August 15th 2018

 

I had two trips scheduled today with the morning seeing Mila, Petra and Adam. Both Mila & Adam were with me last year and back again looking for more action. Adam wanted to just catch fish so we headed out to do a little trolling for pike & walleye.

With only a half day to produce, I decided to go where I knew the fish would be. Within a few minutes, the little guy was locked up and fighting a nice northern pike. For almost three hours he would be battling many more and loving every minute of it. Mila was just chilling, letting his grandson land everything but I wanted Adam’s mother to bring a few of them in herself. The next reel to fire turned into a double and she finally got to fight a fish too! With both mother & son locked up, I took this moment to snap a couple of pics. I always love bent rod photos!

Most of the morning was spent trolling up pike but a few keeper walleye were also brought to net. I wanted Mila to fish as well and eventually left this area to change it up and do some drop shotting. This way I knew he would have to fish!

We had run closer to where we launched and I wasted no time getting the lines wet. The winds were actually favorable for a change and with three lines in the water, I knew it was only a matter of time. I had been marking some fish but mostly smaller ones and several of the walleye confirmed it. They brought a few really small ones to the boat and I soon made another move. The next area did produce one bass and several more tiny eyes and another relocation was made once again.

With the winds picking up some I checked the radar and noticed a storm approaching. I hoped it would hold off before I had to run back, but it didn’t look good. A few minutes later, it didn’t really matter as I took Petra back anyway. She wasn’t feeling well in the waves and I wasn’t too far from the launch We dropped her off and headed back out for the remainder of the trip.

With less than an hour to go, we concentrated on one specific area and they boated several more small walleye. Mila did have a few nice smallies on, but unfortunately they threw the hooks when they took to the air. Time to go!

As soon as I arrived back at the ramp I could see the afternoon guys waiting for me. I quickly said goodbye to Mila and Adam knowing that they would be back again this Friday for more action. I was hoping on taking them for sturgeon, if the weather cooperated!

Brett and his son Jason were my guests for the afternoon and I only hoped the weather would hold off. A quick glimpse on the radar again, saw the storm moving south and barely clipping us along its path. I crossed my fingers as we headed out in pursuit of Jason’s first fish!

As soon as I arrived, I set the three lines and began searching for pike & walleye. It seemed like forever before we had our first reel go off but in actuality, I think it was only 5 minutes. I have been so spoiled lately that some days I have a hard time getting the second rod in before the first reel fires!

Jason was into his first fish ever and eventually it made it into the net. He was officially hooked for life! A few quick pics later we resumed the troll, looking for more. Although a little slower than I had hoped, the weather was seeming to hold off pretty good. We did hear one clap of thunder in the distance that had me a little nervous but that was it. I had purposely left my rain gear on so as not to jinx us and apparently it worked. We stayed dry and soon the sun even came out allowing me to remove all the extra clothing, safely!

Back to the task at hand and I had Jason locked up again several more times in the next couple of hours. Most of the fish were northerns but he did manage to land and lose a couple of walleye. The fish were biting a little strange with the weather being so nice and either short striking the baits or just falling off completely in the net. We had flat calm water and were now in bright sunshine forcing me to raise the roof for some shade. It was back to being scorching hot and the no wind thing wasn’t helping either!

Brett had decided that they would be calling it a little early so for the remainder of the day, I focussed my attention on one little area that was producing. Jason was catching fish and I wasn’t going to leave until we were done!

With double digits having been landed by the little guy, he was all smiles as I packed everything up and readied the boat to leave. It was just after 3:00 and they were scheduled to be somewhere by 3:30. We were done!

Back at the dock, they decided that the walleye in the livewell would get a chance to live. They had planned on keeping it for dinner but really didn’t have the time needed. This was one lucky fish as I really didn’t want to clean it either. They released it back to fight another day!

Today was another great day filled with plenty of fish once again. It was even better because I got to see two young kids enjoy themselves doing something they love. It sort of reminded me of when I was their age and spent time pursuing my passion. With any luck they will continue theirs as well and carry it on into the next generation. Another great day on the water!!

August 14th 2018

 

Another group of four enjoyed their day on the water again today, filled with lots of action. Two were local but the other two were in from Italy. I was about to get a lesson in another language that I didn’t really understand. Oh well, it would give me plenty of time to focus on the fishing!

I had opted to troll once more with this many bodies in the boat and got the lines in quickly, once we arrived. Well it didn’t take long before two reels fired and we were off to the races! Their Italian guests were into their first Canadian pike, but it wouldn’t be their last. Throughout the morning everyone would have their fair share of these toothy critters. Along with them, there would also be several decent keeper walleye and a few overs too. One of them even landed a pretty good smallie that somehow moved into the pike & walleye area to feed.

