Peter & his son Luke accompanied me today for another fish filled outing! We met up at 7 and were fishing not long after in deep water again. I had noticed something strange this morning, despite the lack of wind and soon realized that we had almost no current. What usually runs about 1 knot was now down to less than half. Not great for drifting these flats! I thought we would give it a try regardless and made the best of it. They both had never used this technique before, but with a little instruction they were soon into fish. Bass & walleye were being landed and we kept a couple of the eyes for their dinner tonight. After several drifts, due to the lack of current, I decided to head somewhere else to troll. We set the lines and almost immediately a reel fired giving them the first pike of the day. Shortly after another and soon after that another again. Too bad they were all on the small side or I might have focussed more on this area! With no current at all here, it was difficult to work the baits properly and after about 45 minutes of catching only small fish, we changed it up once again.

I shifted gears completely to bass and headed over to a shallower area to cast soft plastics. I couldn’t believe it when I arrived as there were two paddle boarders camped directly on top of where I wanted to fish. One of them was snorkeling and they were anchored. Who the heck anchors up a paddleboard? I tried fishing further from them and although Luke had a few fish on, he wasn’t able to land any of them. I eventually just gave up and ran somewhere else to fish!

We stuck with the same pattern but focussed on slightly deeper water and both Peter and his son managed to catch a bunch of bass. This place was loaded and it wasn’t hard to bring the numbers up as they casted the area. Luke was definitely hooking more and after several practice losses, he began keeping them pinned! I guess we remained here for over an hour or so before moving once again. I had decided to fish a few humps nearby and they caught several more fish before we made a long run to the next spot to fish.

I slid in shallow and they began hooking up immediately in the new area! In fact there were so many fish here that they could miss one and on the same cast hook another. Peter & Luke beat on the fish pretty good and we fished it hard for almost two hours before returning to drop shotting again.

With the current the same and no wind at all, the drifts took forever to complete. Scorching heat & humidity with blazing hot sun didn’t help either! On the first pass, Peter hooked into what I thought was a big walleye as it dogged deep just like those ones do. Eventually I realized that it wasn’t one and must be a musky due to how it was fighting. When it went airborne we all knew for sure! It may not have been the biggest fish, but it was his first. Peter fought it for a little while and I eventually was able to net his catch. I didn’t want to stress the fish out anymore than it already was so we released it as quickly as possible. It swam off no worse for wear and returned to the depths. We continued to fish for about 30 minutes longer and they both landed several more walleye and a couple of bass before we called it a day. They were roasting and so was I, and it was almost time to leave too.

This day had turned out to be another interesting one again as you never know what to expect when you get on the lake. A loss of current flow from gates at dams being either closed or reduced caused the fish to position differently and change d

my plans for fishing. They may have landed all kinds of fish today, but it was from making several adjustments on both presentation and location. If the flow remains the same for a while, I know exactly where to be. If not, I will be adjusting just like I have been doing almost daily. Either way, clients will be catching all kinds of fish on all kinds of different presentations once again. Another great day of fishing!

After a postponement a couple of weeks back due to the weather, I finally headed to a new lake today to join Nathan. He had asked me to help him figure it out and I had one day to get it done! It sort of felt like practicing for a tournament again, but with limited time!

I arrived at his place right around 7:00 and we hit the lake shortly after. Although Nathan had caught a real giant about a week ago, it was only the third bass he had landed so far this season. He was hoping to figure out why today! As with most northern lakes like this one, the water is somewhat stained in color but pretty clear overall. This lake had bass and musky present and although he was catching musky often, he wanted to be catching more bass.

After a quick orientation of the lake, I decided to try top water & drop shotting in a couple of good looking areas. Nothing seemed to be present and interested in coming to the surface and all I had deep were a couple of perch nibbles. We headed into the bay where he had caught the big fish last week and idled around a bit to check it out. I noticed that this was a deep end to the lake and 40 feet wasn’t too far from most of the shore. It looked like it could hold fish but I wasn’t seeing anything on his sonar that interested me. I decided to move a little closer to the bank and cast to a cabbage weed area with soft plastics and immediately hooked up on one of those toothy critters. Although not very big, this 6 pound musky fought like a champ. I always like seeing their copper color on these Laurentian fish! I removed the hook and released it back to the water unharmed. The next location we tried was near where he had landed his last fish and although his sonar was showing marks, I think they were actually tree branches or wood. I got snagged three times while trying to drop shot and lost two rigs! I quickly realized that if we were going to catch bass, we were going to have to move around more and try to develop a pattern. I tried another small point afterwards that also had cabbage weeds present and was immediately bit off by another lunge. Time to relocate!

I had Nathan move us into a bay that he had never fished before and picked up a jumbo perch on another offshore weed flat. From there I had noticed some good rocks on the shoreline and decided to move really shallow to investigate. It was here while throwing soft plastics close to the bank that I got picked up and set into something large. Unfortunately the weight went light quickly and I reeled in a twisted bait without the fish. I was sure it was a smallmouth, continued along this shore and picked up another one not too far from the first bite. Too bad it was also the last one we had! I even noticed another big one just cruising as I headed out to deeper water to relocate.

