Christiane was with me this morning along with a friend of ours, for several hours of walleye fishing. We were trying to catch a few for a meal this evening. Shouldn’t be a problem after yesterday’s “Fiesta Bowl”! Doug had fished with me before so he knew the drill and got right into the game. It was almost immediately after we set the lines that the first reel went off and we had a meal come aboard. At least one person would be eating well tonight! The flat water created a problem again this morning with tons of floaters and those damn bugs! I wasn’t even able to fish some of the areas I wanted, due to the jungle on the surface. Without a proper wind to flush the weeds down & out, they just linger forever. We had only gotten on the lake after 9:00 this morning and planned on fishing until about 2:00 this afternoon. Short time to feed four people but I wasn’t worried! Back to the task at hand and after zig zagging through the floaters, another reel fired. A second one also went off and it was time for a double header! Unfortunately one was a northern and not welcomed in the boat. We did however have one walleye to join the other and things were looking up. Although we never really crushed them while we were out, we did pick at them pretty good. By the time we were finished, we must have caught at least a dozen and a half and plenty were big once again. The walleye fishing has been spectacular lately and should only get better with the cooling water temps coming soon. The fish will be easier to locate as groups will become schools and they will be thick. Although I’m not rushing the fall, it will make for less boat traffic on the waters and that’s always a good thing. Plenty of weed choppers on the lake today too!! The second day saw just Christiane & I fishing and it was a carbon copy of yesterday for weather. Hot, flat and humid! We hit the lake around 10:00 and trolled most of the time for muskie. What a pain in the butt they are! No eating hateful creatures that they can be, we targeted them for almost 3 hours for nada. Eventually I just pulled the plug and cut our losses before I had to be committed! I needed to hear the reels go so I switched up the rods to the walleye gear and within 3 minutes was hearing that sweet sound again. I love it when fish cooperate! Too bad it was a northern about 7 pounds, but at least it was a fish. There would be no skunk in the boat today! The next reel to go off had a walleye over 6 pounds and I wondered why I had wasted three hours on those other hateful things. Oh yeah, we did catch a northern about 5 pounds while trolling for the muskie, but definitely over matched for the tackle! A short while later we caught another 3 pound walleye, a few rather large perch, then called it a day. We were heading off the lake as the bugs, flat calm conditions with high heat & humidity and weeds just weren’t worth it. If it’s not enjoyable, why do it! I had enough of this torture and was happy to exit on a high note after the painful morning troll for lunge. I was even happier to get in the truck where the bugs weren’t and the air conditioning was!!

Davide was with me today, along with his brother and their dad. They were looking for a good day of fishing with a variety of species but the emphasis was to be on walleye. We began shortly after 7:30 and started our troll. As with most days, you never know what to expect and today was no different. With a lack of wind this morning, the fish didn’t seem too active. The reels weren’t going off like I had hoped and moving around to locate a school was definitely necessary. Eventually I found some aggressive fish and it was game on! Although tightly grouped, I managed to troll through them enough times to put a few in the boat. In fact, there were a couple of real good ones in the 5 to 6 pound range in the mix. Always makes for nice pics! With the flat water, of course came the pesky little bugs and there were plenty. I was praying for a wind and as if on cue, I saw it coming. When it finally reached us it was welcomed, as the bite went wild and the bugs went away. We were already on fish and now they were really feeding from the chop. I just kept moving through the tight area I had, picking at them quite regularly. As long as we had wind, I was confident that we would get bit. I hoped that it wouldn’t die off and put us back in “Dog Pecker Knat” hell. We were really fortunate for several hours though, as the fish just kept coming aboard. I think we managed around 6 or 8 overs right up to 25 inches along with many, many keepers. To be honest, I don’t think there was more than one or two that were under! It was a phenomenal bite and they were blessed with all the action, not to mention larger than usual sized walleye. We definitely had quality fish both in the well and released. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and this was one of them. The winds went away, the bite went away and the bugs returned. For the remainder of the afternoon, we picked at them but not like previously. Although they did manage to put several more, including a couple of bigguns in the boat, it was a tough bite. We eventually called it around 3:30 as they had traffic to contend with and fish to clean. I don’t think they had imagined that there would be so many fish caught today, let alone the overall size. People travel all over to get less action and this is right in their backyard! We have such a tremendous fishery all around that it makes my work simple some days. This was without a doubt one of those days as everyone experienced what our waters have to offer. Hopefully they’ll be back soon to experience it all over again!!