The morning passed by quickly with John feeding everyone in the boat. He even made espresso coffee for them several times with his portable burner and special pot. We were like a travelling restaurant on the water!

At one point in the morning I was forced to raise the top with the drizzle we had gotten and was glad to have done so. Eventually it came down a little harder, but everyone stayed dry! When it did pass though, the sun came out and it became a scorcher, so the cover was a welcomed addition for two reasons.

All the while reels were going off constantly and numbers of fish were seeing the net. Well most of them were as one of the Italian guests released many before they reached the boat. I don’t think he understood the concept of Catch & Release! Either way, plenty of fish were still caught by everyone.

Eventually in the mid afternoon sunshine, things slowed down as usual and I decided to change it up some. We were going to go for smallies and I packed up the trolling gear and pulled out the lighter rods for them to cast. They were really looking forward to getting into some bass on soft plastics as we ran to the next spot to fish.

I decided to give them an example of how to fish these baits and as usual, had one on the first cast. Unfortunately it came off before I could get it to the boat! Once these guys got started it was one miss after the other. Everyone lost at least two or three fish before they slowed down on the hookset. I think John had the first fish up front and it started the ball rolling. By the time it was all said and done, they had landed over a dozen fish from this one small area and missed many more than that too!

These guys had experienced what everyone else has lately and landed plenty of fish. They all had slams as well with the pike, walleye and bass they caught. This was a great day all around and catered by John with the amount of food he had brought. Nobody went hungry as I think he fed them every couple of hours! The espresso coffee they had was also a new thing in the boat for me. I’m just glad I didn’t have any as I’m already wired most days anyway! All in all this was a very successful day on the water and everyone left totally satisfied. Just another great day of fishing!!

 

August 13th 2018

 

Another day filled with great number of pike and walleye and an unexpected, exotic species! Kajal had wanted to do something special for her fiancé and booked a surprise fishing trip with me several weeks back. She didn’t even tell him where they were going this morning until they met me at the dock. They were both in for a great day!

With the trolling bite so good lately, I wasted no time setting the lines and getting started. I quickly instructed them on what to expect and it didn’t take long. Within 5 minutes we had three pike landed and I knew there would be plenty more!

I covered water looking for the big walleye but up until now, all we had were numbers of northerns. Throughout the morning we never went long between pike and once the clouds rolled in, things started to change. We had only sunshine and now with the overcast, the walleye began to bite. It’s crazy how one little change can affect the fishing!

They had wanted to take a few walleye back with them and we had no trouble catching their dinner. In fact, they also threw a few back, both overs as well as keepers!

I was covering all depths of water and decided to try a little shallower with the darkened skies when one of the reels just screamed. Kajal grabbed the rod and we all saw the fish take to the air in a spectacular leap. It was a huge bowfin and battled her right to the boat. These things are mean and it really didn’t like the boga in its mouth! It made for a great pic and she also had her slam for the day. It’s always nice when you get into the exotic species while fishing for something else!

The afternoon was nonstop as well and we were quite comfortable under the roof in this heat. The sun was in and out of the clouds but by late afternoon, just out. With very little wind it would have been hell if we didn’t have some sort of shade to fish under.

This was another day loaded with all kinds of fish and I was happy to share it with them. They had both caught tons of northerns as well as some really nice walleye and couldn’t have asked for more. Well more was what they got when I invited them to a local restaurant to eat some of their catch. They gladly accepted the invitation and we soon prepped to leave. Several fish later we were on our way back to the dock to take out. They would be coming back with me and I was going to filet the fish before going out to eat.

Seeing as how there were three walleye to clean, I decided to keep one aside for them as well. They didn’t need all of them tonight and would be able to enjoy a meal on their own where they were staying.

Good times, good company and great fishing was what we had today! The restaurant was just the icing on the cake, so to speak. In fact they even had a complimentary desert for their recent engagement. I don’t think they could ever have imagined such a fantastic day, when they woke up this morning. Right from the start to the very end it was just filled with all kinds of great memories. They will be leaving Montreal fulfilled and not just from all the food they ate tonight!!

August 12th 2018

 

Another full boat once again today with two Bob’s, Dave & Kevin. They were from Ontario and hoping to get into some pickerel. AKA walleye, for those of you that aren’t familiar with how they say it over there! I was sure they wouldn’t be disappointed!

Our first couple of areas were a little slow as there was only one fish and it came off while reeling in. It didn’t really matter as it was a pike anyway and not what they were looking for! I had hit some new places that should have been holding fish, but for some reason this year, they weren’t. Not to waste too much more time, I pulled the plug and headed to where I knew they would catch.

