The annual bass trip for Darren, his bro Mark & their friend Dave was officially here this weekend. To say it was interesting would be an understatement! Day 1 had us driving for well over two hours before we launched the boat. An unexpected tournament on the body of water we were to fish had us making a U Turn and heading elsewhere. Looks like it’s time again, for these guys to push one out every weekend until freeze up! It’ll be fun trying to dodge the unexpected for one more season! The second body of water had a pile more boats all over the areas we fished too. I guess they didn’t get the invite! With this to be the nicest day forecasted for the weekend, it wasn’t a surprise to see so many people out. I on the other hand actually pray for high winds and foul weather for this exact reason! All things aside, we had to make the best of the situation and go fishing. Sunshine and cold morning air temps along with a 10 to 15 knot wind from the west was what we were faced with when the lines were dropped. I idled over a deeper flat, marking plenty of fish before I gave the signal to let em drop. Game on and they were ready! The side bets were first fish, biggest fish and most fish for the weekend and they were pumped. We back drifted over what seemed like miles of water with little action and this was surprising. Fish were marking all over and only Darren hooked up once. At least he had the initial side bet won and it couldn’t be broken! This was a similar occurrence throughout the day and had me juggling presentations and locations all over. They caught fish on all kinds of baits but not really one particular type. In the end, Darren & Dave tied for most, Darren had first and Dave had biggest. Looks like Mark was the “Biggest Loser” today! Oh well, there’s always tomorrow! Day two saw a total opposite of the first one when we arrived and readied to launch. Unlike yesterday when there wasn’t a spot left to park, today it looked like a ghost town. With the exception of a duck hunter, the fair weather fishermen were no where to be seen. You gotta love bad weather! Scheduled today was rain & mist, east winds and just perfect weather for fishing. These guys were no stranger to misery as a usual trip has at least one day with miserable conditions. Last year saw hurricane winds for two straight days and a horizontal rainfall that seemed more like a monsoon. Today would be a walk in the park! First location had Mark throwing a crankbait and locked up immediately! We knew it was going to be a great one with a start like this and looked forward to the possibilities of better things to come. Darren was next and within a few casts was also tight to a nice big fish. This first spot had produced plenty of quality and after it slowed, we relocated and did it all over again. By adjusting presentations and positions in specific areas, we were able to monopolize on the bites and pick them off one at a time. A combination of lures, both hard & soft accounted for the hookups and there were many! It sure was nice to be alone like it use to be and not have to be bothered by every Tom, Dick & Larry again today! We were able to fish slowly in the dropping water temps and it proved to be a productive method as fish after fish were landed. Everyone was catching and that’s just the way I like it. Despite the not so perfect conditions that most prefer, I’ll take this any day of the week. A light mist was falling and they were catching. With the exception of only a few short periods of slowness, they never really went more than a few minutes in between bites. Regardless that they were all wet & cold, we stuck it out until almost 4:30, when we pulled the plug after one last fish. Mark started the day with first and ended it with last. That’s gotta be worth something! Despite not caring about the outside conditions during the day, they all really enjoyed the drive home in a nice warm truck. It’s amazing how you don’t notice just how bad it actually is, when you’re catching fish! It was definitely a perfect end to an even more perfect day on the water!!

