Leonard was with me today along his grandson Erin and Joel his father came along too. A later start than usual of 9:00 had us wasting no time getting the lines wet. We began drop shotting an area that had been very productive over the last couple of weeks. Today however it was a little slower, with only a few smallmouth landed. We were actually looking for walleye but found them smaller than normal. In fact, the entire morning was slow with nothing to show in the livewell for our efforts! I realized with fishing this difficult that trolling was our only option and readied everything, in hopes of better results. Once the lines were set, it didn’t take long before reels started to fire and the remainder of the day saw plenty of action. Walleye, pike and bass came aboard of all sizes and everyone was getting their share. In fact, they had no problem taking a limit of walleye home for a family dinner. As I was the one filleting their catch, I decided to pull the plug just after 4:30. They would be having fresh fish for dinner! Unfortunately no pics were taken by me today but there were many shot by them. A rough start to the day ended with quite a bang when a little adjustment was made. Great back nine as golfers would say!!

Today I had Arie & his two boys, Jake & Ryan out fishing for a good numbers day. It was actually a half day that began at 10:00 and finished shortly after 2:00. I had figured that trolling would be the easiest method and set the lines right after the top went up. It was suppose to be in the mid 80’s today and there was barely a breeze, so I knew we would fry without it! Well it didn’t take long before we were into fish but without the reels firing once again! The two outside rods had large bends in them and both kids were reeling in their very first walleye. As they were of legal size and Arie was hoping to have some fresh fish for dinner, they went directly in the livewell. Water temps were over 71 degrees and should have been warm enough to trigger aggressive strikes but both fish were just there. I hoped this wouldn’t last all day as it’s always easier to hear reels go off. We resumed our fishing in hopes of more fish to come and were rewarded soon after with another walleye. Unfortunately it was short and was immediately released. After several more walleye of various size, Jake was finally into a rather large northern. Large for him that is! With a little help from his dad I was able to bring the fish to net and we took several pics before the release. Although the action wasn’t what I had expected, we were picking at the fish pretty good. Eventually with the water warming, the fish got active and reels were finally going off like they should. At one point we had simultaneous activity that had all four reels scream and a reel fire drill. Two of the fish were walleye and the other was a larger northern that ate two lines. This guy had an appetite and had taken two of the lures at the same time. Talk about greedy! It was pretty funny watching the fish come in with a couple of lines hanging out of its mouth. Although only three actual fish were landed I had to call this a quad! The action had picked up considerably and there wasn’t too much of a gap between fish now. Every few minutes someone was reeling in a fish and the kids were getting their fill. I had decided that with the two species a piece I would try for a third and slid into a zone that held smallmouth. As luck would have it, the fish hit right on cue and Ryan got his first slam! The bass was only a couple of pounds but it counted as an official slam! We reset the line and continued looking for another bass so that both brothers would have one and filtered through several walleye & pike before it happened. In fact it happened in spades when we saw the fish take to the air. By the looks of it, she was at least 4 pounds and gave Jake a hard time getting her to the boat. So much so that it took out two other lines in tangles that had me dong some fancy foot work. With help from his dad I was able to net the beast and realized that it was much larger than we thought. Not only was she long but she had fed really well after her spawn, looking like a real football. So as not to keep her out of the water too long, I made the photo shoot quick and released her immediately afterwards. After retying a couple of the lines and fixing the other two, I set them back and pretty quickly we had another screaming rip that I was sure was a northern. It had gone off so hard that it had to be a pike. To my surprise it was a big walleye and the largest of the day. They were hoping on taking this one home but I knew it was a good over and told them why it had to go back. More pics and another release and back to fishing we went. Our active period had slowed now and I was really moving around plenty to get only a few bites. We managed to pick up a few more before pulling the plug all together. These kids had their fill of fish and were looking forward to going fast again so we called it a day. I decided to leave the top up for the run back and took it slower that I normally would. Once out of the water, Arie followed me back to my place as I was filleting the fish for his dinner tonight. His two boys had caught the most fish ever in a single day if not in total and were going to be dining on their catch. I know there would be stories told at the table and some of them would actually be true tales of their day on the lake. Like all fishermen, some others would not! Great day for fishing!!