We idled around more until I saw something that caught my eye. A really large boulder with some sort of inlet behind that need investigation. In front of the entrance there was a good weed bed and on my first cast, I was rewarded with a 3 pound smallie. Things were looking up! We moved closer to enter the narrow channel and I nailed another slightly larger one while making a really long cast to some cover. A third one also was picked up as we moved along and this was starting to look great! Once we entered through the passage the back opened up and seemed like it had the potential to hold even more. Nathan made a few casts and hooked into something large. It turned out to be the big fish of the day and was over 5 pounds. This was definitely worth the time we spent to get back here! Being a small area, it wasn’t expected to hold tons of fish and we headed out not long after without another bite.

We tried another rocky shoreline along a point and Nathan hooked a 3 pounder that fought great in open water. Too bad it was the only bite we had here before we moved elsewhere once again.

The balance of the day saw us covering plenty more water with limited success, but the potential for most of these places looked great. From shallow water rocks to large gravel points, we saw it all. The cabbage weeds in 4 to 8 feet of water were everywhere and on our last stop over them, Nathan locked up on another musky on a drop shot rig. What a great battle from these northern fish! I eventually netted his catch and released it quickly afterwards. We were officially done!

Although there weren’t too many fish landed today, the overall experience will give him many more options, the next time he heads out. I think this lake just needs to be looked at in a different light. Unlike most bodies of water that have large concentrations of fish in small areas I think this one has them really spread out. By covering water and keying in on specific things at the right time, he should be able to have much better fishing days from now on. All I know was that it sure was nice to have a change of scenery and get back into a search mode again! I might even head back there again sometime this season to explore it even more!

A later than usual start today saw Milos back for some more fast action. He was accompanied by Honas, a young Czech teenager as well, also hoping for some good fishing. We finally got on the water around 10:30 and I headed to an area not too far away, as we had limited time to fish. The conditions had been great for a drift all morning with a good W wind but it was about to change.

Milos wasted no time getting into the first big smallmouth, fishing a new technique. He was trying drop shotting and was locked up on a big fish. Honas also had one on but unfortunately it came unpinned before we could get a look at it. The drift was about as good as it gets with conditions allowing us to move at a nice speed and in the direction I wanted. On our first pass, they had a half dozen hookups and landed 4 nice fish. Milos was staying pinned while Honas was having a difficult time keeping them on the line most of the time. We made about three drifts perfectly, hooking multiple fish on each and then the wind picked up! For the next several hours it increased steadily, creating huge rollers and difficult fishing. I was forced to put not one but two drift socks out in order to reduce our speed. Although I managed to bring it down considerably, it was still difficult for them to feel the bites. Milos managed to bring quite a few more fish to net and Honas continued to lose most of his hookups. He did however land a pretty nice walleye that would later become his dinner!

The drifts were becoming much faster now. Each time I went back for another one, I had to keep the bow way up so that I didn’t bring any of the giant waves over the deck. I literally couldn’t get it on plane if I wanted to stay dry! We stuck it out until 2:30 and still managed to catch a pile more fish, but it just wasn’t much fun anymore. These waves were 3 & 4 footers now and not worth the effort. We called it a day and I had to tack like a sailboat in order to return to the launch.

Although today was rather short, they still managed to catch plenty of fish and miss even more. Conditions like these are never easy and keeping the fish on the line is even harder! Despite everything, it was still a great day. Although short, it still beats staying at home. Another great day of fishing!

Phil & I had been trying to hook up since May and today it actually happened. A very last minute cancellation had us finally synched up! He brought along a couple of his sons, Eli & Zev hoping for some great action. As always I had no idea where we were going to fish due to the bizarre year we’ve been having and decided on the fly. I stopped in one area but the current wasn’t right and immediately decided to head to a place to troll. With winds out of the N it made for a terrible drift and trolling was our best option. I was able to set all four lines and although we had cooler water and the wrong direction for flow, I knew we would still score.

At only 5, Zev had already landed some nice fish with Phil, but this was his first time in a boat catching anything. I covered water and he reeled in several good pike along with his older brother, Eli. The action wasn’t fast & furious and I really had to focus on certain areas in order to get bit. We had lost 5 degrees in water temp and these fish just weren’t very active! Although they managed to catch plenty of pike, the walleye seemed non existent. After a couple of hours of looking for them, I finally caught a break with the wind when it layed down. I decided to change locations as well as species and try for smallmouth instead.

This new area had them tossing soft plastics for the bass & it didn’t take long before rods were bent. I was helping out Eli & Phil was doing the same with Zev. Multiple smallies were landed in a little over an hour and the kids were having a blast. When the action slowed, I decided to head off shore and try a little deeper drop shotitng now that the winds had died off. I needed the current to get a proper drift and it looked good!