Rahe and his son Enzo were with me today and what a day it was going to be. Although the morning was cold, the sun made it feel warmer and the lack of wind helped as well. I knew based on yesterday that we would have a tough bite until the sun heated everything, creating movement. It was slow at first but they both picked a few here & there. Enzo even landed another sturgeon on one of the spots for smallies! Sometime after 10:00 it began as Enzo got crushed on a spinnerbait. A chunky 3.5 pound smallie was his prize and a few pics were in order. Not to be outdone by his son, Rahe locked up on one of his own. This fish was considerably larger and unfortunately came unpinned on a leap. Feeling the pain, Rahe reeled in fast to make another cast only to have one even larger try to eat the blades again. Wow, two big fish missed on only one cast! We covered the area thoroughly and they picked a few others in the process. These fish were just starting to become active and the blades were the way to find them. I did realize quickly however that they weren’t eating well and as with yesterday, made some adjustments to increase the odds. I prepped a senko for Enzo and a soft jerkbait for his dad as a backup rod. Next fish that showed, there would be a throw back rod ready! They were both getting hits, follows and blowups on the spinnerbait but not many were staying hooked. I immediately had Enzo toss back a wacky rigged senko and within seconds his rod was bent. Another 4 pound chunk gave him quite a battle until it eventually was in the net. Rahe had a few fish try to eat his bait but somehow he struck too soon and was left holding the bait, literally. I decided that a demonstration was in order and ran him through the drill. You really need to pay attention to the fish and their attitude as you work this lure. I showed him how to turn a follow into a strike as I manipulated it and got crushed. His next cast had him also changing the bass’s attitude and locked up solid. By paying attention to how these fish were reacting, they were both able to hook several more quality fish here. With the sun up high now, I continued to cover water and shifted to another area nearby. It was here that Rahe got the confidence he needed as he managed to land several other quality fish. Enzo was back on the spinnerbait for a bit and got ploughed pretty good, as well. There’s nothing better than getting slammed by a smallie while reeling a spinnerbait as fast as you can! Both were picking at them here but the numbers weren’t great. Although the fish were all quality, I wanted more! I switched Enzo to a crankbait and he banged another close to 4 pounds almost immediately. Another adjustment on working this lure had multiple followers and a couple of them were turned into eaters. This whole time, Rahe was tossing his bait over various bottom types and hooking several of his own. Between the two of them, there was enough action to keep anyone occupied. As the day was getting on, I decided to change everything up completely and show them another technique. Rahe had wanted to see what all the hype was with drop shotting and they were about to experience it first hand. A vertical presentation was needed over this deep water and once instructed, Rahe was hammered. Unfortunately he missed the fish, but now knew what to expect. Enzo on the other hand didn’t as he was seen with bent rod in hand and battling another 4 pounder for a while. Eventually I was able to slip the net under this football and snapped a few quick pics before the release. At only 12 years old, he already has loads of experience fishing many different techniques and it shows! It doesn’t really matter what I show him as he catches on immediately. Most times, he out fishes his dad but today they were almost equal. They both had their share of chances and managed to land plenty of big smallies in the process. After another demonstration of casting a drop shot to deep water, we were done for the day. The annual fishing trip together with me was officially over and they both had new techniques to continue with. Although most of their fishing is done from the shore, these would prove to come in handy on many areas they fish. Today was another successful, big fish day and they would have plenty of memories and photos to share!!

After another no show yesterday, I headed to the water to meet 3 guests this morning. Overnight cold had us hooking up around 8:30 instead of the usual 7:00 time. Air temps were a balmy 36 degrees but expected to climb into the low 50’s by days end. With this being a long weekend, I knew we would have plenty of company on the water and just hoped we’d be alone in a few areas. First stop had Sam locked up on a crankbait on his very first cast. It’s always bad luck to start that way and he was no exception! His bro Hassan and their friend Nick continued to reel in fish on a drop shot rig while he flailed the water in search of his second strike. The other two were catching fish here & there but Sam was just washing lures until I set him up on the same rig and the games began. The cold morning temps seemed to have most of the fish just tapping the baits and not really crushing them. Many a fish was missed and or lost in the process! Once the sun got a little higher, the bite turned on but not all over. Although they caught fish pretty much everywhere we stopped, it wasn’t the numbers I had anticipated. Eventually I hit one place that they all began catching on both crankbaits as well as bottom baits. The competition was on and Hassan was in the lead. Numbers were climbing and so was the overall size. Plenty of other boats were fishing all around but I never really saw anyone catching. I figured that we would take the slow approach as the fish were pretty lethargic this morning and obviously it was the right move. The peak period didn’t occur until after 1:00 when the sun was at the strongest. The last few areas had multiple hookups from everyone and plenty of double headers. Fish from two to over 4 pounds were coming aboard on almost every cast for quite a while. As long as they were biting, we were staying! Each time it began to get slow, I made slight adjustments to increase the bite again. This went on for almost three hours, really bringing the numbers way up. By the time they were ready to leave, everyone had their share of fish for the day. Although Hassan may have won in the total count, Sam had big fish of the day. Nick on the other hand was on a quest for the Multi Species award and finished with a slam for the day. He had added a northern and a walleye to his bag of fish. By adjusting to the fish, they were able to have a banner day on the water. All went home completely satiated!!