Hugues was with me today for the 8th year and this time he brought new blood. Andre was along but for the first time and I hoped it would be as good as it had been. The lake was looking a little nasty upon arrival and I knew it would only get worse as the day went on. The winds were suppose to be from the SW this morning, blowing 10 to 20 knots but in actuality they were out of the NW. Waves were already 2 to 3 foot making the run to our starting location a little bumpy. I had decided to begin in an area that was slightly protected so as not to beat them up too early. With one guy on a crankbait and the other a spinnerbait, I had it covered. They were to fish for the active ones right away and I would slow them down after the fish stopped biting. Well, I really never changed them up as they were locked on plenty of fish with these presentations for well over an hour. It seemed like every time I told them three more casts, someone would hook another fish and we’d stay a little longer. Eventually I just decided to pull the plug and search for larger fish somewhere else. They had played with numbers of average fish and now I wanted them to catch a few giants! On Hugue’s very first cast in the new spot, he got crushed on the spinnerbait and was tight to a good bass. This one just beat him up and went aerial a number of times before I was able to get her in the net. As it was quite windy here, I decided to put the fish in the livewell alongside the earlier caught walleye, for pics later. This area was holding several more bass as we saw when Hugues was fighting his. There had to be about 6 others with it and they were all in the same size class. I had a good feeling about this place and decided to concentrate here a little harder. Once the spinnerbait & crankbait stopped producing, it was time for a slower presentation. Out came the jigs and it was game on! In one area I think Hugues had 5 fish on in 5 casts. Although they both lost a load of fish, they landed a bunch as well and refined their jigging skills. They realized that by slowing down their movements, they got more bites. This would come in handy in a few weeks as they were heading on a fishing trip to remote location. Any new techniques would only help them in landing more fish where they were going. We remained in this area, moving around the entire morning and part of the afternoon due to the winds. When I finally decided to leave it was about 2:00 and the lake was rolling pretty good. Fortunately the winds had switched to SW, but were blowing 20 to 30 knots now. It wasn’t going to be easy but I was going to show them another technique and with any luck we might catch a few more fish in the process. Drop shotting was next on the list and they were looking forward to giving it a try! When I finally settled in and started the drift, I realized we were going to get wet. I was slowing down the drift with the small engine and rogue waves would periodically roll over the back and onto whatever was in their way. Namely Hugues feet! He had been warned but didn’t care as today was much better than what he was use to. In the past, he had a track record of bad weather in the form of rain or electrical storms. Today was a walk in the park and the fishing was spectacular! When I finally set them up and explained the do’s & don’ts they began hitting fish. Both walleye & smallies were eating their presentations and there were lots. The last two hours of fishing had been just like the rest of the day with fish coming aboard constantly. The weather hadn’t effected the fishing. In fact, I think it fired them up as the action was all day long! I don’t really know how many fish they caught today but I do know that it was more than they had ever hoped for. With several different techniques & presentations used today, all had worked. They would be ready for their fishing trip and looking forward to using all that they had learned on this extraordinary day! After a couple more fish landed, we called it a day. I’m pretty sure neither of them would forget this "Wow" day anytime soon!!