Isabelle & her son Justin were with me this morning on another flat, calm outing. We got rolling around 8:00 and proceeded to an area to try for a variety of species. With the lack of wind, I knew we were in for a tough bite and that the bugs would be insane. The floating weeds weren’t much fun either as I had to constantly monitor the rods. I had my work cut out for me today! Once the lines were set, we trolled around looking for takers and had a quick bite from a bass. Well, the reel didn’t go off but the fish took to the air, throwing the lure instantly. The next fish was a northern of about 4 or 5 pounds and Justin finally had his first fish of the day. Although not what I was really after, it was welcomed nonetheless as we were struggling under these conditions. The morning cloud cover should have had most fish on the prowl, but it seemed to have the opposite effect with several short strikers getting off instantly. I tried deeper, shallower and everything in between, but suffered with the results. We did however manage to land one legal walleye trolling and at least they had that to go home with. I knew that if they were going to have a meal, I would have to change things up and relocate. A few perch, a couple of short walleye and several lost fish on the strike wouldn’t feed a family of five. The morning cloud cover had given way to clear skies & the bright sunshine turned the day into a scorcher. By afternoon, it would get even worse! I can honestly say that this would prove to be one of the top three days of the summer, for heat & humidity. We took a quick shore break mid day and stretched, allowing me the time to instruct Justin on casting techniques. Our afternoon would be one without trolling as the flat water required a change up. We would be casting instead and starting on smallies. With a little fine tuning, it didn’t take long before Justin was making decent casts and it showed. He had a pick up on a senko that resulted in a hookup and now he was battling his first bass. Although it did take him all over the place, he handled it well and eventually came to the net. This completed his “Grand Slam” for the day, but it wasn’t over yet. We relocated again for more walleye when the bass just followed the baits, showing very little interest. Even they felt the lack of flow in the current and refused the slowest bait we could fish. I had another area near by that might just turn this day around and headed there with high hopes. We would all be throwing jigs to entice the walleye and hopefully able to put a few more in the livewell. Justin’s casting had escaladed into a distance thing now and I had to teach him a little control. Too far would mean weeds here and he needed to be right on he edge. Once he got the hang of it he began to hook a few, adding to the livewell and their dinner. Isabelle was slowly working the jig in the back of the boat and finally hooked one of her own. It looked like a good walleye by the bend in the rod and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t make the cut. Sure enough, it measured over 22 inches and although worthy of a few pics, needed to be returned. We went on a little rally for a period and managed to put a limit of fish in the boat. Several short ones were also released and Justin had taken a few of them too! When it really went dead I decided to try a little more trolling, just to see if things had changed. Well, it didn’t take long before we had our answer as a reel screamed and Justin was into another good walleye. We managed to get one more and pulled the plug for the day, after another northern came aboard. We had endured the 80 plus temps & high humidity, lack of fish cooperation and nasty “Dog Pecker Knats” long enough. Regardless of all these disadvantages, today was a successful one and Justin passed “Fishing 101”! He had also landed perch, pike, walleye & bass and was contributing to tonight’s dinner. I hope that he continues to fish on his own from shore, keeping the desire going. Taking a kid fishing is a good thing but by teaching them to fish, it only increases the interest to continue on their own. Hopefully his passion for this sport will be contagious and become a family affair. I’m sure his mother would like nothing better as today brought back memories from her past. All in all, “A Great Day for Fishing”!!

Stephanie had contacted me earlier in the season, requesting info on fishing with her fiancé. They were from New Brunswick and she wanted to treat him to a day while they were here on vacation. Today they would experience smallmouth fishing like never before! To date their personal bests might have been 2.5 pounds and I assured them that they would definitely surpass that many times over. We hooked up just around 8:00 and were fishing soon after. They were about to learn a new technique as drop shotting was on the menu. I sent the first line down, instructed them on how to fish with the rig and within 3 minutes, Stephanie was locked up. It may not have been a giant to me but a three pounder was still her biggest bass and required a quick pic. From this point on, things were looking up as they were about to have plenty of action for the remainder of the day. Both of them caught on quickly and were hooking up regularly with fish over 4 pounds. A few doubles were had as well and they were having a blast. I don’t think they expected action like this let alone the size caliber they were experiencing. When people start complaining that their wrists and arms are sore, it’s been a great day! They even had a side bet going for the smallest fish that had the winner being served dinner. Well Stephanie was happy to win this one as any cutting of vegetables tonight would be out of the question. Instead she would be relaxing with a glass of wine on the deck! With very few slow periods throughout the day, they were pretty much into fish constantly. Later in the afternoon they doubled up again and managed to bring two giants aboard for a nice pic. It was like clockwork, whenever I slid over the right areas. Drop it down, lift a couple of times and set the hook! There were many times when they got crushed immediately after it hit the bottom too. As the afternoon was getting on and Stephanie’s arms were beginning to get tired, we decided that one more each would end the day. That took less than 5 minutes and we were on our way! It had started with a bang and ended with an explosion! Both Stephanie & her fiancé had never imagined fishing could be this good. They are going to have a hard time fishing back home after catching as many quality fish as they had today. Something tells me this won’t be the last time I see them. Talk of a return trip is probably already in the making and possibly before next summer. Who knows, I might even see them this fall when the fishing gets good!!

Russell & his son Thomas were with me this morning, looking for a day of lunge fishing. Thomas had caught a few on his own up north and wanted more! We would begin by trolling for them in overcast skies and hope for the best. They were aware that these were hateful creatures and there were no guarantees that they would cooperate! We spent a total of four hours in broken periods without even as much as a rip. Gotta love washing lures! The only thing we had to show for our efforts was a 6 pound northern that hit a bait, trolled at 5 miles an hour. We did however get into some decent smallies both in the shallows as well as deep drop shotting. The lake was like a mirror but fortunately there was no sunshine and the temps were almost comfortable. Late in the afternoon after the pike, we switched up completely and spent a little time trolling for walleye. This was a welcomed treat as the reels fired often in the short time we fished. They were able to get a few fish to take home and landed several others in the process. Just before we were ready to call it a day, another reel went off and it didn’t stop. I wasn’t positive but had thoughts of what it was. I decided to clear the other lines just in case and we just waited. We had trolled for these hateful things for over half the day and Thomas was locked up on one with the lighter tackle. Go figure! He had the fish on for a few minutes and I actually thought it was going alright when it made a last run and came unpinned. I had only caught a glimpse of it in the water but it was definitely a good muskie. Like I said before, hateful! We licked our wounds and decided to call it quits. It was definitely not going to happen today and throwing in the towel seemed like the best thing to do. They were however taking home a few fish for dinner if that was any consolation. By losing this fish, Thomas only wanted more and the fever will continue until the next time he hooks one. More, more, more, bigger, bigger, bigger is the saying and the disease never goes away! Good luck to him on his next endeavor for the most hateful creatures on the planet!!