This was the second day for Jim & Marie and what a day it turned out to be! Although quite a bit cooler than yesterday with the NE winds, they still caught em good. Well Marie did anyway!

Our first stop had Marie hooked up on her first cast and it didn’t end there. She was right back in the zone that she had been in yesterday and it was about to get worse. She landed a bunch of fish in the first hour and some of them were real quality. Jim on the other hand struggled to get bit, but did bring a couple to net.

I had noticed that the winds had positioned the fish differently and the number of big ones just weren’t here. Marie was even having difficulty keeping some of her fish pinned as they weren’t eating well. A slight adjustment soon put them back on the money and plenty more good ones were boated. We remained in this area until the action slowed and eventually changed locations entirely.

I had decided to check a few other spots with fewer boats all around and landed on an area that was just full. It was here that Marie exploded and began crushing the bass. She was just on fire, hooking everything in sight! It didn’t seem to matter where she threw, she was always locked up! Jim on the other hand wasn’t as fortunate, with much fewer bites than his wife. Although he did hook up, I think she out did him ten to one! I actually felt for him, but enjoyed the clinic Marie was putting on! This may have been the best beating I had ever witnessed and it was delivered by a woman! I just loved every minute of the show! At one point I just leaned on the net handle like Ken Dryden use to do on his stick. There was no need to put it down as I knew she would be into another fish on her very next cast!

I made a few moves throughout the afternoon and each time I did, plenty more fish were caught. All sizes were being hooked but the bigger bass were coming from something specific and on one type of bait. Once I realized this, I stayed on it for the balance of the day. Both Jim & Marie boated many more quality bass right up until the end. Marie of course continued her reign of terror with fish on almost every single cast! I think Jim was relieved when the day was finally done. Oh well, happy wife happy life I guess!

The past two days were definitely something special as I got to witness tournament calibre fishing at its finest. I know Marie is still riding on a high, with this trip being her best ever! Jim on the other hand will be licking his wounds, as I’m sure she’ll be bragging about her experience in Canada for quite some time!

October 8^th 2019

Jim & Marie were back again this year for another 2 day fishing trip. Although they liked catching all kinds of fish, their preference was for smallmouth and that’s exactly what we were heading for.

Our first spot didn’t disappoint as they both caught plenty of quality football like smallies. Marie was on fire, just pounded on the big ones on almost every cast! She was in an area where her angle was just perfect and one fish after the other came to the net. Jim also managed many good ones but definitely took a back seat to his wife as she seemed to putting on a clinic!

With plenty of other boats on the water, I remained on the fish until the action slowed down. I hit a bunch of other areas after, looking for the more aggressive fish, but they had to work for every bite. With each move, there were more fish caught, just not nearly as many. I probably made three or four spot changes before hitting another mother lode of fish. I immediately anchored up with the electric motor and they went to town pounding on more bass once again!

It seems like lately, I have a target on my boat or something, with everyone moving in on me while fishing. Today was no different as it happened once again! I honestly believe that the newer generation thinks that it’s alright to park on top of another boat just because they are catching fish! This particular guy power poled down less than 25 feet from us and began casting to where we had been hammering the fish. He even tried to go below us at one point just to be able to get a better angle! Having had enough of this $&#@ for the third day in a row, I just released the hold on the electric and slid down. I ended up pushing him completely out of the area, allowing my guests to continue catching. I think he eventually got the hint and finally left the area completely. The fishing etiquette I see now has definitely turned full circle! No longer can you expect to be alone, anywhere! Very sad indeed!

Once the situation had been dealt with, both Jim & Marie were back in the game. They hooked plenty more quality bass in the remainder of the time we had left in the day. In fact, I stayed a little longer just to make up for our lost time!

Today was a great day for fishing and apparently everybody also thought the same thing too! Although there were plenty of other boats on the water, we managed to remain alone, for the most part! Tomorrow will be another day, hopefully filled with more great action. I only hope that it’s incident free and I can concentrate on the fish and not playing defense again!

