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After yesterdays heavy rainfall, I was back out this morning, not knowing what to expect. Scott & his son Tristan would have an interesting day to say the least! The waves were crashing on the docks as I dropped the boat in and I knew the ride was going to be a little bumpy. Along with the giant winds, the temps hit an all time low for July, starting the day at a balmy 56 degrees. Thankfully I had all kinds of extra clothes in the truck and I layered up like the fall. With the winds coming from the east, I headed somewhere that hopefully would be protected. Getting there however was a different story as 2 to 3 footers were what we had for the run.

I thought we’d begin the day with a little trolling to see what had happened from yesterday’s weather. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that the water temps had fallen from almost 74 degrees all the way to 67.5. I knew that this couldn’t be good! Let’s just say that our trolling didn’t last long when I spent 45 minutes and only one reel fired! Nothing was chasing and I quickly made a move to a different area and began fishing much slower. Here too, it was nothing like the previous time I had fished. I realized that if we were going to get bit, we’d have to slow down even more. It almost required a dead stick presentation to entice the bass into biting. Once I changed everything up, they started catching several good sized smallies on soft plastics. This one area yielded about a half dozen or more nice fish before I moved to another spot a little further away. Here too they landed several nice bass and I decided to try an area that I hadn’t touched all year. It was a good move as Tristan managed to land a couple of giants along with many other quality sized bass too. Scott also hooked into a good number of brownies and we hung in here until they stopped biting. I think we may have spent close to 3 hours on this spot before finally relocating. The sun had come out while we were here and the fish had really turned on. I hoped that the next location would be the same!

After a long run, I stopped in another similar location but wasn’t happy to see how dirty the water had become. All the rain and wind had muddied up the area, but were the fish still here? I needed to cover water a little quicker to find out so I had Tristan throw a crankbait and he hooked into a bass on his very first cast. The fish threw the hooks on a spectacular jump, but I had the confirmation I needed. I switched back to a slower presentation and it was one fish after another for these two for quite a while. So much so that I was running out of time and eventually left them biting. I wanted to dropshot a deeper spot before we ended the day and headed there with less than an hour remaining. On a demonstration cast, a really nice smallie hit the bait and Scott was locked up! Tristan was having a tough time getting use to the technique but with a little coaching, he managed to land three nice smallies in the time remaining. In fact, I think there were at least 7 or 8 fish boated before we called the day. They had experienced all kinds of weather today and had worked through the difficult times. Although the fishing was tough at the start, it definitely turned around once the sun came out. High numbers of bass were caught by both Scott & his son Tristan once we switched presentations & techniques. This day was a birthday gift for his son and a win, win for everyone involved. I can’t think of a better way to spend a B Day!

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Lou & Stephen were with me this morning and I hoped for a repeat of yesterday. The conditions were quite similar but the winds were a little lighter when we headed out. Overcast skies and a cold east wind made it feel like the arrival of fall was already here! They were happy to head for notherns with the conditions not right to drift in current, so we set the lines and trolled. It started a little slow, but I soon found the right zone and the reels began to fire. One side of the boat was going off much more than the other and I think at one point, Lou was up 6 to 1 on Stephen. He joked about selling his side and with each fish caught, the price increased. Color was definitely making the difference in these gloomy conditions! As I wanted them to catch as many fish as possible today, we kept at it for most of the morning. Ironically when the sun finally came out, both sides of the boat were firing and the numbers were definitely climbing. I think they were just happy to be having all this action! I was actually surprised that we didn’t hook any walleye though, as I always get a few overs mixed in. The bite lasted right past noon with very little down time and I took advantage of it as long as I could. Once the winds layed down and the bugs got bad, I pulled the plug and we headed elsewhere to cast for smallies. This was obviously a good move as they hooked into fish on each & every spot. I had every intention of spending some time drop shotting deeper water when the winds layed down, but the bite was too good to move. For the remainder of the day, they casted soft plastics and put a beating on the bass. The action was non stop as both of them landed plenty of good fish. Shortly before 4:00, we called it and headed back to the ramp. They couldn’t have had a nicer day on the water with the conditions we were dealt. Being from Atlanta, Lou was just happy not to have 100 degrees today. They both got to fish in comfortable conditions and catch all kinds of fish. They definitely left feeling fulfilled with the results from their fishing day!

