June 23rd 2018

I had a full boat today with Dan & his family. His wife Sonya and their two daughters, Ashley & Gabby were also along, looking for more great fishing. We headed out around 7:30 on almost flat calm waters, different from most days lately! With this many people I was definitely going to be trolling and I set the 4 lines quickly when we arrived.

The bite wasn’t fast like I had expected, but rather on the slow side. I had began in an area that usually puts out big fish and numbers as well, but not today as we were seeing. We were just picking at them and I wasn’t sure exactly why! I moved around plenty and even changed to some deeper water to only experience the same thing. Although they had boated close to a dozen fish, It wasn’t the numbers I had expected. I decided to switch up baits and bumped up the speed a bit to cover more water. I was now in the hunt mode and determined to find them fish!

The overcast skies had me wondering if maybe the big eyes were a little shallower today and I moved in that direction. Reels finally started to fire as they began to fight fish. The only one that hadn’t gotten on the board yet was Dan and it was about to change. When his rod finally went off, it did for the next five fish in a row. He went from zero to hero in a few short minutes! It was from this point on that everything changed. Reels were screaming every couple of minutes and many fish were being boated. Big northerns and walleye were coming aboard and doubles were common. In fact Sonya landed the largest walleye, only to be taken out by Ashley a few minutes later. The fishing was finally what I had expected!

Sometime early afternoon, the winds began to pick up but the fishing remained the same. We were still catching plenty and even had a few walleye in the livewell. Most of the ones landed were overs and it was difficult to find keepers for them to bring home.

With waves building from the south wind, turning became sketchy for the lines. At one point a pike hit the down rod and sent the line right into the small motor. You want to hear a reel scream! I pulled all the lines and had to remove the prop to get the line out. While doing so, I also hand lined the northern that was still attached to the lure. Another disaster diverted! I never want to have line behind the prop of either motor for fear of chewing up the seals!

We were back in business soon after and also back on the fish. For the remainder of the day, the action was constant. Every few minutes someone was tight lined with either a pike or walleye attached. As it was nearing time to leave, I decided to troll my way out of the area to see if there were any more fish on the outside. There were and Dan took advantage of his two daughters sleeping by reeling all of them in.

I was almost completely done when we heard someone whistling nearby. At first we all thought it was a bird but soon realized that it was a person in distress. They were on mainland with no other houses or boats around and broke down. His jet ski wouldn’t start and he was stranded. I made my way over, and managed to boost him, getting him going in the end. We were done for the day now and headed back as well.

The overall day may have been slow to get started but really picked up afterwards. Everyone landed plenty of fish and had a great time. We even managed to do our good deed by rescuing a jet skier! This day definitely ended with a bang !!

June 21st 2018

Michel & Eric were my guests today for a tougher than usual outing! Three straight days of giant winds from the SW finally turned full circle and were blowing out of the NE this morning. Not only were they blowing but they were howling again! With the NE always comes cold fronts and right on cue, Mother Nature slapped us right in the face again! I lost almost 6 degrees in water temps since last Sunday and I’m sure even more from the last three days of heat. This would be interesting!

The conditions didn’t allow me to fish where I had wanted this morning, so I opted for a long run to the other side of the lake. I needed to fish somewhere that wasn’t affected by the condition change and thought this was the place. With lines in, the troll began! First reel to fire was short lived as the fish threw the hooks before I was even able to get the rod out of the holder. Strike one! The next reel to go ended in disappointment as the fish came off before I could even give the rod to one of them. Strike two! The third fish stayed pinned but was a small walleye and although 15 inches, I chose to release it. I was sure we would be getting bigger! One more keeper walleye and several pike later, I pulled the plug on this area and made a move.

With the winds laying down slightly I chose an open water area with a little more depth. A couple of quick fish came aboard but they were both pike and not what we really wanted. I searched all around this place but only came up with more pike. Time for another move!

By now I really wanted to get them more walleye but for some reason all the fish being hooked were pike. All the ones they landed that is! There were plenty more short strikers and fish coming unpinned as well. So many that it was getting old real fast! I set the lines quite a bit deeper as we trolled over better depths and it didn’t take long. They actually got a chance to bring one aboard that had the lure in his mouth. Although a pike, it was a really good one and no one was disappointed! What was disappointing however was that from this point on, all the other fish were pike as well. To add to this, even more came off too!

I shifted out of the area and changed up all the baits to see what the shallows held. Not only did it hold fish but they were riders. I think the first 5 fish never even made a noise. They were just attached to the baits and on! There was even a nice keeper walleye that came aboard the same way! These fish just weren’t active!

After spending about an hour in the shallows with mostly pike and short strikes to show for our efforts, I slid back to deeper water. Right on cue one of the deep lines fired and Eric brought a really nice over to the boat, which fell off when in the net. No surprise there! This was to be his last walleye of the day and had to be released after several pics. I thought they were going to finally bite but we only managed a pile more northerns afterwards. Time to move again!

