Kent & his wife Megan were with me today, all the way from Colorado and looking forward to fighting just about anything. A 7:00 meet was scheduled due to possible weekend traffic and we hit the water immediately after. Winds were out of the W at 10 to 15 knots already and were expected to push 20 to 30 by the afternoon; with a slight change to the SW. Air temps would be reaching close to 90 degrees and with the humidex, a lot higher! I wasn’t sure what to expect but I knew we were going to be on fish, all day! Our first spot had a slower than usual bite going and both Kent & Megan picked at the bass for close to 2 hours before we headed into the big winds looking for more action. Kent had only caught largemouth before and being from Colorado, trout were what he targeted at most times. He hadn’t realized the shear power of the smallie and wanted more. Originally he was looking to catch a few pike & walleye but after the first bass, they went the way of the dinosaur! Tubes and senkos were once again the baits of choice and they were eating them pretty good in the second area. In only a couple of hours they had both landed and lost their fair share of these little footballs up to 3.5 pounds. There were several much larger hooked but that’s fishing! As always though, women & kids rule and today was no exception. Although Kent did catch many more than Megan, she did get the largest of the day, into the net for several pics. This fish was close to 5 pounds and quite the battle for someone not use to catching smallies before. I’m sure she will be talking about this one for a while! Kent may have been able to redeem himself several times over but they just kept coming unpinned as they took to the air. Regardless of the outcome, they both had a great time hooking plenty of acrobatic smallmouth throughout the entire day. By 4:00 I decided to pull the plug on this day and began the long run back to the dock. I knew we had been fishing in rough conditions all day with the incredible winds, but realized that we were also somewhat sheltered in the process. I hadn’t known just how protected, until I got further away in more open areas of the lake. We were now running back to the ramp in average 3 footers with an occasional 4 or 5 thrown in for good measure. I had to reduce the speed and play with the hydraulics & trim to find a comfortable speed for the boat to run, without pounding everyone & everything in the boat. Thankfully the Ranger ran without a splash on anyone and we were going with the waves! I’m pretty sure that given the opportunity to come back to Montreal, both Kent & Megan wouldn’t hesitate, after a day like this. Overall a tough condition day but we made the right choices and monopolized on the active smallies in the process!!

I had the pleasure of fishing with Laini and her two sons today for a variety of fish. Eden & Izaiah really hadn’t fished much before and were looking forward to catching and possibly taking a few home for dinner. We began around 7:30 and it didn’t take long before we were at our first spot, ready to troll. I set the lines and within 10 minutes the first reel went off and Izaiah was soon reeling in a three pound walleye. Looks like he would be putting food on the table tonight! Eden was up now and when the next fish hit, he brought in a northern of just under 5 pounds and both kids were in their glory. In the next couple of hours there were several more pike and a couple more walleye caught but the action wasn’t fast & furious. Eden’s walleye unfortunately had to be returned after a few pics as she was 22 inches and over the slot. Isaiah had landed another in the slot and now had 2 fish in the livewell for tonight’s dinner. I was hoping that another species might be a little more aggressive and decided to try for smallmouth further up the lake. We didn’t waste any time before fish were being reeled in, mostly on senkos due to the flat calm conditions. High heat & humidity with absolutely no wind at all made it a real scorcher where we were. Fortunately, the fish were biting and everyone was catching! Even Laini made a few casts and landed a smallie just under two pounds! After catching a pile of these feisty bass, they all agreed to go back to trolling and see if they could add a few more walleye to the dinner plate. With the lack of any wind and the scorching heat wave we were in, it wasn’t easy to get the fish to cooperate. We did catch a bunch, but they were mostly bass and a couple of northerns. One of the smallies was a real bruiser and almost hit the 5 pound mark. There were only two walleye landed in the last couple of hours of the day and one made it to the livewell. The other went back at almost 26 inches and well over the legal size for the Montreal region. I don’t know how many people are releasing these larger fish but in the last few weeks I have seen some big ones come aboard. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one catching these oversize walleye but I may be the only one releasing them! Time was getting on and shortly after 4:00 we unanimously decided to call it a day. I think the temperature today hit 87 degrees and closer to 100 with the humidex! Definitely one of the hottest days so far this season! It was a tough day but a very rewarding one, as I had the pleasure of introducing two young anglers to the sport of fishing. Hopefully it won’t be the last time we get together and I look forward to fishing with them again!!

