After yesterday’s insane half day on the water, Christiane was just dying to get out and have one of her own. I had clients scheduled for both weekend days, but unfortunately cancellations happened! It’s been a tough year for these and I hope it doesn’t continue throughout the season. Our intentions were to hit the water early but we had to change plans when the pool needed maintenance. No big deal as the fish would wait! We finally were on the lake around 10:30 and the lines were set when a reel started to scream that lovely sound. It was a deep walleye zone, but unfortunately turned up an 8 pound northern instead. Three minutes in and already a snake! We did manage a few more small walleye and a couple more pike before I hit the main area once again. What had started out as a day with light winds from the NE had ended abruptly and now we were in flat calm. I hate flat calm! Wind creates movement and movement means activity. Along with the lack of wind also comes the “Dog Pecker Knats” and they too added to the misery! I wasn’t sure how this would affect the area but thought that we could get a few walleye despite the lack of flow. The usual 1 to 2 footers were what I preferred, but you can’t always get what you want! I was soon to find out that I was right as I covered lots of water and only had a half dozen or so walleye to show for it. Most of them were under the usual size too and I knew it was time to begin the search once more. I had an idea of where they were and headed to deeper water in search of the mother load. Well it wasn’t gang busters like the two previous days but we were getting them. We were also getting a few northerns and many big smallies in the mix that obviously were recovering well as they had bulked up nicely. The water was warming up with the sun & cloud cover and was around 68 degrees, but I was hoping for more. Plenty of floating vegetation was also present due to the previous northern winds and boat traffic and rods had to be placed down to compensate. Once I found what I was looking for, the reels began their lovely sounds once more. I had located the big ones and took full advantage of this situation hooking up frequently. Between big northerns, big bass & big walleye, we were into them big time! A couple of the walleye were over 25 inches and ironically fought quite well. As quickly as I could get the rods back in the water after netting a fish, another reel would go off. Talk about a chaotic experience! I love chaos and crazy fire drills too! We fished the area and fanned out looking for more and were rewarded for our efforts every time. It’s amazing how a small refinement can increase the end results when the conditions change like they did. Although it’s only mid June, the 80 plus degree temps made it feel more like a full blown summer day and I think the fish felt it as well. I found myself adjusting constantly just to stay on the fish. By 3:00 we decided the heat was too much and pulled the plug after another double header. I usually don’t like leaving the fish biting but lately that’s what I have been doing. It’s different with clients as everyone always wants more, more more, bigger, bigger bigger! I can’t argue with that and tend to milk the areas for every bite they can get. We weren’t sure what the boat ramp situation would be like and gave ourselves plenty of time as the previous weekend traffic had delayed take out plenty. As luck would have it, nobody was around and we were out in no time. Talk about a perfect end to a perfect day!!

What a week of fishing it was! A couple of cancellations saw me on the water every day for 10 days straight. I decided to take advantage of this situation and start using my electronics for what they were designed for. With the structure scan on the HDS10 unit, I refined many areas and expanded my search grid to locate even more new spots. It’s amazing to see the intricate detail that these machines actually put out, not to mention the power they provide while in this mode. From sweet spots holding small clusters of rocks to thick patches of weeds on deep edges, I saw it all. With every new find there were also fish and big ones too! I don’t think places like these get fished much or maybe at all as the walleye were on fire. Along with the walleye, there were several large northerns up to 10 pounds and some post spawn smallies, just recuperating from their spawn. Although the weather was a bit of a roller coaster ride, it did let me figure out where these fish moved to when conditions changed. I had high humidity and flat calm. NE winds blowing 10 to 15 knots and cold fronts. Even huge water temperature drops and pretty much everything in between. With all of this, came plenty of adjustments just to get them to bite. As bad luck would have it, the only tough day was Wednesday and I had a father & his two sons out. Barry brought Cole & Pierce on the lake and it was a rough one. The NW winds had 3 to 4 footers on the lake from the 15 to 25 knot blow. Along with the big seas, were coffee colored water and tons of green algae throughout the water column. It was practically impossible to keep the lines & lures free of this stuff as I had to be on the rods every couple of minutes. I knew the fish were there, I just couldn’t make them bite. I have a feeling they didn’t like this mess either and just weren’t moving to eat. It was the only day on the water out of all that I struggled to catch fish and I had to have clients. What are the odds of that! Despite the tough fishing, they still managed to land several walleye, a few smallies and some perch. Not a banner day to say the least! The following couple of days had the fish back on the chew and it was just insane once again. Thursday I fished alone and located several more new areas holding fish and Friday I was back out with a family member just pounding them once again. Tom had fished with me a few times this season and always seemed to be a day early or a day late but not today. We started out with a bang and had a couple of 19 inchers in the live well in less than 15 minutes. We picked at them for a while and then I took him to the sweet spot. With rising water temps, high sun and a wind from the NE at about 10 knots, I knew he was in for a banner day. As anticipated, the reels began to go as soon as I got to the area and for the next three hours, never stopped. I just kept covering water and Tom just kept reeling fish in one after the other. Every time we heard a reel scream, I knew the other one was about to go too. Doubles were the order of this day and I lost count on just how many we had. Although most of the fish were in the 18 to 21 inch length, some of the walleye were even longer. There were a few that were 23 to 25 inches and he was elated. This was definitely his best day out with me by far! We decided to pull the plug around 1:00 but not before Tom landed his last fish of this incredible day. One of the two reel s fired and he soon had another walleye over 23 inches in the net. I’m not sure exactly how many fish were caught today but there were many. There were also plenty of northerns, smallmouth and some really jumbo perch taken in the mix, making today just insane. I don’t think he’ll forget this one for quite a while and was glad it finally happened to him. Over the season he had heard tales of days like these and now he finally experienced one of his own. What an absolutely unbelievable day of fishing he had and now, can hardly wait to get back out and relive today again!!