The big NE that we had started the day in had all but disappeared. Running was definitely a lot less painful for Eric and his dad, the guys with sore backs! No more pounding the waves!

Although the run was long, it was relatively smooth when we arrived. I had wanted to start out deep on a waypoint but as I neared, it looked like someone had already beaten me to the spot. Odd because it’s really a nothing area unless you know what to look for! Ironically it turned out to be a boat that had been close to me last week when my clients were reeling fish in, hand over fist. These guys were anchored directly on top of the actual waypoint in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, there goes another good spot!

I never even let off on the throttle and headed right to the shallows instead. We tried everything in the next hour and could only come up with more pike. Several short strikers may have been walleye, but we’ll never know! From the shallows we trolled right to the deeper water and I changed up baits on the fly. Same results were had as more pike came aboard too!

Eric had wanted to be at the dock by 2:00 so we packed up and headed back to drop him off. Michel & I went right back out and tried open water shoals for about 90 minutes with only walleye being landed. Too bad only one was a keeper though as all the others were on the small side. Of all the fish brought to net, only one of them actually made the reel go off. Right from the start of the day, they were barely making a sound! Why should it change by the end of the day?

We finally pulled the plug about 3:30 and I was glad to get off. We only had three walleye in the livewell but it would be enough for us to eat. Michel was staying for dinner and leaving after the traffic thinned out. At least we would have fresh fish for dinner!

This day may not have been a banner one but despite all the crappy bites, there were a fair amount of pike landed. Walleye too but mostly small ones! I’m just glad the cold front and NE winds died and hopefully the stable weather will remain with us for a while. Doubt it but who knows! Starting Saturday, I will be on the water for many straight days and in all kinds of conditions. There will have to be adjustments made daily, if not hourly and with any luck the changeups will be the right ones. All I know is that we have to eventually see better weather now that summer has officially arrived. Well at least one can hope!!

June 17th 2018 (afternoon)

The switch up of clients didn’t go as well as I had hoped! Dave wasn’t able to get out of the launch area with barriers set up for the race and Vlad wasn’t able to get in for the same reason! Apparently the race had gone longer than they anticipated and alternate measures were needed. I gave Dave a shortcut through a back area but Vlad and the others still had to come in on foot.

By noon, we were all ready and I headed out with Vlad, Brian & Paul to a different section of the lake. I don’t think they expected what was about to happen next! I know they didn’t anticipate trolling!

As soon as I arrived I set up the top to ensure everyone’s comfort. It was nice to get out of the sun and definitely a lot cooler! I then prepped the rods and changed up several baits based on where we were. I also instructed everyone on the ins & outs of the rods, literally! With everything ready, all that was left was to get the baits wet.

Within a minute after we started the troll, one of the down rods went off and Vlad had the first fish of their outing. Nobody was ready for such a quick hit and I was forced to remove it from the holder for him to fight. I could tell by how it was staying down that it was a walleye and confirmation was made boatside. I quickly netted it and several shots were taken before the release. Too big to keep! Within a couple of minutes after the first, a double was had and the other two also got to fight fish. They were absolutely shocked at how fast the action was and couldn’t believe their luck! Three fish in about as many minutes!

I was on good fish and stayed in the area, firing reels off every couple of minutes. The action was so fast that it was ridiculous! I wasn’t even able to get behind the wheel for over 30 minutes, with all the fish I was netting. Both pike & walleye were being caught and Brian ended up with the largest walleye of the day and apparently his life too! We even managed to get a keeper in between all the northerns caught. It seemed like as soon as one of the fish was released, another reel screamed and we were locked up again. I really don’t know how long this went on for but it felt like a couple of hours. Vlad was telling me about one of his guided fishing trips where he caught one little perch the entire day and reels were still firing! Crazy fishing was being had and conversations were being interrupted constantly. I guess that’s not a bad thing! We eventually had to relocate after milking the area for as long as we did. Now it was going 5 to 10 minutes in between strikes and I just wasn’t going to tolerate that!

I decided that we were going to hit a deeper area nearby and set the lines for a downstream troll. I barely got the first rod in when the reel howled and Vlad boated another keeper eye. I knew we were going to pound on the fish again! For well over an hour we fired reels every few minutes with several doubles in the mix. My biggest issue was the floating pollen grabbing the lines and jamming in the guides. The poplar trees were shedding and at times it looked more like snow falling than a late spring day. In between all the fish biting I was constantly plucking cotton like pollen from the lines and guides. Thankfully the fishing was on fire and this was only a little inconvenience that I was willing to endure.

