Two Great Trips
July 23, 2020
What a full day today! A group of 7 girls in the morning had me requesting the help of Warren, for the second boat. I had Sarah, Tonya, Becky & Jeanette with me and we wasted no time heading out.
With this many bodies in the boat, I decided that a troll would be the best thing and set the four lines in motion. It didn’t take long for the show to begin as the first rod bent without a sound. We were officially on the board with a small northern! Not long after, another reel went off and a second pike was netted. The bites weren’t as aggressive as they should have been and visions of the early season, cold water action, seemed like it was back. I had to be on my “A” game today as most hits were light and making very little sound. I was constantly checking the lines and often finding fish already on, while doing so!
The bite only got better as I covered water, but I found certain areas producing more than others. By concentrating where we caught fish, I was able to keep their rotation going strong. Although pike were the most aggressive, we started getting into some good walleye action as well. Big fish were mostly caught but they were able to put a few keepers in the livewell for their BBQ tonight!
The morning passed by quickly with all the action and before we knew it, time had run out. Half day trips are always more difficult to produce fish, but today all the stars aligned. I think having 4 girls on the boat helped as well, because they definitely had the luck today! These girls rocked!
I made my way back to the boat ramp and changed guests, only to turn & burn for the afternoon trip. Val was back with me and hoping for another great one! His mandate was to bring dinner home and after that, catch smallies the rest of the day.
We started off with a troll in an area that I hadn’t fished this season and not long after, pulled the plug due to the poor results. Too much floating crap weeds and constant cleaning of the rods had me leaving quickly. Time to make a long run!
I headed to a point extension in deeper water and immediately started catching walleye. Too bad they were on the small side and had to be released! Val did however manage to land a couple of good keepers that made their way into the livewell. He would be having fish tonight!
After the bite died, we ventured shallower and tried for bass. Although there were a few caught, they weren’t the calibre I was looking for and soon after, we left the area entirely.
I really wanted Val to catch some bigger bass and headed to a spot that definitely held them. With soft plastics, he began covering the water and it wasn’t long before he was tight to the fish I had hoped for. These things really fight when in the current and this one just went crazy! As soon as it was in the net, he realized why! It was now his personal best smallie! Several pics later and he was back, casting for more!
I had him covering the water and working slower than he was used to, but he soon realized why. Another giant bass and possibly even better than the first one was on the end of his line. Several jumps later, I netted his catch and saw that although not as long as the previous bass, it was definitely heavier. He had just managed to bump his personal best, again! More pics and she was free to be caught another day!
Val managed to catch a few more fish from this spot but when it slowed down, we quickly relocated. Time was running out and I was hoping to have him catch a few more fish before we were done.
With winds blowing out of the east at over 10 knots, we had a pretty good roll on the water. I decided to try another place that I hadn’t fished yet this year, hoping that it held some quality. We were now both drop shotting in hopes of getting a couple more walleye for him to bring home. On Val’s first cast, he was locked up but unfortunately it came off before we could get it close enough to net. Based on how it was acting, I knew it was a walleye but couldn’t tell the size. Oh well, crap happens!
We did manage to get into a couple of smaller bass from this spot, before I decided to relocate one last time. I ran out to open water and located a school of walleye. I quickly anchored up directly on top of them with the electric motor. For the last 30 minutes, the action was just insane as all we had to do was drop on their heads and get bit. Too bad the majority of the fish were unders! I did manage to put another decent keeper in the box for him, before we were officially done. I had extended his trip by an hour and we called it just after 5 o’clock.
Today saw a great mix of fish with the girls landing pike & walleye in the morning and Val getting into walleye & bass in the afternoon. It’s always more difficult to produce good catches with limited time but both trips went great. Oh yeah, everyone would be having fish for dinner too! Good times were had by all today!
