Fred & Chris joined me this morning for a difficult day of fishing. Instead of the usual 3 to 4 footers, we were blessed with flat calm and dog pecker knats. Throw in air temps in the upper 80’s with high sunshine and you have a recipe for hell. They decided at the start that walleye was what they wanted and we went trolling immediately. At first there was a light wind out of the NE that gave us a little chop on the water and I thought it was going to be easy. I soon found out that it was anything but simple and covered all kinds of water in order to get bit. Shallow to deep and everything in between was where we fished and it was tough. I’m sure I could have switched to bass and done well casting elsewhere, but we were committed to trolling and I would make it happen! Chris had first crack at the walleye and almost got it to the net before the hooks just pulled free and away she went. Fred managed to get a couple of others into the net a little later and at least they had dinner for tonight. I eventually moved out to slightly deeper water in hopes of locating a school but it never happened. Instead the reel fired and I knew what Chris had on the other end by the way it went out. It was to be his first musky and we all hoped it would end well. After several minutes we caught a glimpse and it was definitely a good one. Too bad it was on 12lb test! After a few more minutes it came up to the surface and the hooks pulled free. It was to end in disappointment, but at least we got to see what was on the other end of the line. We resumed the troll and I eventually found some fish for them. It was a mix of bass & walleye and they were getting a few more hits, finally! We stuck to the area until the end and had a couple more fish that hit hard but just got off. Today was one of the most difficult days so far this year and if it wasn’t for the wind picking up slightly in the afternoon for about an hour, it may have been even worse. Most of our bites occurred when this happened and went dead when it died. Despite these conditions, they managed to land several good fish and ended up taking some of them home for dinner. It was still a good day to be on the water!

Scott & Neil met me early this morning for some smallmouth action. Light N winds were a pleasure for a change and it wasn’t a scorcher, yet! Water temps were holding steady around 75 degrees with all the warm weather we had been having lately and I expected the bite to be on. Neil had brought a fly rod and I instructed him to set it up for our first spot. The fish were shallow and he would be able to get them no problem. Once we arrived, Scott worked soft plastics while Neil casted a bright Clouser pattern along the rocky edge. Well it didn’t take long before Scott was into his first smallie and they were officially on the board. He also managed to get the 2nd and third before Neil finally hooked into one of his own. The wind & current was making it a little difficult for Neil to get where the fish were and I had moved a little closer to give him a better target. These fish were pretty shallow and I didn’t want to put the boat on the rocks! They both managed to hook into many fish here but not all of them came to the net. The bites were light and several of them were getting off on the jump. We hung in there for a while until we had exhausted all of the active fish and then moved to another area nearby. There wasn’t as many aggressive fish here and they had to work hard for their bites. After a while I decided a change of scenery was in order and made a long run to an area much further away. It was here that they got to see some bigger bass and unfortunately the lack of current had the fish a little lethargic. Both Scott & Neil managed to hook into a few of these bruisers but weren’t able to keep most of them pinned up. Scott was the only one to land anything and we moved once again. They wanted to try for largemouth bass so I went somewhere where I knew they were but we weren’t rigged right for the conditions. The search baits just wouldn’t cut it today under the bright sun and flat calm water. I would have needed to set them up to flip heavy cover and it’s always tough with light spinning gear! We searched for about 45 minutes for a taker but it just didn’t happen. Back to smallies we went and Scott was back in the game once again with about another 10 fish to Neil’s zero. Although they both had shots at many, Neil was unable to keep them hooked up and frustration was setting in. He could have switched to spinning gear but by now he was in too deep and it was personal. He was determined to hook up on the fly and stuck with it until the bitter end! Scott was giving him a hard time with every fish he landed making it even worse. Neil stuck to his guns and on the last spot finally managed to hook into some quality. Not before he pulled the fly out of a big fish’s mouth however! Fortunately this fish was hot and as soon as he tossed it back out, the fish hit him so violently that it would have been impossible to miss it this time! Not only did he finally break his long dry spell, but he even managed to land a couple more before we were to leave. Today may have been a bit of a grind but by having many places to go to, they monopolized on catching plenty of quality smallies from most of them. By 3:30 we were done! They had an evening planned at the comedy festival and needed some time before. Fly fishing for smallies may be tougher than conventional tackle but the thrill of being hooked up makes it all worthwhile! Neil had gotten his reward by sticking to his guns and ended with a bang!!

Dan was back with me again today for a half day with his daughter Carina. She had seen the results from his previous outings and wanted to experience it for herself. We met at 7:30 and went trolling for walleye. Despite being difficult, she managed 3 nice ones in less than an hour. I moved around and she caught another northern before I decided to go for smallies. I set them both up with soft plastics and went to an area that was loaded with some nice fish. Carina was new to this technique but caught on pretty quickly. Her hook set could have been a little meaner but she still managed to land a bunch of decent fish. Dan was in his glory after the weekend and knew exactly what to do. He too boated a number of good fish over the morning as we hit several areas holding the bass. There may not have been any giants landed, but the numbers of mid range bass were great. Both of us had places to be in the afternoon so we cut out shortly after 1:00 to head home. I’m sure I will see both of them again soon and especially once the sturgeon bite begins. I can’t wait to get Carina into a fish over 50 pounds! Hopefully in the coming weeks we will be able to make it happen!