After a couple of days of successful walleye fishing, Howard decided to join me for more action. We hit the lake before 10:00 under overcast conditions and were immediately into fish. Water temps were hovering around 62 degrees and a 1 to 2 foot chop was present as well. The winds were out of the south and conditions were just perfect! I don’t think it took more than a few minutes to hook up and many more were to follow. In the 3 or 4 hours we fished, there had to be over 20 walleye caught & released. Fish up to 24 inches were hitting a variety of baits and they were active! It was a phenomenal bite for these low light feeders and I’m sure we would have caught plenty more, as we left them biting. I would be back again tomorrow and wanted to leave a few for the others as well. We headed off and decided to try another species, as we both had our fill of these golden beauties. The rest of the day was equally as productive, with many a bass coming aboard. As with the walleye, they too were aggressively feeding & we took full advantage of this situation. Although a short day, plenty of action was had today!! Unfortunately a cancellation had me prepped & ready for the lake and flying solo today. I decided to explore other areas in search of more golden nuggets! As with previous days this week, they were still on fire as I managed to stumble onto many a fish. I landed big northerns, big smallies and several large walleye as well. The largest walleye would have been pushing 26 inches and actually put up quite a battle for his kind. Next on the menu was new areas for smallies and I wasn’t disappointed again. By covering water with fast moving baits I was able to locate plenty of these footballs and refine sections with slower baits afterwards. Too bad this mornings’ cancellation happened as it would have been a phenomenal day for them to have experienced. Oh well, their loss is my gain. Better luck next time!!

I had a full boat this morning with Stephane, Martin & Yanik on board. This was the first time they had fished with me and I knew it would be tough. We began the day under heavy overcast skies and a howling wind out of the east. We would definitely be limited to the number of spots we could fish! I started in an area that was somewhat sheltered from the waves and put them on fish almost immediately. Martin was the first to lock up with a slowly dragged senko and the others began to get excited. They now knew that there were fish here and wanted some of their own! With Yanik on a spinnerbait & Steph on a tube, I had all the bases covered. I think Yanik had a couple of hits but they proved to be misses when he came in empty handed. Stephane on the other hand started to take advantage to this area by slowly picking up a couple of big ones. He did miss a few but overall landed around 5 before the bite dwindled with the increase of the wind. Another boat was within sight and not doing anything where they were, so I guess they thought it was alright to come over and anchor right where we were catching. Even in some of the worst conditions, people have no etiquette! Another move was in order now so we left this place and moved on. It was a rough ride but I knew I needed to try other places before the weather got any worse. It was here that Yanik finally managed to land a fish of his own, while still on the spinnerbait. Right after Steph missed something on the tube, he brought a nice 3 pound walleye to the net. Looks like someone has fish on the menu tonight! Unfortunately, this was the only one they caught here but not for lack of trying. I had switched Martin over to a tube as well due to the increasing winds, just so he could keep the bait on bottom. I knew there had to be more fish within this place but they were having a hard time just controlling their baits and switched gears completely. We spent the next hour or so trolling another section, just so they could relax for a while. This was difficult at best as several waves were coming over the bow in certain areas and I really had to pay attention. By now we were fishing 2 to 4 footers depending on where we trolled. It became evident that this was going to be a fight we couldn’t win! I knew we were in trouble when the high winds added rain to the mix and it became down right nasty. Miserable conditions just got worse and now the cold started to set in. The rain was going through what they were wearing and it was no longer fun. With their request, I headed back to where we had started and tried for a few more bites. I noticed that the water had gotten dirtier and the waves a little bigger here and knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Within 20 minutes they decided to pull the plug on this day. All three were wet and starting to get cold, so we headed back to the ramp. It wasn’t a nice run back as the waves grew along the way. It actually felt more like Lake Ontario than the lake were on and I too was glad it was over. Mother Nature has a way of turning a so, so day into one of pain and punishment sometimes. This was one of those days! Fortunately they had managed to catch before the conditions worsened and had at least some enjoyment while fishing today. Hopefully the next time out will prove to be a better experience!!