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June 25th 2018

I had a full boat again today but this time it wasn’t all adults. Sam had brought his daughter Mia, who was celebrating her 7th birthday. Steph was also accompanied by his daughter Tiffany and it was going to be interesting! They would be having a little competition between fathers and daughters and would each be taking a side of the boat.

The weather had taken a turn for the worse this morning with another cold front & strong north winds and the ride was a rough one! The waves were crossways to the current and creating 2 to 3 footers in the open lake. It’s times like these when I really appreciate the boat I run!

We arrived at our starting location and I wasted no time setting up the 4 lines. It was game on as they split the sides and chose rods. I had noticed that the water temps had dropped yet once again and I was in between 64 & 65 degrees in most of the area I was trolling. I hoped this wasn’t going to be an issue and after a couple of minutes, we were hit. As luck would have it, the girls side went off and Mia began to reel in the first fish of the day. I saw that it was a nice walleye and readied the net when another reel fired and Tiffany had one of her own as well. We landed the two fish and shot a few pics before releasing them. The walleye was an over anyway and had to be returned!

I trolled all over the areas that had put so many fish in the boat a couple of days ago, but only picked a fish here and there. Fortunately the girls side of the boat were the only reels firing and they were up on their dads, six to zero. It was really becoming a competition and the girls prize was said to be a trip to Toys R Us if the won. I was going to make sure of that! Eventually one of the rods on the dads side fired and Stephane reeled in a pretty good pike. They were officially on the board!

I kept at the troll over all kinds of areas, catching more pike & walleye. The girls numbers were climbing and were over ten with the fathers less than half, when I decided to switch up a couple of the baits. I had ventured into slightly deeper water and ran the lines a little deeper as well. Almost instantly the girls long line fired and another big walleye was brought to net. While we had slowed down to land the fish a second rod on the other side went off and Sam landed a northern. I quickly reset the lines after returning both fish to the water and refined the area a little more. It was here that the numbers started to climb for both sides with many more walleye and pike being caught. The girls were still leading by quite a bit but I don’t think it mattered to their fathers. Everyone was just having a great time!

I knew they wanted to end the day early so I focussed my efforts on some of the key areas to try & increase their catch. For a while, every reel that fired seemed like it was coming from the girls side and they really increased their numbers. Sometime after 2:00 they decided that they wanted to end the day and I slowly brought the lines in and packed everything up. Wouldn’t you know it, the last rod to be removed from the holder was heavy and Mia got to reel in one more fish. This was definitely the icing on the cake! They had finished with a bang and by over double to their dads! Toys R Us, here they come!

I wasn’t sure how the waves would be running back but was pleasantly surprised to see that they had changed direction slightly, blowing out of the NW. The waves were still pretty good but at least they weren’t as bad as this morning. We never even took a splash on our way back to the dock!

Mia & Tiffany enjoyed their father daughter day on the water but were really looking forward to their trip to the store afterwards. They also stopped for ice cream after fishing, making this day even more enjoyable. I also loved having their two daughters in the boat and getting some really great pics of the girls holding their fish. This was one of the most relaxing days I’ve spent guiding this season. I wish more dads would take their kids fishing at such a young age. Mine did and look what happened to me!!

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June 24th 2018

I had a client requesting largemouth 101 today and Tino was his name. I have fished pike & walleye so much this season that it was a welcomed change to go for old bucked head. Let the class begin!

We headed out on mirror calm waters, right to where I knew they lived. I informed him that I hadn’t fished largemouth this season and I was going to dissect it just like a tournament practice. He was looking forward to seeing how and welcomed the opportunity to learn!

I don’t think he realized what I was about to do when I ran into such shallow water. I told him they were either in spawn or post spawn mode, but either way I was going to find them. I set up a couple of lines with soft plastics but before beginning the search, obliged one of his requests. He had brought along a new baitcaster that he was struggling to learn how to use and within 5 minutes fell in love with it. A few adjustments and basic guidance and he was casting like a pro!

We started on the outside of weeds, but eventually moved to the inside of the area when he finally locked up with a nice fish. Too bad it was a pike, but it was a pretty big one nonetheless! The next fish turned out to be a beaver fish or bowfin and in full spawning colors. Tino had never caught one before and was thrilled to land his first ever « poisson castor » in the province of Quebec! All that was left, was the bucket head to complete his slam!

We covered more water and eventually, he connected with his first ever largemouth bass. Although post spawn, it was still a really good one! He now captured two species that he had never caught before and was learning a lot about location and presentation. This would help him out on future outings in his boat as well.

The fishing was a little slow at times but we moved along and picked at them along the way. We landed several more largies and a few more bowfin by covering water. I could see by the way these fish were acting that it was completely post spawn and continued the search for more. This place was alive with fish and we saw giant carp and loads of long nose gar. Several of the gar even took a swipe at out baits but unfortunately none were caught!

Tino was having a blast seeing everything from a new perspective as we slowly covered water. He said that he never would have thought of fishing a place like this for bass and that I had opened his eyes to a whole new way of fishing. Always good to know!

The morning had gone by quickly and I was glad we were into the afternoon as the sun was really warming the water up nicely. With the rising water temps, the fish started to become more active and plenty of species were moving all around. We saw a lot of bass just cruising that didn’t want to eat as well. At one point in the day, Tino actually caught a largemouth that jumped over a gar, that was following his lure, inhaling it right under his eyes. These gar were becoming a pain as they were eating baits and breaking them in half with their scissor like mouths.

Later in the afternoon after standing all day casting and catching fish, Tino was feeling the pain. His back was becoming a little sore and we decided to pack it in. It was past 3:30 by now and I could see the skies darkening where we needed to take out. Although we were still in sunshine and unbelievably hot conditions, it was about to get dark.

As we ran across the lake to the ramp, it felt like we had just entered a fridge. Between the heavy clouds and the temperature drop, it was amazing how cold it had actually gotten. We were fishing in almost 90 degrees and now it seemed like 60. The winds were blowing out of the north and some waves were building too. I was glad to arrive back at the dock as we were about to get a storm!

With a little help from a buddy with my trailer, we were out in no time! The bell had rang and Tino’s class was officially over for the day. He had learnt a lot today about largemouth and a few techniques on how to catch them. He was even looking forward to getting back out and using his baitcaster, now that knew how to cast. He was also in a hurry to leave as well, as he was hoping to get to a store to pick up heavier braid. After seeing where these bass lived, he wanted to replace the light fluoro he had on the reel before venturing back to the jungle!

This day couldn’t have gone any better because the steps used to find the fish were quite basic and easy to duplicate most anywhere. Tino will be able to apply what he learned today when he searches for new areas on his own and hopefully he will find fish. It was also nice for me to target a different species for a change, but I will be back at the troll once again tomorrow. Either way there’ll be plenty of bent rods and screaming reels for all to enjoy, the next time out!!

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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 !!

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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!!

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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!!