Difficult Hookups

The weather took a turn for the better overnight and allowed me to fish effectively throughout the morning. Danial, Jake & Dimitrie joined me today and fished hard to land everything we managed to bring aboard. Although the first fish was hooked in less than 30 seconds, the others didn’t seem as cooperative. We trolled for most of the morning and managed a handful of walleye and a pile of pike but most were barely hooked. There were even a number of rips that never even got pinned. At one point, Dimitrie lost 3 in a row! It was a struggle just to keep them on, so I decided to try another technique close by. I figured that we might have a better chance dropshotting so we relocated and gave it a go. Jake wasted no time and locked up on a nice smallie followed by another over walleye shortly after. Dimitrie also added a smallie to the numbers and things were definitely looking up. We made several drifts over the area and hooked up on almost every one before things turned full circle. The winds were starting to increase as the rain began and I knew we were about to get it big time. In about 10 minutes it went from a nice slow drift, to impossible. We were flying and they could barely feel bottom at this speed. The waves had also generated into 3 & 4 footers and it was time to leave. I had to make a long run across open water to get to where we might be sheltered and made the move. When we arrived, it was like night & day! We were now able to fish in a light chop and not rolling waves. Too bad the fish weren’t cooperating here as we trolled all over with only one good rip, that Dimitrie lost as soon as he touched the rod! He was definitely unlucky today as this was now the fourth good fish that had come off his line! I covered plenty of water before another reel fired and Jake boated a beautiful smallie. With the afternoon coming to an end, I thought we’d make a long run again and give dropshotting another try. Obviously the right decision as everyone landed fish in the last 90 minutes. Although mostly bass, there were several decent walleye also taken  We ended the day with a fish from Dimitrie but not before everyone had a round of losing one too! By the time we headed out, the winds had switched to SE after beginning SW earlier this morning. They had done everything but go north on us today! No wonder the fish were messed up! We pulled out after 4:30 due to a late 8:15 start and parted ways. I will be back out with them again next week and hopefully the weather will have stabilized enough to get the fish active. Who knows, maybe the water temps will even climb more than the 66 degrees we had today. Easier days ahead!