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I had the pleasure of fishing with Danial, his wife Sonia and their two girls, Gabriel & Ashly today. Their fishing experiences up until now had not been so good, but I planned on changing that to great. We hit the water shortly after 7 on a cold morning and in a pretty good east wind. As we headed out I realized most of the areas I planned to fish this morning were a wash and opted for plan B. We were going to make a long run to a location and do a little trolling instead. Although the winds weren’t all that strong, the waves in some areas were 3 foot or better. Wind against current is never good! With only a little splashing we arrived and I prepped everything to begin the troll. A quick orientation on rod removal and we were fishing. It didn’t take long for a reel to fire and Gabby was into her first northern, ever. It may have been her first but it definitely wouldn’t be her last as I expected plenty more. I had began trolling slightly deeper than usual due to the overnight cold front but soon ventured shallower and realized that the fish just weren’t very active. We had a few more rips and unfortunately they were short lived as they either weren’t there or got off shortly after hookup. The winds weren’t helping either as it was almost impossible to do an upstream troll. I covered plenty of water until I located more fish and from that point on, we had action. By mid morning, the winds had finally started to lay down and the sunshine was feeling a whole lot better than the heavy overcast we had been fishing in. Apparently the fish felt the same as they were really starting to bite much better! Reels were firing more often and the number of fish being landed was much better. Sonia even managed to get a couple of nice walleye with one over and the other a keeper. I had hoped that they would be able to bring a few of them home today and livewelled the slot fish. We trolled throughout the morning and caught plenty of fish for everyone to enjoy before switching it up.

The afternoon began with some casting over shoals for what I thought would be smallmouth bass. Amazingly enough, the first fish to come to net was another northern. Although not usual here, I wasn’t surprised! We covered the area thoroughly before moving to other shallower rocks nearby. Here too it was generally a bass spot but the first fish to arrive in the net was a walleye. It fell in the slot and immediately became livewelled for their dinner tonight. Eventually after several missed hooksets, the family began catching some bass and there were also more eyes mixed in. I remained here for a while but eventually left to fish another place I had wanted at the start of the day. The winds had dropped to almost nothing and I knew we would finally be able to dropshot the deeper rocks. It didn’t take long and Danial was boating the first fish. It was a nice keeper walleye and now they had enough fish for their dinner tonight. Shortly after, they hooked into a triple as both his daughters along with himself were with bent rods. Two walleye and a smallie were their prizes! For the next hour or so we made several drifts over different sections and someone was always hooked up. By 4:00 we ended the day and headed back to pull out. They had gone from almost always terrible fishing before to an unbelievable day of catching today. Many different techniques were used and adjustments were made throughout the day to ensure they were on fish. I’m sure they never imagined the day would turn out like this! The numbers were high and so was the quality of their catch! This may have been the first time out with me but I know it won’t be the last. Another great day of fishing!

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Today I had 4 people scheduled for an afternoon trip, so I hit the water before 8, searching for other areas to fish. Although I have plenty of places, I’m always looking for more. The fish have been constantly on the move and here today, gone tomorrow! With only one body in the boat that meant only one rod out. Tough way to search open water, but I made it work. I went back looking for sturgeon once again and could only find them in suspension. Difficult to catch when they’re not on the bottom feeding! I trolled for a while after and managed to pick up pike, bass & walleye that were scattered all over the water. No real pattern there! Time flies when you’re looking and before I knew it, it was almost 11:30 and time for the pick up.

