Alain & Claude picked the hottest day of the year to fish today, as it was a real scorcher! We trolled for a good part of the day under the comfort of the roof, but little to no wind. Pike were landed but it was a real grind to get bit. I found water to be 70 degrees in most areas and over 75 in others.

Later in the afternoon I decided to try a little dropshotting in deeper water and they managed some walleye. The floating weeds made it difficult to fish where I wanted but we made it work. In the end, we were all glad to be getting off the water! Tough day, physically!

Rick was back again today, looking for more action. What started out as cool air temps and a nice chop, soon turned around and became brutal. We trolled for most of the morning and monopolized on the bites with plenty of good fish. Pike, walleye and even a big channel catfish ate the trolled minnow baits! We were both surprised to see the channel and added it to the list of exotic species for this time of the year. In fact, it was Rick’s first cat to date!

Once the winds decided to lay down, the heat got turned up! This is when we pulled the plug on trolling and tried casting for bass in the shallows. A few were caught by covering water and even a couple of sturgeon on tubes. I had been wanting to try another spot that I hadn’t looked at this season and was glad I did. We managed to put a couple more walleye in the boat that were good keepers and several more smallies too!

The rest of the afternoon was spent spot jumping and just trying to stay as cool as we could. It wasn’t easy as the lack of wind and high heat & humidity was tough. In the end, we called it quits around 3:00 and headed in! He still has tomorrow morning to fish before he heads back home and we just wanted to get of the water today. Although it is supposed to be even hotter in the coming days, I’ll still be out there, grinding it out. I’m sure the roof will be raised just to stay sane as it’s going to be insane on the water!!

Bob & his 2 sons, Jesse & Josh joined me this morning for a mix of pike & walleye. Although not fast and furious, there were some really good fish. They all managed to get pike, walleye and even a few smallies. Bob finally landed that elusive walleye he’s been trying to catch all his life. He even got to take it home as it fell in the slot!

Rick joined me this afternoon and despite not catching any pike (no worries) we were able to get into plenty of other fish. Both walleye and bass were boated and 3 of the walleye came home with us for a dinner tomorrow night. Flat calm conditions were the kiss of death with so much floating vegetation everywhere we went. It definitely made for tough trolling in the places we fished! Overall, a tough but rewarding day!!

It had been quite some time since Yanick had fished with me but he was back on the boat today. His wife Cindy joined hm as well and we headed out onto the water. It was going to be an interesting one, as the winds were blowing big from the NE and expected to swing to the NW by mid-day.

After a rough ride to our starting location, I began the troll. First fish was a big walleye that only made for a few great pics. Cindy was up next and she managed to land a good-sized pike, putting both of them on the board!

We trolled for the morning and managed to put plenty of fish in the boat. A mixed combination of pike & big walleye ate the lures we offered and Yanick even managed his personal best eye! He always catches big fish when he’s out and this was no different. In fact, he still holds the largest sturgeon from years back when we first fished!

The afternoon was spent looking for places to fish bass, now that the season was open. It wasn’t easy with the winds, but we did find some areas that produced smaller ones. I would have liked to fish a few better spots, but they were rolling and the water color was like mud!

Today was a good day despite the big winds and plenty of quality fish were landed. They were even able to bring a few fish home with them for a good meal. It was nice getting back out with Yanick and hopefully we’ll get together again this summer for more action, with his family. Now that his two sons are of age, it would be my pleasure to initiate them into the sport of fishing. Hopefully they’ll be as lucky as their dad is and catch big fish too! Only time will tell!!

Remy and his sister Aude were with me this morning from France and looking to catch just about anything. Pike & walleye were on the menu, so to speak and they definitely got into them. In just about 2 minutes after the lines were in, the first reel fired. Although I expected it to be fast & furious, it was surprisingly slow afterwards. Longer periods than usual fell between bites causing me to relocate to another area of the lake, sooner than expected. We did manage several more fish of both species before I made the move though!

After a long run, the same thing happened! It took about 1 minute to fire off the first reel and a good northern was soon beside the boat. I had decided to hand land it and unfortunately a spiral roll had the fish cutting the line with its teeth. Oh well, there goes 10 bucks!

I covered plenty of water in this area and managed to pick at the fish, but still with long periods between them. The 65-degree water temps may have had something to do with the lethargic nature of these fish and slower than usual trolls were required to get bit. They were fortunate enough to have live welled a couple of nice eyes however and would be enjoying a great meal tonight!

With a half day scheduled, I stuck it out until the last minute as Aude brought to net the final fish of their trip. We definitely ended on a high note and headed back after the release. Their time on the water was done and it was definitely a memorable one too! The numbers may not have been the usual, but plenty of fish were still landed in the end. A great day was had by all on this beautiful morning!!