Jim & Marie were back this year and looking forward to fishing, once again. Although I had been concentrating locally on water closer to home, today I would have to travel to another lake due to the winds. They were to blow 20 knots with stronger gusts from the west and I knew it would be tough. A quick drive had us launching in flatter water and the areas to be fished definitely looked doable! Today was a complete change from yesterday, with the weather dropping into the 50’s overnight. High heat & humidity had air temps in the low 80’s before but a cold front had severely reduced them today. The big question was would they bite? With the changes so drastic, I decided to attempt trolling for the bulk of the morning. Unfortunately this proved to be unsuccessful and we eventually pulled the plug sometime around mid day. It was time to put some fish in the boat and I knew just the place. We made another run and I set up the drop shot rods, instructing them on what to do. They had done this before and knew what was involved, making it a whole lot easier. It took a while to locate exactly what I was looking for, but when I did, rods became bent! I think it was Marie that drew first blood with a decent three pounder and we were glad to see it. This started the ball rolling and although it wasn’t fast & furious, we did pick at them for quite a while. I made multiple drifts over the area and they hooked into fish on just about every one. Most of the bass were larger than the first but there were a few smaller ones as well. I think we had 3 that were in the high 4’s and possibly one around 5 by the time we pulled the plug here and relocated. The next area didn’t produce the size but several quick bites were had immediately after we arrived. Just like the previous spot, we drifted over the edge and picked at them on each pass. Time was getting on now and after another unsuccessful spot, we decided to call it and headed back to take out. The first day of the cold front hadn’t shut us out but they did have to work for each bite they had. I’m sure if I had of concentrated entirely on the bass, they would have had plenty more action. The first 4 hours of the day hadn’t yielded a single bite and this really cut into our production. Fortunately we had come back in the afternoon and salvaged the day. Hopefully I’ll be able to get back on local waters tomorrow and they’ll tangle with many more smallies. It’s all up to “Mother Nature”!!

Darren was back with me again this morning looking for a few quality bass. We hit a different body of water, knowing that the action would be slower than usual and it was. Winds were blowing opposite the current flow and were a little difficult at the starting spot. A mix of baits were thrown including jerkbaits and spinnerbaits, but only one smaller fish was landed. Although a few big ones were seen and a couple of others followed, the action was definitely slower than I had anticipated. This was to be the way it was pretty much all morning as we covered several more places, just looking for a big bite. We even changed species for a while but had the same outcome. I decided to make a long run to an area that I was pretty sure would change our luck and we weren’t disappointed. Almost immediately after the first line hit the water, a four pounder was on! I knew they were here and we were going to get plenty more in the time spent fishing. It seemed like all the fish were big ones and real fatties as well. Darren had gotten his wish and hooked a number of brownies in the 3.5 to over 5 pound range. Unfortunately, the biggest ones seemed to be getting off more than staying pinned until he began putting more pressure on them. From that point on, the bruisers stayed locked! I don’t know exactly how many big ones came aboard but I do know that it was quite a few. Our best overall weight would have definitely been tournament worthy. In the end, we had turned a real slow day into one he had hoped for and succeeded in a solely, big fish bite! We couldn’t have asked for anything more!

Although a slow week for bookings, I spent every day on the water trying to find & refine areas holding fish. I had a special request and & I wanted to ensure that it was a successful one. Keith was in search of walleye & he was determined to get one on a fly. Fortunately for him, I had found such a spot and we headed out for his “Holy Grail”. A better day he couldn’t have picked as we had literally no wind the entire time we were on the water. Although it was a pain to fish through the floaters, we managed to get it done with little frustration. Based on the heat of the morning air, I knew we would be in an oven by afternoon and wanted to hook him up early. We had the lines in before 8 o’clock and slowly moved along in anticipation of the first fish. He casted a clouser pattern fly on a heavy weighted sinking line and stripped out just enough to stay in the strike zone. I placed another rod with the same set up in a holder and slowly moved through the area trying to up our chances. A couple of passes were made without any takes but I was marking plenty of fish close to the bottom and knew it was just a matter of time. I pulled the fly rod from my side and replaced it with a conventional rig just to see if the fish would eat. Well, 30 seconds in and the reel went off with a small bass and Keith swapped rods with me. He soon swapped back though, as a bigger bass crushed the fly while I was reeling it in and we had doubles. He had only limited encounters with the smallies before & was in awe of the shear power this one had. I quickly released the smaller one and soon netted his bass that went in the 3 pound range. A quick pick and we were resetting the lines in anticipation of more. The first walleye was next but it was tiny and fell victim to the lure instead of the fly. It was so small that the reel never even fired! A few more decent bass later on the fly rod, Keith finally had a tremendous hit while stripping his fly. Even I heard the line rip out of his hands & the drag scream from the reel. It had some weight and I was sure it was what we were looking for. The fight wasn’t great but this fish was staying down ensuring its species was a walleye. When we finally caught a glimpse, I saw confirmation and mass. This was a big eye! It measured right around 24 inches and the boga confirmed it was just over 5 pounds. The best part of all of this was that it was taken on a fly and Keith had another species to cross off his list. After a few nice pics he released his prize back to grow even more. We had accomplished what we had come out to do and he was ready for more. More bass that is, because the fight was so much better! After a few more fish in this area on both set ups, we moved to another area where he would be targeting strictly smallies. This time however he would be casting a 5 weight over flats looking for roaming bass pods. It’s a little like hunting bonefish down south and he was all for it as we began our search. A few smaller bass were moving but not the ones I was looking for and then it happened. Big blackie and it ate the clouser hard! Unfortunately when it ran, the leader broke way up the line. I retied another one and back in he went. The next fish was of equal size but it too was lost when the fly just pulled out. This was getting frustrating but I knew he would have plenty more chances and just kept searching for roamers. Soon after, he had one eat and it was game on! With little to no water below these fish, the only place to go was up. The leaps and aerials were spectacular and all on a fly. This was turning out to be an awesome first time experience for Keith and it was happening right in a big city. For the remainder of the afternoon, he played with several more bass on a variety of flies but one shined the best. It was an egg sucking leech that I generally use on steelhead in some of the tributaries off Lake Ontario. We just kept moving, intercepting pods and singles and hoping for takes. No one spot produced better than another but groups definitely had better hookups. I think the competitive nature of more than one fish had them eating a little better. As it was getting late in the day, I thought we would hit the previous area that he had caught the walleye from to see if he might hook into another. First pass and he gets slammed but a nice smallie was his prize. As if he hadn’t fought enough of them today, he now had another! What’s not to enjoy about a smallmouth fight! Once released, the hardware goes off and another big eye becomes his prize once again. After that, another smallie or two and a big one follows a giant fly I had changed to. It just kept charging the thing and eventually disappeared below. In the last 15 minutes he landed 4 more fish and missed a couple of strikes as well. What a way to end an already spectacular day on the lake. Keith couldn’t have asked for a better initiation to what Montreal has to offer. Our fishing is second to none and this is the tough time of the year. He’s thinking of returning this fall and if he does, he’ll know what I mean. I hope he makes it back as the smallies will eat him alive! Overall, the finest fly fishing day ever!!