The gang was back again this morning for another day of fishing. This time however, we took a road trip to a distant body of water in search of big bass. I knew they wouldn’t be disappointed!

Dave was the first to lock up on an average sized bass and followed it up with several more about the same size. Mark managed to pull in the first good one that was worthy of a pic though and I knew things were about to get better. Not wanting to be outdone by his brother for long, Darren moved in and landed the biggest bass of the day. All three of them were officially on the board! They all managed to get into plenty of other bass too, before we relocated to another spot close by.

I covered plenty of water looking for bigger fish and despite many void areas, still found some really good ones for them to catch. The bulk of the fish were taken on one particular technique, but Mark boated several big ones on something with a slight twist. I had him fishing deeper than the others at one point and he had multiple back to back quality bites.

Later in the afternoon while fishing in tight, they were casting directly at the shore. For some reason another boat thought it was alright just to pass between us and the bank and fish through. It’s really unbelievable the lack of etiquette some people have for others, or maybe it’s just stupidity! This is why we don’t carry guns!

We spent the balance of the day moving around and only picking at fish here & there before we were done. Although I was still marking plenty, the bites were really slow and everyone agreed to call it quits.

The two days they spent with me had a good mix of fish boated, with today seeing many big bass. I’ll probably be back out with Darren again but for Mark & Dave, it’ll be another year before they are back for their annual fishing trip. This tradition has been going on for many years and the competition as well. No money, but bragging rights for the remainder of the year. By now I’m actually surprised that they haven’t had a trophy made for their Big Fish Challenge!

Darren, Mark & Dave were with me today, looking for a mixed bag. We started out for sturgeon and only managed a few small ones, but one giant catfish! Mark had boated one the size of which I hadn’t seen in years. With so many boats in the area, I decided to leave and pursue other species instead!

We headed to open water for some walleye & bass and it didn’t take long for Mark to land a real nice one. He drop shotted up an over but it made for a great pic anyway. I was only on the first drift when I saw another boat heading straight for us. He stopped real close and just started to fish. I had witnessed the same person a few years back do the exact same thing on another area and expected him to be no different today. It’s really sad when you put so much time and effort into finding places like these and someone just settles in without giving a crap! Oh well, there goes another good spot! I guess I’ll be seeing him there every time I’m out from now on!

I had decided to leave the area and hopefully he would do the same, but apparently not! Several hours later, after fishing a couple of other places, I tried running back but saw that he was still fishing right there. This is exactly why I no longer fish tournaments!

While fishing one of the other areas in deeper water, both Darren & Dave managed to land a few really nice fish. They had caught big walleye and quality smallies. Mark on the other hand had only a few missed fish to show for his efforts!

We ended the day on another spot that I hadn’t fished in a while and unfortunately came up empty. Although Dave did have something big on the end of his line, it came unpinned before making it to the boat. We were officially done!

Today was a little disappointing but considering the weather and boat traffic, we did alright. Not lots but some real good fish indeed! Hopefully the weather forecast for tomorrow will deter some of the people from venturing out and allow me to fish where I need to. If so, I know they will have a great day! Crossing my fingers and toes for fewer boats!

After fishing all week in big east winds, I was back out in even more today! Mike & Gary weren’t lucky enough to tangle with the sturgeon as we couldn’t fish for them properly. Three footers were opposite the current flow and bouncing us all around. Although we did make an attempt, it just wasn’t to be!

Plan B caused us to fish walleye for the remainder of their trip and even this wasn’t easy. Winds were pushing us up current making for terrible drifts and even tougher to feel the subtle bites. Plenty of fish were missed and lost before coming to the net, but they did manage to take a limit of walleye back with them for dinner.

With water temps falling daily and conditions constantly changing, the fish are on the move as well. I only hope that the season doesn’t end as abruptly as it has done before. Plenty of great fishing still remains, if Mother Nature doesn’t shut us out again! Crossing my fingers for a late end to this phenomenal fishing year!