With a different technique now being used, I instructed Eli on exactly what to do. We were in an area that held both bass & walleye and I knew it was just a matter of time before we were locked up! While I was explaining to Eli how to position the rod I felt that subtle tick and loaded his rod. He now was tight to a good smallie and battling it to the boat. Unlike the ones earlier, this one really fought hard and it took longer to come to the net. Several good pics were taken and it was released to be caught again. We also managed to get into a bunch of walleye but unfortunately they were all on the smaller side. Multiple drifts were made and both bass & walleye were landed on each & every one. As I really wanted to get into some bigger eyes, I continued the search for active fish. We had been marking plenty of fish on the bottom but the bite wasn’t what I thought it would be. Time to relocate once again!

I headed back to troll once more and although we landed a pile more fish, they were unfortunately all pike. Lately I had been getting into some really big eyes and hoped to put a few more of them in the boat for the boys. I guess it was not meant to be as all we were able to catch were more northerns. Eli didn’t seem to mind however as his younger brother was napping and he was reeling all the fish in! While trolling, I had noticed another wind change and this time it was out of the SW. Time to move again!

I decided to spend the last hour drop shotting once again and headed to another area to fish. Winds were now moving us along much better and the fish were also biting somewhat better too. Multiple smallies were landed but the walleye weren’t cooperating very well. Although Phil did managed to hook up on a nice one, it was only that one! Eventually we just ran out of time and on our last drift the winds picked up considerably. We were now moving much quicker than before! In fact, waves were building and it was getting more difficult to keep the baits on the bottom. We were done!

There may not have been many quality walleye caught today but there were definitely high numbers of good pike & big smallies. Plenty of fish were reeled in by everyone, especially Phil’s two sons! They had action the entire day with very little down time. I know they enjoyed themselves and am pretty sure they will sleep well tonight. Overall, another great day of fishing!

Dave had contacted me yesterday, in hopes that I might have something open for today. As luck would have it, this was the only day available for the week and he settled on the afternoon with his son. Mathieu was only 6 years old but showed a great interest in fishing. They had been on vacation last week on a beautiful lake and fished whenever they could from their canoe. Although the bite wasn’t great, they still had a good time. I knew that after today, he would be hooked for life!

We met up around 11:30 and headed out, not knowing exactly where I was gong to fish. This time I was unsure because of all the boats fishing where I wanted to start and decided to make a long run when I passed the occupied areas. We were going to troll instead and I knew the little guy would have a blast reeling in the fish. With the lines in, I began covering water under the overcast skies, knowing that we would get bit soon. As luck would have it, the first reel to fire was the short line and Mathieu was into a nice big walleye. With the aid of his dad, he was able to reel in the biggest fish of his life, so far! This fish was way over the slot and after several good pics, released unharmed. What a great starter fish for the day! We regrouped, continuing our troll and a few pike later, another reel fired hard. I knew by the sound exactly what it was once again! Mathieu was into another big eye and although slightly smaller than his first one, still way over the slot. He was only 6 years old and had already managed to reel in 2 walleye bigger than his dad had ever caught. Several pics later we resumed trolling and this time I began covering water to see if we could get into more fish. By moving around I was able to monopolize on all the scattered fish and trigger some of them into biting. At one point, I actually landed a small musky while checking the lines and was happy to see one of this size. I just had to take a quick pic before letting it go! With several more pike under his belt, I decided to make one more pass in the area for walleye and Mathieu managed to finally reel in a keeper walleye that immediately went into the livewell. This would give him something to do and occupy some of the down time we were having. Eventually after a few more passes however, another reel fired hard and thoughts of a big eye once again entered my mind. This one seemed even larger than Mathieu’s first one and fought much better than most. He struggled to bring it to net but eventually was able to land another monster. This little guy had somehow managed to catch 3 beautiful golden walleye and he was only 6 years old! After this fish, I decided to pull the plug on trolling and try another area for some bass..

We arrived at a smallmouth spot and I instructed them on how to present the baits correctly. I had to show Mathieu how to cast the spinning outfit as he was only use to a spin cast reel before. With only a few minutes under his belt, he was now casting great. Too bad the fish weren’t cooperating as we only had a couple of bites here. We probably would have had more, but were overrun by paddle boarders that figured it was alright to just park where we were fishing. To make matters worse, they decided to do Yoga on their boards and block us out completely! We had no other choice but to change locations and leave!

The last stop of the day was where I had wanted to start, but was glad I hadn’t. We had definitely made the right choice by trolling! This time however, they were going to try drop shotting a flat in deeper water. First drop with the little guy I felt a tick and set into a nice smallie for him to fight. This one really tested him as it just didn’t want to come in. Eventually I slid the net under the fish and he now had 3 species landed for the day. A few pics later we resumed the drift and managed to boat some small eyes and another nice smallie before we were done. It was over and had passed by so fast. Although a little disappointed we were finished, Mathieu was thrilled to have caught so many big fish today. He had really gotten the fishing bug, seeing so many fish in only a few short hours. It’s always nice to introduce children into fishing at such a young age. This way they will have a lifetime ahead of them to enjoy the sport and hopefully pass it along to their own children. What a great half day on the water today!