I decided to fish with my bother in law & his son today as I had no bookings and didn’t want to miss another day on the water. We met up shortly after 9:30 and were fishing before ten o’clock. Although we had a wind that I wasn’t too happy with, we set out from the dock in the east 15 regardless. Current fighting wind is never great, but it sure beats a flat calm day anytime! Air temps barely reached 70 degrees and the best I could find was 64 for the water. It had fallen almost 5 degrees since yesterday when I was out for another half day. Oh yeah, plenty of walleye were caught then too! I don’t think we had set the lines for more than 3 minutes when the first reel started screaming. Eric quickly grabbed it from the holder and a 3 pounder was soon in the boat. We weren’t as lucky on the next fish as Michel fought a huge over all the way to the net, only to have it use the rubber as a trampoline and release itself. I really do hate these nets when it comes to landing bigger fish, despite the anti tangle mesh for the hooks. Out came the other net after the 27 inch fish got a quicker release than anticipated. Back out went the lines and several other smaller fish were caught & released before Eric was into another big one. As with Michel’s earlier one, this too was of a greater size and I was ready with a real net. Although the hooks did tangle some, I was able to land this one without any problems. A quick pic of another fish near 27 inches and back she went. I had an area that produced well yesterday and decided to make a pass or two through it and see if anybody was home. Well, let’s just say that it was loaded as all 3 reels began screaming simultaneously! Three more quality fish in the slot were released into the livewell for their dinners. I kept the trolling pass going close to the same line several more times and had reels firing on just about every one. There’s definitely something down there that attracts these fish as they are schooling pretty good in a small area. I’m really not sure just how many fish they landed today but it was more than enough to keep them happy. We pulled the plug by 2:30 after many more hookups and another nice 25 incher that Eric was lucky enough to reel in. Today was a typical half day of fishing with numerous fish caught and not too much dead time while doing it. When they were going it was about every 5 minutes or lees and that made for a real great day once again. For all of you out there that love catching walleye, there’s no better time to do it than right now. Without the summertime weeds hampering your troll, it makes for an easy way to load the boat every time out. I love this time of the year and can’t wait to get back out for another day of the Walleye Olympics!!

After Saturday’s outing, I knew I had to get back out as soon as possible. Christiane & I hit the lake around 10 o’clock and fished for about four hours. Conditions were flat calm except for the boat traffic waves, but that was to be expected. Sunshine & temps in the mid 70’s had the water between 63 & 68 degrees depending on where we were. I set out a couple of rods and began trolling for our dinner. Plenty of walleye were caught along with a few large northerns and the occasional bass. Most of them were between 16 & 19 inches but there were several short ones as well. We even managed to get one around 25 inches and it went right back after a quick pick. In the short time we were out, the action was almost non stop. It was nice to get back on the water and just have a relaxing half day of fishing. No pressure to produce, just plenty of enjoyable action. Oh yeah, we also caught our dinner too! Who could ask for anything more!! Ron accompanied me this morning for another half day of fishing for walleye. We launched around 9:00 and were scheduled to fish until 1:00. At least we thought we were! It was quite a bit different from the weekend as the winds were now blowing 10 to 15 knots out of the NW. Clouds were also present and the air temps had fallen to the low 60’s. This also meant that the water temps would have fallen and I noticed it almost immediately. The best I could locate was 63 degrees and most areas were closer to 62 making me wonder what it may have done to the fish. I set the rods in and had a confirmation almost immediately. Although it was only a smallie, I had my answer! We fished a couple of areas for about an hour with limited results but still managed several fish. One of the hits was a violent reel scream that quickly went silent, leaving us with an empty line. I had not only lost the lure but about 6 inches of the flouro leader as well. I immediately thought Musky! By now, the wind layed down slightly and this allowed me to hit an open water shoal in hopes of more & bigger. Well it didn’t take long there either as a reel fired off almost as soon as we had the rods set. This one had weight and Ron was barely able to reel the line in at first. It just kept going off the reel and I switched to neutral to reduce the pressure. All the way to the boat, this fish stayed down and I knew it had to be a walleye. A confirmation was had when I saw the leader knot and it was a biggun! In the water it looked like a 10 pounder but once in the net, it shrunk a bit. It was still a good fish nonetheless as it would have gone at least 6 pounds. It