Alex & Lorne decided to spend a half day fishing with me today and were glad they did! I hadn’t fished with them for several years and was happy to see both of them back again. We met at the boat ramp at 7:30 and I knew it was going to be a great day! The weather was a humid one with forecasted winds from the N/W at 5 to 10 knots that never happened. Air temps were at 73 degrees and were to top out close to 80 before it was all over. The water had been receding a bit every day and along with the drop, clearing up as well. Visibility was now starting to get good and the fish were aggressive! I tried to instruct the guys on what to look for and how to feel the strikes when the bass picked up the jigs but it wasn’t easy. They were both eager to get a line in the water after yesterday’s telephone conversation. When asked, I told them that the bass were on fire and we were just pounding high numbers of quality fish each & every day. This apparently got them frazzled as the first few bites went unnoticed. I had to tell them to set the hook several times and it always ended in disappointment when they couldn’t get the smallies pinned. Too much slack in the line never gets a solid hookset and they just kept coming off! Alex & Lorne were having a hard time feeling the fish hit and the rocks & bites all felt the same to them at the start. Even though they did manage to land several decent sized fish, they were missing more than they could get to the net. All this was about to change however as there were plenty of chances to adjust to. Lorne was definitely hooking more fish and landed quite a few of them in the process while Alex continued to struggle. He was getting them on but not having much luck with the landing. Although this became frustrating, it was a good learning process and one that he would remember. With each and every fish lost a slight change was made until he had the right process and it was game on. From that point on the fish were in trouble and he went full circle. Even the rocks were feeling like rocks and he wasn’t setting on them anymore. When snagged, he was able to just snap it back out and monopolized on several of the reaction strikes that occurred in the process. He had officially graduated! We hung in here until the fish really slowed and bites were getting hard to come by. By now the sun was high and without and wind at all the water went like glass. No current means less biters and time to relocate. The next area had us starting in the sunshine but not long after, clouds rolled in and seeing weed beds became difficult. I immediately switched them up to senko’s and showed them how to fish them. It didn’t take long and both guys were hooking up and this time landing as well. Although we didn’t find any of the real giants, 3 pounders were still a lot of fun to fight. By now the clouds were darkening the sky even more and some of them were looking a little threatening. Once the thunder was heard, I knew the electricity wasn’t far behind. Time to blaze! I didn’t want to take any chances and opened her up all the way back to the dock. Along the way I ran through a wall of water but at this speed, the windshield took all the impact and I just kept going. I think there was even a little hail somewhere in the mix as Alex was getting hit pretty good in the back. Once at the dock, they bolted for the car and I too for the truck & trailer. It didn’t take me long to load the boat and it was immediately out of the water. Nothing sends me off the lake faster than the possibility of electricity. Safety always comes first as the fish will always be there, for another day! In the half day fished both Alex & Lorne got a sample of just what this lake has to offer and it was full of action. They realized now that what I had told them the previous day was the truth and the bass were definitely on fire. No fish tales here! A great day was had by all despite the attempt from good old “Mother Nature”!!!

I fished with Mike, Phil & Paul on a local lake, for another amazing day full of smallie action. We met at the ramp at 7:30 and were blazing across the lake to our first location soon after. At this time of the morning you expect a little cool air but the humidity still remained, with air temps at 74 degrees. Water temps were steadily on the rise and now showed above 71 where we began. The winds were light and from the west at only 5 knots, but a small chop was present when we stopped to make the first cast. I’m not sure who it was that hooked up first but I do know that everyone was hooking & mostly losing bass on almost every cast. The percentage of landed fish to lost fish was quite low to say the least! Of the three, Mike was managing to get a few more to the boat but still dropping a pile of his as well. I really don’t think they were eating well and possibly holding onto the baits without getting the hooks in their mouths. At one point, Mike hooked into one that didn’t act like a bass but had weight. I immediately knew he was into another prehistoric sturgeon and one hell of a battle. When we all caught a glimpse of this thing it looked like another legal hookup. He was able to control the beast but it still took time before he managed to bring it up enough for me to get a glove on the thing. It was pretty skinny and grabbing the tail wasn’t a problem. I figure it went around 10 pounds and the jig was definitely in the mouth but somehow the line was wrapped in the gill plate also making steering this fish a little difficult. A few quick pics and back she went to the depths where she belonged. Back to the bass and plenty of them were being both caught and lost in the next 45 minutes before Phil hooked into something rather large of his own. Oh no, another dinosaur! This one was double in size but he wasn’t as lucky as Mike, because it wasn’t in the mouth. The jig had landed in the mid section of the sturgeon and he was trying to bring it in