatever was in their way. Namely Hugues feet! He had been warned but didn’t care as today was much better than what he was use to. In the past, he had a track record of bad weather in the form of rain or electrical storms. Today was a walk in the park and the fishing was spectacular! When I finally set them up and explained the do’s & don’ts they began hitting fish. Both walleye & smallies were eating their presentations and there were lots. The last two hours of fishing had been just like the rest of the day with fish coming aboard constantly. The weather hadn’t effected the fishing. In fact, I think it fired them up as the action was all day long! I don’t really know how many fish they caught today but I do know that it was more than they had ever hoped for. With several different techniques & presentations used today, all had worked. They would be ready for their fishing trip and looking forward to using all that they had learned on this extraordinary day! After a couple more fish landed, we called it a day. I’m pretty sure neither of them would forget this "Wow" day anytime soon!!