Gabe & Ben arrived when I did but Nick & George took a little longer. In fact, they didn’t get there until noon, cutting into their fishing time. It was a real scorcher of a day and with almost no wind, I decided a troll under the cover was the way to go. We headed to an area that had plenty of fish and set the lines. Or so I thought! Although the first reel did fire quickly, it took a while for the second one to go. I was covering water and not getting bit. Not being use to this, I changed up baits multiple times and depths as well. We picked at the pike but the walleye eluded us. After a couple of hours of smaller than usual northerns, I figured we’d change up and do a little deep water drop shotting. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other ideas for us. On route to the area, I saw a storm system pushing in. This alone wouldn’t have been a problem, but I also saw lightning! I immediately headed back to the dock to wait out the storm. According to the radar, it should have moved through in about 30 minutes or so. Unfortunately there was another larger system behind it that brought torrential rain and caused us to call the day. Although we waited on shore for about 45 minutes, I eventually had to bite the bullet and put the boat on the trailer. Half days are already short but half of a half is really short! It’s too bad that the weather changed so quickly because with 4 lines in the water, I’m sure they all would have caught drop shotting the deep.We will get back out soon and hopefully the next time it won’t be for only a couple of hours. With any luck they will experience the sturgeon bite again like they did in the past. If not, at least a better day than they had today! Mother Nature Sucks!

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It had been a long time since I had seen Darren’s dad Al, but the stars finally aligned today and he was back! He was scheduled to fish with us and would be at the water before 9. As we had a couple of hours to kill, Darren & I headed out early to see if we could get into a few walleye for him to take home. The winds were blowing pretty good from the SW causing a couple of foot chop and I knew it would be great for what we would be doing. Drop shotting over deeper water shoals was on the menu and it didn’t take long for the first high end keeper eye to arrive in the net. We made a few passes over the area and hooked several bass and a couple of smaller walleye before we received the call. Al must have been excited because it was only 8:00 and he was already on his way! One more drift and we were headed back to the ramp for the pick up. He had brought along Yomel for assistance as he required some aid for doing certain things now. It was great to see the smile on his face as we helped him into the boat and headed out. I had thought that trolling would be the simplest method to get him into fish but it was all but that. I spent well over an hour covering good looking water without a single touch. Although I was marking all kinds of fish, they weren’t cooperating. Eventually I was forced to pull the plug on this area and make a long to another spot that had been previously producing. I reset the lines and continued the troll and eventually found some fish. A couple of smaller pike were landed but the bite was still rather slow. The reels weren’t even going off very hard and several times I was forced to throttle down in order to pin the fish to the lures. I don’t know what was going on but I knew that if I worked through it and made some adjustments, it would get better. Well it definitely worked as the next time the reel fired it went off hard! Big Al was into a really good fish and I knew exactly what it was. I was hoping to get him a big walleye and here it was! After struggling some, it eventually came to the net and he was all smiles. Daren held it for some great pics and it was soon released to grow again. I quickly reset the lines and ran back through the same area and almost immediately, another reel fired. This time Yomel was to reel in his first ever Canadian eye. It fell right in the slot and went into the livewell immediately after. For the next several hours we scoured the area and managed to land all kinds of pike, both small & large and even another keeper walleye. Al reeled in many fish before they decided to call it a day. They wanted to beat any possible traffic so we headed back by 2:00. Al definitely enjoyed himself today and I just hope he gets back out again this season! Yomel & Al headed home and Darren & I went back out for the last couple of hours to see if we could get a few more walleye for them as well.

We decided to try more drop shotting and jigging over deep shoals and in a the short time out, managed 3 more walleye for Darren to bring to his dad. Along with the walleye there were several good smallies also boated. It was hard to leave the fish biting but by 4:30 we finally pulled the plug on the day. It was all about Al today and even Darren was surprised at how well he looked and moved around. I think Al needs to get out and do more fishing this year as today did him the world of good! He was so full of energy and excitement that he was all smiles again! All in all, everyone had a great time today!