backwards. This was going to be a while! The battle lasted over 10 minutes before I gloved her and Phil had his first ever sturgeon as well. After a couple of quick picks, she was released back to the depths again. Back to the targeted species once more and this time the fish had seemed to grow in size. Now instead of 2.5 pounders they were more in the 3.5 to 4 pound range and just on fire. We had slid into the major and it showed as they were eating much better and everyone was keeping them pinned a lot more. This was to go on for the next few hours, all the while moving along in different areas. Bass were abundant and Paul, the least experienced, was hooking up on almost every cast. Mike had pulled out the fly rod, in a strong west wind and thought he would give it a go. After over an hour of painful watching, he finally hooked up on what was to be his last cast. Although it was only a two pound fish, he was on the fly and that’s all that counted! The others were still catching bass on every other cast and he just couldn’t take it anymore. He finally broke and went back to the spinning rod and joined in too! They continued getting into bass for the next hour or so and I guess they had their fill because there was talk of trolling going on. Whenever this happens near the end of the day, I know they have gotten tired and it showed. Off we went to another area in pursuit of walleye and in 2 foot waves, began searching for old marble eyes. They had spoke of taking one or two home for dinner and had given me about 45 minutes to locate something edible. Well after a couple of bass and a small walleye, the board went back and an 18 inch eater was aboard. Too bad this was the last legal one but a couple of other smaller ones were caught in the process. Between the bass, perch and tiny 13 inch eyes, we had managed about 8 fish in this area in less than an hour. They had all caught their fair share of fish today with a couple of bonus ones thrown in for fun and were ready to throw in the towel. Back we went and a unanimous decision to call it a day was made. I’m not quite sure of the actual count today, but it was high. Everyone had managed to catch their fair share and were exhausted from battling all the smallies. It was definitely all they had hoped for and much, much more!!

Sam & his brother Hassan joined me today along with their friend Steph for another amazing day of smallmouth bass action. We met up just after 7:30 and were on the water shortly after. I knew we were in for heavy boat traffic when there were already 8 trailers in the parking lot this early in the day! Our first spot turned out to be an over 3 hour stop as the fish just kept biting. The winds were blowing out of the N/W at 10 to 15 knots and really creating a good chop where we were. Although a few of the first ones were taken on a spinnerbait, it was the tube jig that was the winner. Water temps were in the low 70’s and heavily stained causing the visibility to be almost none. Apparently it didn’t matter to the fish as they were biting strong! Steph even managed another sturgeon on the tube and this was another first for him. It really didn’t seem to matter which color we used as the fish ate them all. We held here for quite some time until we lost the wind and the bite died. It’s amazing how sensitive they are to moving water and how it effects their feeding! I decided to relocate to another area, change up tactics and troll for a while. I set the lines and began to fish in an area that had been fishing well but for some reason, they didn’t want to cooperate. The water was almost flat calm here and it was scorching hot with the dog pecker knats. Unanimously, we decided to go back for smallies and battled the waves to get to another area and fish. I was right this morning when I had said there would be a lot of traffic and now we were in it. Boats were travelling in all directions and some really big cruisers that looked like they belonged on the ocean in Florida were rolling giant waves. Once again it felt like we were stuck in a washing machine! I managed to escape the traffic and headed somewhere much further away for the bass. This part of the lake was also flat calm except for the ocean like waves that bounced us around from time to time. Even this area wasn’t saved from the traffic! The fish weren’t moving too much with the lack of current and now I knew we would have to go to a senko if we wanted to catch anything. Even these baits weren’t convincing the fish very well as they just refused to eat. We managed to get several more of the medium sized bass but the larger ones just didn’t want to know anything. Time to shift again and this time we hit them good. They were not only eating senkos but the tube bite was working once again. Everyone was into fish and there were numbers of quality big ones landed in the last couple of hours in the day. Despite the lack of current flow, we were able to hit an area that had volume and I guess they were active. When we packed it up and started running back I knew it would be a bumpy ride. Once more the rollers from all the cruisers were rocking us all over the water. Thankfully we were in a Ranger and it didn’t seem that bad. I pity the smaller aluminum boats as they must have taken a beating! On the way back we made one more stop in a small area and the guys caught a pile more bass before the waves & traffic made me throw in the towel. We were bouncing all over trying to stay in a small area and it wasn’t easy. Especially standing on one leg while the other controlled the electric motor! It was still a rough ride back to the dock but at least I was sitting and not twisting all over trying to hold the boat in position. I know my back will be feeling this tomorrow! A fantastic day for bass was had by all, with Sammy finishing on top once again. It didn’t seem to matter though as everyone had caught their share and lost a bunch too!!!