August 21st 2018

Tino was back with me today, hoping to learn about summertime smallies. He hadn’t fished for them in several weeks and was now only catching the odd, small one when he did. I knew he was in for a great day and an even better learning experience!

I began in an area for the first time this season, based on the time of year. It was definitely a summer spot and required a slow presentation, in order to get bit. We were both throwing soft plastics and allowing the current to present the baits to the fish. These bass were set up on drop offs and It didn’t take long before Tino saw what I meant. I felt a tick and immediately set into a nice smallie. Confirmation was made as it took to the air in a spectacular leap and I also knew there would be plenty more to follow.

Tino was having a difficult time hooking up but he was definitely getting the bites. I tried to explain that he needed to remove the slack line before setting, but it wasn’t easy. Eventually he did manage to hook into a fish and unfortunately it was on the small side. Things could only get better!

We had remained in this area for a while and many fish were hooked in the time we fished. Too bad the landing percentage was less than half! I had brought several good ones to net, but Tino was still struggling to land anything of size. Eventually I slid up on the shallower water and presented the baits to the deep water instead. This got us a few more bites but none were landed. These fish don’t get big from being stupid! Time to make a move!

I ran to another spot and decided to fish it differently than usual due to the strong SE winds. I normally allow the baits to drift down current naturally but today I was going to use the electric motor to anchor us and cast to specific holding areas.

As soon as I set up, Tino made one cast and was tight to a really good bass! He didn’t know it, but this was the start of his best smallie day ever! After a great battle, I was finally able to get the net under his fish and several pics were taken before the release. I think his very next cast also provided him with another fish and he was finally understanding what he needed to do. Although smaller than the first one, it was still a good fish and worthy of another pic.

We had covered a bunch of water in the area and Tino had hooked many fish in the process. He also landed more than he lost and that was a great thing! He was finally understanding the tight line thing and was now setting the hook without any slack. This translated into more fish fought and landed for him! I was also able to angle the boat properly with the electric motor and utilize the wind to my advantage. This gave Tino the angle to make casts to the water that held the fish. He was definitely hooking plenty of them too!

I think the bite stayed good for about 4 hours or so, allowing me to take advantage of the actively feeding fish. Tino was on fire and landing loads of quality smallies. He wasn’t use to seeing this kind of action and fish of such size. It was about his best day ever for smallmouth bass!

As the afternoon wound down, so did the bite. We were now struggling to get hits and it wasn’t because the fish weren’t there! In one of the areas I saw a bunch of big bass just swimming and none of them showed any interest at all. I hit two more places before we were done and had just as many short strikes. They definitely had no interest in eating anymore and we were done!

Today was a great learning experience for Tino as he got to see the best and the worst in the same day. He witnessed an active feeding period where he could do no wrong and a dead time where it was impossible to even get bit. He also has a better understanding of what to look for the next time he is on the water, hopefully adding a few more fish to his time out. This was by far the best bass fishing he had ever experienced and I know it won’t be the last time he says that! There’s even better days to come!!

August 20th 2018

Steve & Sam were back with me again today, looking for that elusive lunge. Although we tried for close to 3 hours, we never really had any takers. I guess it just wasn’t there time to land old toothy!

We switched to walleye next as they were hoping to bring a few fish back with them tonight. Despite a rather slow bite, they did manage to land some and took almost a limit in the end.

After a painful morning fishing for only a few fish, I switched to bass and the action picked up considerably. Both Steve and his son Sam hooked and landed some nice fish in the remaining time we were on the water. Too bad all of the bass didn’t want to bite as we saw so many uninterested ones where we were. It was nice to know that they were in the area but would have been nicer if they were on the end of their lines!

Time flew by quickly today and before we knew it, it was almost 4:00. They had a long drive back home and were already tired, so we pulled the plug and headed back to take out.

These last couple of days were probably the toughest so far this season. I was targeting big fish and they just didn’t seem to cooperate. I’m glad I had a backup with the bass for them to at least catch fish! Hopefully in the coming days things will get back to normal and some of these fish will actually bite. I know it’s just a matter of time before I’m back into the big sturgeon once again. With any luck, it will be real soon!!