Almost immediately after arriving, they were into fish with a few northerns coming aboard quickly. Uncle Dave was having the time of his life bringing in some of them and soon after, he captured the first pickerel of the day. This got the ball rolling because there was another one right after that came in as well. We were on the fish and I was going to make sure that they were able to take some of them back with them today!

Throughout the morning there were many pike brought to net but there were also a good number of walleye landed as well, Some of them made their way into the livewell and some of them had to be released due to their size. It seemed like whenever they caught one, another pickerel came right behind. We were picking at them pretty good but then it just stopped. All we were able to catch for a while were pike and I knew why. The water had gone flat calm and we were in bright sunshine. It became so hot that I was forced to raise the roof just to get some shade!

Fish after fish were coming aboard, but only pike in these conditions. I could see in the distance wind starting to create a chop on the water and it was coming our way. It was almost like someone hit a switch when it arrived, as one of the reels fired. A good sized walleye was brought to net but had to be released due to its size. While taking the pics, Bob noticed one of the other rods bent and immediately was into an even bigger walleye. It was technically a double as the first fish was still in the boat! It’s amazing what a little wind can do!

The afternoon also saw a mix of fish landed with most of them being northerns. Whenever the clouds rolled in, we would get a few more walleye to bite, but sunshine was upon us most of the day. Very late in the afternoon however, bob grabbed one of the rods when he noticed the bend and was tight to a pretty good fish. As I looked behind the boat I realized that it wasn’t what we were used to seeing, but much larger. He had a big musky on and the chaos began! I immediately had all the other lines cleared and was about to drop the roof making it easier to manage when all of a sudden, he reeled in a walleye. We had both seen the size of the fish he was hooked into and weren’t imagining it. I netted the pickerel and proof was had! This fish had all kinds of lacerations on it but was lucky. It would get to live and wasn’t dinner for either the musky or them. It was way over the slot and almost a good meal for old toothy!

We fished a little longer and eventually after a few more fish, pulled the lines and headed to the ramp. It was 3:30 and they had a long drive to Ottawa and were quite satisfied with their day. Although that last fish would have been nice to land, it did make for a great story for everyone! They were also taking a good number of walleye back and had all enjoyed catching them too. This was a great family day and a nice way to unwind while fishing for pickerel. The numbers of fish they landed today were unknown as nobody kept count. All I know is that I used that net countless times so there were high numbers of fish landed, once again! Another great day for fishing!!

August 11th 2018

With a group of 7 people scheduled today, I required a second boat to accommodate everyone. Don was happy to assist and together we were able to take them out for a great day of fishing. We would be splitting up and fishing for a variety of species, on different parts of the water and I hoped the fish would bite!

Sergio had planned this trip a while back and I had the pleasure of his company, along with some of his family. Together they would be in for the time of their lives as we trolled for pike & walleye. These were a couple of species none of them had ever caught before and I knew they would have a blast landing big numbers of them.

Throughout the morning there were plenty of reels firing allowing many rotations by everyone. Although most of the fish were pike, there were also several good walleye brought aboard, with some of them going into the well for their dinner. They were a big group here in Montreal and hoping to taste some of the fish from our waters. I knew this wouldn’t be a problem and kept a few pike as well.

The day was going by quickly and before we knew it, noon was getting near. The other group of 3 in Don’s boat had left so fast that they hadn’t taken any food with them. We had all the lunches and they would be forced to meet us if they wanted to eat. We all shared a few stories and many laughs while eating before getting back to the afternoon fishing. It actually worked out pretty good as they would fish nearby for bass afterwards.

With the sun high I knew that the fishing would be a little tougher and focussed on a little deeper water in order to get bit. It didn’t take long after I reset the lines before we had the first pike! The other boat was still in sight as they reeled in the northern! From this point on, the fishing would continue to produce many more strikes, with most being keepers. We even had one pike later in the day that decided to grab two lines simultaneously, eating both baits. Talk about being a pig!

With the day winding down and the fishing becoming slower, I covered much more water in order to get the bites. They still managed to land plenty of fish but only one of them was a walleye and all the others were pike. We were scheduled to meet back at the dock by 4:00 and shortly before, I pulled the lines for the run.

Today was one filled with many fish but for some reason we never really had a peak period. Although I picked at them steadily, I never saw any major activity. Usually there is at least one time during the day where everything goes crazy and chaos occurs. Despite the lack of this, they still landed incredible numbers of both pike & walleye and had enough fish for their dinner tonight. Don’s group had remained on bass and enjoyed a similar one filled with plenty of action too. Overall I don’t think we could have had a better day with fairly light boat traffic on the water and cooperative fish. The weather was picture perfect as well with cool temps in the morning and highs in the afternoon in the 80’s. This was a comfortable day for them, being from Vegas, where they had 115 degrees the day they left. Thankfully only the fishing was hot here today!!