was also around 27 inches and a real beauty! A few quick pics and back she went to live another day. This was only the beginning of many a fish as the action really picked up. Rods were going off every five to 10 minutes and fish of all sizes were being reeled in. Many quality walleye were caught & released as Ron wasn’t keeping any today. These fish were to be as lucky as all the ones landed this past Saturday. When another rod went off and the reel started screaming violently, I had thoughts of big walleye once again. It fought lust like the first fish in this area and stayed deep right up to the boat as well. I was a little disappointed when I caught a glimpse but Ron was elated to see the large northern. It put up quite a battle and wasn’t easy to net with the rubber net! Another few quick pics and back it went after she crapped all over the carpet. After trolling the area and catching many more walleye, I noticed that the winds were steadily increasing. Along with the winds the skies were getting a little dark as well and eventually we heard thunder. It was unanimous, we were out of here! Once the boat was on the trailer, the rain started falling and I thought we were really gonna get pounded. Fortunately, we were on the edge and it never really hit us with its full force. Although we had cut the day a bit short, Ron had caught a plenty of fish in the 3.5 hours we were on the lake. For his first outing with me, it was a successful one and I was glad. You never know what a cold front can do to the fishing and this was definitely one. I was still able to stay on the walleye and managed to pick at them enough to have action the entire time out. Overall, it was a productive half day of fishing!!

I fished with Hassan & his brother Sam today as well as a friend of theirs, Stephan. We were targeting walleye but I knew they would be catching a few other species as well! Although this was not the first time I had been out since the trout season, it would be the first report from local waters. With the best times being the mid day period, there was no rush getting out too early and we hit the water just before 9 o’clock. It was a picture perfect morning with air temps already in the upper 60’s and expected highs closer to 80. What an unbelievable month of warmth this has been! Well it didn’t take long after setting the lines before a rod fired and Sam was into the first of many fish for the day. To my surprise, it wasn’t a walleye but a rather large northern close to 8 pounds. Not what we were after but we’ll take it! Today was a rescheduled birthday gift from Hassan’s wife and I was going to make sure it was a great one. Due to unforeseen motor issues, I had to postpone their trip from the previous week. With the water temps on the rise I knew they would be catching better today anyway and looked forward to boating many a fish. With all the lines back in the water we continued the troll for more & bigger. They were all reeling in fish after fish throughout the morning with plenty of walleye being caught but I didn’t like the overall size. The walleye were mostly keepers but no real giants. Steph did have a heavy fish on at one point but it came unpinned before we actually saw what it was. I hate the unknown! Sometime after noon I decided we needed a location change and switched areas completely. It was here that we remained for the balance of the day as they just pounded the fish, one after another. Before the four rods were even set into play, one went off and Hassan was battling another large northern close to his brother’s starter fish from this morning. They may have been taking turns with the rods but there wasn’t much time in between. Two of the four rods were doing the most damage, but we needed a spread and I left the others out hoping for a bigger fish. I believe it was Stephan that managed to land the largest walleye at right around 5 pounds. There were so many other walleye in the slot that could have been kept today, that we almost lost count! Water temps were key and as long as I stayed in the upper 60 degree range, we were on fish. Despite the flat calm & high sun conditions, we were trolling over lots of fish and picking at them pretty good. The dog pecker knats were out in full force along with the caddis flies and we all prayed for any wind to keep them away. Well, sometime mid afternoon it kicked up and we got our wish. It went from a mirror to a 10 to 15 knot wind out of the SW. Not only did this help with the bugs but the fish decided to go nuts as well. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it did! Our numbers increased rapidly in the last couple of hours and so did the size of the fish. We started having double headers and the rotation was even quicker. Although they didn’t keep any fish today, they surely could have all left with real decent limits of walleye. Plenty of fish between 18 & 21 inches were released to fight another day. We ended the day just around 4:00 when the last couple of fish were reeled in making this an excellent first outing for the gang. I know I will be seeing them in a few short weeks again when the bass season opens. I expect the fishing to be even better as there will be three rods casting for post spawn smallies. Hopefully the weather will be as cooperative as it was today, just spectacular!!!