August 19th 2018

Steve and his son Sam were with me today, looking for a big bite. They were hoping to either catch sturgeon or possibly a musky. It was time to try again for the dinosaurs!

We headed directly to the deep water in hopes of marking good concentrations of fish. After about ten minutes or so of scouting the water, I finally settled on a spot that showed some signs of life. It didn’t look like what I was hoping for but there were a few fish down there and I thought we’d give it a try.

We fished for about 2 hours or so but never really had anything large eat. They did both manage to land one small sturgeon though and actually got to see what they looked like. They also got to see why I was here when they witnessed several quality ones take to the air. This only made them want a big one, even more!

I eventually pulled anchor and idled around, looking for another place to possibly fish. This never happened though and eventually we packed everything up and changed species all together. I was going to take them drop shotting for bass and walleye and hoped their luck wouldn’t be the same!

I set up on a break and locked the electric in place allowing them to cast to the areas that held the fish. I think it was on Sam’s first cast that he was locked up and on a really nice smallie too! A few quick pics and she was released to fight again! He went right back at it and a couple of casts later was tight lined once again. This time the bass was even bigger and gave him even more of a fight. Eventually I was able to slip the net under his smallie for a few more photos.

Things were going pretty good for Sam but his father still hadn’t landed anything yet. They changed spots and his luck finally changed too! Steve managed to bring a nice walleye to net that made its way into the livewell after a pic or two. They would be bringing it back with them tonight. He also managed to land another one but unfortunately it was a little on the small side and released. Sam also managed another small eye before we left the area to fish, elsewhere.

The boat traffic had picked up considerably by now and we had waves from all directions. The cruisers were out in full force, throwing 3 & 4 foot rollers. You could really tell it was the weekend!

I idled over to another place in hopes of getting them into some smallies, because it would have been impossible to troll anywhere that I wanted. Fortunately it was the right decision as both of them landed several nice brownies. They even had a double that had me netting both fish at the same time, due to a line tangle near the boat.

I hit a couple of other places without any luck after and decided to run to one more in the late afternoon, before we had to go. I stopped on a remote place in the middle of nowhere. Although I hadn’t fished it once this season, I was sure it would have fish! Steve made one cast and was immediately locked up on a nice bass. It also brought a school of its buddies to the boat at the same time and we were officially on fish!

We remained in the area for about 30 minutes or so before we had to go and they landed several other nice bass while we were there. They had plenty of chances and saw all kinds of bass following their baits in the time we fished. Unfortunately not all of them would bite, but many tried!

Today was an interesting one filled with all kinds of different techniques and a variety of fish. In the end, both of them slammed and Steve had four different species to his name. Tomorrow will hopefully bring even better results with less boat traffic on the water, allowing me the luxury of hitting more areas. With any luck, they will also slam but this time on even bigger fish. Bring on the dinosaurs!!

August 18th 2018

This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with another group of four. Gardy brought along his wife and treated his in laws to a day on the water. They were in for a great day!

By 7:30 we were heading out in a NE wind that put a pretty good chop on the water. I immediately ran to an area to troll, setting the lines in hopes of our first bite. Within 5 minutes they were into the first of many pike of the day and loving it. They had wanted to bring a few fish back with them and the northern went right into the livewell.

I trolled all over this place, but only managed to pick at the fish. I wasn’t use to only a few bites and eventually moved away and to a newer area. It was here that the reels began to fire and we even had a couple of doubles. Although mostly pike, there was one really nice, over walleye that had to be released!

With the end in sight, I kept at the troll, all the while hooking into more northerns. With only a few more minutes left, the long line screamed and we were into our last fish of the day. Little did anyone know that it was also the biggest! We had stumbled onto a small musky and I had to clear the lines to land this fish. With all the nets too small I was also forced to boga it in order to bring her aboard. Now that’s how you end a day!

They may have only had a short period to fish, but everyone had a great time catching plenty of northerns. Raymond even brought a few of the bigger ones home with them, for their dinner tonight. The highlight of the day however would definitely have to be when his wife brought her largest fish aboard right at the end. This would be a day they would remember for a very long time!!

I picked up my afternoon group when I dropped off the morning party and headed out to new areas to fish. Peter was back with Mila and his grandson Adam, for another day of fishing. I had two of them this past week and Adam landed loads of fish. They were hoping for another equally good day today!