Hugues was back with me today, along with his son Oliver & his friend Daniela. Over the years, he had experienced many days with bad weather in the form of thunder storms that had us running for cover. Some of them even cut our day short! Today would not be one of them though as high heat & humidity would have us in the sunshine all day. We did have that hateful wind again though that blew 20 knots out of the SW. Some areas had huge waves, but not where we were to begin. I was taking them straight to a smallie area and it was loaded! Daniela was pretty new to this style of fishing so I brought her up front with me and let Hugues & his son fend from the back of the boat. Needless to say, she managed to hook up and brought the first bass in for a pic. She even landed a couple of walleye that kick started our livewell early in the day! Both Oliver and Daniela hooked into several and landed a few, but Hugues kept missing his for some reason. I decided to slide in a little giving Hugues a better angle to cast to and unfortunately had another bass boat move in to the area I had been fishing. It was like being back in a tournament again! This guy who I knew, should have had the courtesy to just pass the area by as he was also out with clients. I guess he was still in tournament mode and didn’t see anything wrong with what he was doing. All I know is that If I saw someone fishing an area I wanted to fish, I wouldn’t even think of stopping, let alone fishing on top of someone else. After seeing this, I moved away completely and went another hundred yards to fish somewhere else. It didn’t take long before I had company again and this time he came in from below and tried to fish from the down current side. Absolutely unbelievable! Despite these inconveniences, I was able to position all three of my guests so that they could cast & catch plenty of quality bass. Although it took a while, I guess he finally realized that he wasn’t going to be able to get any closer and slowly moved out of the area completely. This allowed me to cover the water slowly with the presentations they were using and refine the area completely. Needless to say, they pounded on all kinds of real quality smallies! After doing this for several hours we were now late in the morning and a change of location was in order. I knew it was blowing pretty good but wanted to see if we could fish another place further away. As I neared the spot, I realized it wasn’t doable and turned around. The water was a terrible color and the wind was blowing big waves directly on it. Change of plans! We would be going trolling for a bit but first I would have to pick up the rods that I was having dropped off at the ramp by my wife. I didn’t realize just how big the waves were until I neared the ramp. We finished the run in 4 footers as I got closer & closer! This year is just unbelievable! There was also a bathroom break in order for Daniela so it worked out great. We headed back out after the pickup and I set the lines for the troll. Just like usual, the first fish to come aboard didn’t fire the rod, it just loaded. The second walleye did exactly the same and we now had a couple more joining the others in the livewell. Hugues had let them take the first rods and was up next. He had fished this lake for many years and had always wanted to land a musky but never thought it would happen. Well when the next rod bent, the reel howled! I couldn’t say for sure but had an idea that he was about to get his wish. We cleared all the rods and I started backing up on his fish. When I got a glimpse of it in the distance, a confirmation was made. Several minutes later I was able to get the boga grip locked on and he was elated. Bucket list checked off today! With everything in order, I lifted the fish aboard and laid it across his lap. In about 30 seconds I had all the pics I needed and it was released back to the water unharmed. Although we went back to trolling afterwards, I knew anything caught wouldn’t top this. Hugues was reliving the fish in his mind while chilling up front as we trolled. A few more fish were taken but all northerns so we decided to finish the day with more smallies. In the last hour or so, several more good fish were landed and a few more were missed as usual. By 4:00 we called it a day and headed back to the ramp. It was nice to finally have a good weather day with Hugues but even better to have an excellent fishing day with them as well. I’m sure this will be etched in his mind for quite a while as he relives it over & over. Thankfully he has many pics as a reminder too!

William and his two sons, Peter & Alex were with me this morning for a half day of fishing. We began at 7 and were scheduled to fish until noon, weather permitting. As William wanted smallies, I headed straight to an area that was loaded with plenty of quality ones. On his very first cast, he was locked up and battling a decent starter fish. Never good luck to hook up on your first cast! His kids were also catching some nice ones, with a little help from me of course. Many were missed by setting too soon but there were a good number of bass brought to net for some nice pics too. This went on for several hours until Mother Nature decided to rain on our parade, literally! I was forced to raise the roof and that was it for the casting. We switched gears as they decided staying dry was more important and dropped the lines in for a troll. Not long after they were in the water, one of the rods bent and they had a walleye on the line. They were happy to have it after the last trip this spring when they took three home for their dinner. I hoped we would get more but was limited to the amount of time needed to locate them. Unfortunately it wasn’t going to happen and we headed back to take out. The winds may have started out light from the east but when they switched to the SE and picked up, the bite just died. Despite marking plenty of fish, I was unable to get another reel to fire and they left with only one walleye. I know they will be back again this season and hopefully I will have more than 45 minutes to get them enough walleye for a good meal. These fish are only now starting to settle into their summer patterns and it won’t be long before I’m back on schooling fish again. Better days ahead!