The day was getting on and when I finally looked at the time, I was shocked to see it was already past 4:00. I hadn’t planned on fishing later but these fish were biting and I didn’t want to leave. As they continued to land even more big pike we discussed our departure time and agreed that after a couple more fish we would end the day. Well sometime after 4:30 we did but not before landing many, many other fish. So much for just a couple more! It’s always hard to leave fish biting but they had a long drive back to Ottawa and I just had a long day!

This trip was one that these guys will be remembering for quite a long time. They had never experienced a day like this, filled with so many big fish. Along with the numbers and size, they also got to see a technique work like nothing they had ever seen before. By controlled trolling and covering water I was able to keep them on fish the entire time. With the exception of a couple of slow periods due to checking shallower water, I had them tight lined most of the day. So much so that nobody had a clue just how many fish they had caught! This is always a good thing! By the sounds of it, this won’t be the last time we meet. They are already talking about another trip this summer. They all left saying that this was the best fishing they had ever experienced! Funny how I keep hearing that!!

June 17th 2018 (morning)

What a crazy day I had today! At the launch shortly after 5:00 due to a running race threatening closure to the boat ramp access. On the water before 6:00 with the first set of clients and back at the ramp to drop them off & pick up the second set by 11:30. Lots of running today!

The morning started out a little slow with Dave and his son Matt along with his brother in law Paolo. We trolled an area that had been on fire for just about everything, only to struggle for our bites. A few small pike were landed and then Paolo managed to get a decent sized smallie. Good fight but not what we were after! I covered plenty of water looking for the walleye but never really found them until moving further offshore and into deeper water. Along the way, there were many more northerns landed and lost! They were really hitting light and most were even coming off in the net when landed. They just didn’t seem to want to eat! Time to relocate!

I had decided to go a little deeper and switched up baits, hoping to find some gold. First reel to go off went hard and it was the right species! Paolo brought in a good walleye but unfortunately it was 24 inches and had to be released after a few pics. I reset the lines, staying over deeper water and almost immediately got bit again. This time however, it was a northern, but larger than anything we had caught so far. I now had a pattern going and continued trolling the area picking up several other fish. A couple more walleye were landed with one of the two making it into the livewell. The other one was an over and returned again!

I guess we remained deep for over an hour before heading back shallow to try our luck for a second time. It hadn’t changed much and the hits were still garbage with a lot of them drive byes or falling off in the net. They really weren’t interested and quite inactive!

I moved back to the deep after and managed to get bigger fish again. Another over and one high end keeper walleye came aboard along with a number of other northerns before we ran out of time. I had received a text that the second group would be a little late and stayed on the water longer with the first. We finally pulled the lines and headed back to meet by 11:30.

Despite the difficult fishing this morning, there were still plenty of fish landed with some really nice ones in the mix. Unfortunately I think that there were an equal amount of other strikes and lost fish as well. Given the amount of chances, they could have had another unbelievable outing if they were all landed. Instead they only had a great day! Tough fishing but lots of fish action!!

June 16th 2018

A late afternoon booking had me on the water long before to ensure that I had a parking spot. I spent several hours before, scouting new water and came up with a couple of good areas for the future.

I hooked up with the gang of four just after 2:00 and headed to an area that had produced great yesterday. We would be trolling again and I knew they would be catching numbers. Would they be as lucky as the group yesterday and land another giant? Only time would tell!

I set the lines and instructed them on how to get the rods from the holders and we started trolling. As usual it didn’t take long for the first reel to fire and soon after, a second one went off as well. One was a walleye and the other, that I had thought was a pike, turned out to be a small musky. Both were released unharmed after a few pics. Sang, Corey, Damien and Jason were seeing quick action and I hoped it would last. We continued trolling the area and many more reels fired with a combination of both pike & walleye. These guys were taking turns and the rotation was going pretty good. Everyone was catching fish!

I don’t think that all of these fish were active as many of them barely made a noise. I had to throttle down often in order to lock them up and even at that, plenty of them fell off in the net. Water temps were just around 65 degrees and they should have been more aggressive. Unfortunately they weren’t and I really had to keep my ears open on some of the hits.

The afternoon went by quickly as we saw and we were running out of time. I really wanted to get them into something larger and in the last half hour, it happened. One of the down reels fired and it howled! I was pretty sure by the sound that it was another musky and pulled all the other lines as Jason did battle with his first. Although not a giant it was a decent fish! He fought it for a couple of minutes before I was able to get it in the net. We took several pics and then released it back to the water, continuing our troll. A few more fish were landed but none as big as the lunge. By 6:00 we were done and packed everything up and headed back.

Although it may have been only four hours, there were plenty of fish landed including a real trophy for Jason. They had played 18 holes of golf this morning and made their way to meet me for an afternoon of fishing. Talk about a busy day! This was their fathers day weekend to themselves and they were making the most out of it. They definitely had a packed day of activities and ended it with a bang! Another day of great fishing!!