Today was going to be an interesting one as I had three clients from all over the world. Jan was from the Netherlands, Ian the U.K. and Jaakko was from Finland. They were all in Montreal for a huge convention and wanted to try some local fishing. Everyone had fished, but with limited success back home and were hoping to catch something today. Let’s just say, I wasn’t worried! We began shortly after 7:30 and within 5 minutes Jan was into the first pike of the day. Although not big by my standards, it was plenty large by his. Pics were taken and once the fish was released, two more rods fired giving the others a shot at their own. One walleye and another pike were landed and before I could get the lines back in, a third one went off with a bass. These guys must have thought they died and went to heaven! We hadn’t been fishing for 10 minutes and already four fish had been landed. They were pumped for more and more was just what they got. For a couple of hours it was nonstop and everyone had their shot at a variety of fish. Walleye, pike, bass & perch were landed and several of the walleye were kept in the livewell for a dinner on Sunday. Seeing as they were all huge soccer fans, they wanted to have a meal with a bunch of their friends for the final game. They planned on getting a chef from one of their hotels to take care of everything and needed a few more for the dinner. I managed to stay on the fish as long as I could before they just stopped biting. Time to move on and cover more water! I jumped around from shallow to deep and contacted fish all over. We were fortunate this morning with overcast skies and a nice chop from a SW wind, but that eventually ended. Now the sun was shining and the wind had died completely causing me to raise the top once again. It was nice to be in the shade and the comfort level went way up for everyone! It didn’t seem to change the fishing either as they were still biting pretty good. Sometime after lunch I decided to change it up a bit and give them a chance to try a different technique. We were trading in the trolling rods and pulling out the drop shot rigs with a relocation. Now they would be on their own and all I would do was try and keep them on the fish. The lack of wind was the only drawback as it almost felt like we were anchored. We were moving but real slowly over flats and patience was necessary. This was the first time they had ever used this technique and a little coaching was required. After several lost fish they seemed to get the hang of it and we kept at it for the remainder of our day. All three of them were catching fish but Jaakko definitely had the hot hand. It was like he was putting on a seminar! He must have caught 75% of the fish and most of them were walleye. They would have no problem eating fish tomorrow! I had mentioned something to the gang earlier in the day and we would be quitting at 3:00 because of it. Being giant soccer fans and having the Netherlands playing Belgium at 4:00, they took me up on the offer. We would be heading to a regular restaurant/bar of mine where they could watch the game on many big screens while eating fish and drinking beer. Who could say no to that offer? As I always like to end on a high, I decided to make one last attempt at a final fish while I packed things up. Right on cue Jaakko hooked up and he had a screamer on the line. I knew this wasn’t a walleye and then we caught a glimpse of the fish. He had hooked into a small musky around 8 pounds and it was pissed off! This would make his total for Canadian fish species five, if he landed it. After several aerials and a few good runs, I was finally able to get it in the net. This was the icing on the cake for Jaakko today! We shot a bunch of quick pics and released it unharmed to grow into the beast that it could. These guys had flown halfway around the world, never imagining fishing like this! We pulled out, headed back to my place and raced to the restaurant for the game. For the next few hours they were in their glory watching the match and Jan was elated with his team. Many drinks were drank and a great time was had by all before they headed to their hotel. They had definitely chosen the right day to go fishing and topped it off with a great meal and relaxing evening at a local watering hole. Who could ask for anything more!!

After a lengthy four days of successful musky fishing, it was nice to get back to a day of relaxation. Tom & I were headed out to see what the weather had done to the walleye and hoped for good results. With the terrible conditions each day after Monday, the water had gotten worse & worse. The lake had muddied up and the already cool water temps had fallen even more. What was 70 degrees only a week ago was now down to 67! Winds were blowing every day as well, but today they had calmed to less than 10 knots and were from the south west. Perfect conditions to catch Walters! We set the lines and decided to start with a troll to cover some water, in search of our first bite. Well it didn’t take long before I was back to locking the fish up by throttling the engine again. Two clicks from the reel and I knew they were back to their old tricks of barely firing the reel. For most of the morning this was the norm as several decent walleye and a couple of quality bass were boated. Two of the smallmouth were in the 4 pound class and another pushing 5 almost made it to the net. We even landed a couple of good pike with one going almost 10 pounds! By afternoon though, the water was finally beginning to warm and the activity showed. We were now able to hear the reels going off and the fish were acting like they should. Several nice walleye in the slot were landed and a couple of overs were returned. We fished till about 2:00 before we called it quits. I even had to raise the top due to the heat and sunshine and boy was it nice. It had to be close to 20 degrees cooler under the roof, making the scorching temps completely bearable. I can’t believe I waited so long before installing one! In less than 5 hours of fishing there were double digits of each species and nobody got hurt. We left the lake completely satisfied and both looking forward to returning real soon!!