I began with a little trolling and picked an area that had produced in the past. Unfortunately with this NE wind there were all kinds of floating weeds, making my work more complicated. I was having to clean the rods, almost in rotation. Although I tried to get out of them, it seemed almost impossible. After one bass, one walleye and only one pike, I just gave up. Time to go elsewhere! This morning had plenty of weeds as well, but nothing like I was in now. I was going to make a long run and start where I had ended.

After a bumpy ride, we arrived and I began setting the lines. I had only gotten the first rod in and was about to work on the second when it screamed. Now that’s what I’m talking about! It took less than 30 seconds and we were into another fish. Adam reeled in a pretty nice northern and I finished setting all the rods. Hopefully there would be more!

For a couple of hours we trolled the area and plenty of rods were bent. Although they didn’t land any more walleye, Adam did have at least one or two hooked. Unfortunately they came off on the way to the net and pike were all he caught.

With a little time remaining in the day, they wanted to try for bass. I pulled all the lines and made a move to what should have been a very productive area to fish. To my surprise, it didn’t show any signs of life and we never had a single hit. I quickly relocated to another spot nearby, hoping for much better results!

With everyone on soft plastics, we drifted up current with the NE winds and both Mila and Peter missed a couple of chances at fish. Towards the end of the drift, I set into a terrible strike and surprisingly hooked into a nice bass. I quickly handed the rod to Adam and he fought the fish perfectly. We finally had a sign of life and confidence grew!

I had noticed on the drift that there weren’t a lot of fish up on the flat and decided to try something different on the second drift. I hit the edge and held with the anchor mode on my electric motor. First cast to the deeper water and Adam was battling another nice smallie. I instructed the others as well on where to cast but they weren’t as fortunate. Adam on the other hand, hooked and landed two more on consecutive casts. He was on fire!

I don’t know if the fish just got smart or if we ran out of them but the action stopped and we were forced to move once again. With time running out, we only had about 5 minutes before we were done and unfortunately no more fish were had. I packed up and readied for the run back to the launch.

This afternoon was a little slower than I’m use to but there were still plenty of fish landed, by Adam! I will be back out again this week with Peter & Mila and hope to get them into some really big ones. I will concentrate my time on hooking them up with sturgeon and possibly musky. Hopefully they will cooperate, making my job easier. Either way, we’re going big game hunting!!

August 16th 2018

Olin was with me for a half day morning trip, looking for some action. As usual, I wasn’t worried about catching fish and headed out to start with a little trolling. His wife Cindy was also along, allowing me to use an extra rod, increasing our chances of hooking up.

A quick run to our starting spot and we were fishing! Within 5 minutes, the first reel fired and a small northern was landed. Minutes later another one of equal size came aboard and I knew there would be plenty more before we were done.

I was covering a trench area that had been holding some big walleye lately and really hoped to encounter a few of them on the feed. One northern after the other was taking our baits and several doubles were had on simultaneous hits. Cindy really didn’t want to reel any of them in so I just kept passing the other rod to Olin after netting the first fish. Eventually he did land a walleye, but it on the small side and would have only been a keeper. Today it was not going to happen as I was pressed for time and wanted to leave enough to be able to go for smallmouth. After several more pike, I pulled the lines and headed out.

With a little over an hour left in the morning, I brought Olin for some bass. Soft plastics were what we were going to be using and I was also going to fish and pass the rod when I got bit. Minutes later, I felt a pick up and gave the rod to him. Although he did have the fish on briefly, he really didn’t set the hook and it came unpinned at the boat. Too bad as it was a really good one! We covered the area thoroughly and unfortunately only came up with a few more, along with a couple of missed strikes. One more move to another area nearby had similar results with a few more being landed before we were done.

Half days are always tough as there never seems to be enough time to cover the water I need. Although plenty of fish were landed, it would have been nice to hit a few more areas before we had to leave. I’m sure there would have been many more smallies landed!

Despite only fishing for about 4 hours, Olin still had a great time boating plenty of fish. Without even realizing it, he had landed three different species. The small walleye and bass he had caught gave him the three he needed for the slam! This morning turned out to be a memorable one in Canada, being all the way from Arkansas! Another happy customer with another great day of fishing!!