Tom was back with me again this morning and his son Patrick came along as well. The last time he was out, we had a banner trip that would be tough to match today! We had so many walleye that it was insane trolling and there weren’t any weeds, anywhere! I was hoping for a quick bite when I set the lines, but it didn’t happen. With the overnight lows bringing the water temps down each day, the fish were moving. I had to find them soon in order to succeed today! We started deep in 72 degree water with plenty of floaters and that just made matters worse. I couldn’t keep the lines clean for more than a few minutes at a time. Add to that, no fish in a couple of passes and it was time to change tactics. New baits, mid range water and instantly a reel fired! I thought it was a big eye but soon found out that it was a decent northern of close to 8 pounds. It didn’t matter though as we had scored! I kept at it and shortly after, another reel went off. This time it was a smallmouth and a good one too. A mid three pounder gave an incredible battle and Patrick was finally starting to enjoy this day. I quickly released it after a pic and another reel went off immediately. This time it was the targeted species of Walter and it was a good one. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be going home with them tonight as she was almost 23 inches. I often wonder how many others abide by the Quebec rules and how many big fish get released. I’m pretty sure the percentage is low! We went right back at it and stayed in this area that had been giving up the fish. Moments later, more reels are screaming and legal slot fish are coming in one after the other. We’re having fish for dinner! Patrick always looks forward to this trip because walleye are scarce where he lives and he loves the taste of them. I knew we would be pressed for time today as the winds were suppose to increase tremendously around noon and tried to milk the area as best as I could. Amongst the legal walleye, there were also 5 overs up to 26 inches that were returned making the trip more successful than the previous years. In fact we had a double header that saw Tom reeling in the biggest fish of today. Patrick was already occupied with one on his line when the second reel fired. Tom had no choice but to reel the fish in! In the water it looked much longer than I thought and I opted for the bigger net, just to be sure. I think by the time we finally pulled the plug, there was a total of 15 or more walleye landed along with many bass and a couple of northerns. This was definitely an exceptionally productive day and we were off before 1 o’clock. Once I had found the depth range the fish were occupying, the action was almost non stop. Tom had just experienced incredible back to back trips that had spanned almost 2 months. Although the conditions had changed immensely, he had seen fishing at its best! Patrick had also seen his best day in the three or four years he had fished with us. Who could have asked for anything more!!

I had another full boat today with Scott, Chris & John looking for some great action. We got under way just after 7:30 and headed straight into a troll for a quick, early morning walleye bite. The overnight temps had the chilly morning air barely 60 degrees and the water temps below 75. Winds were light and out of the west creating just enough chop for the troll. As usual, I was marking plenty of fish but they weren’t moving. In the 90 minutes we trolled, there were only 3 walleye & 2 smallies landed, causing me to make a move. Next area had them throwing baits to roaming bass and several more hits were had here. Unfortunately, most of them resulted in missed fish! Although plenty of bass were seen, only a handful were landed and it was time to relocate once more. The next stop was on a place where they would be working jigs again but on the weed edges. John managed to hook up first and it was a nice walleye too. They wanted a few for the table and this one went into the well with a previous one taken on the troll. Chris was missing a few strikes but finally locked up on another beauty that was soon to join the others. Unfortunately, that was the last one brought in and another change was made. They would be drop shotting deep water and hopefully getting better fish. By now the wind had layed down completely and the dog pecker knats were out in full force. Add to this a lack of current and the fishing had slowed to a crawl. We had to work much harder for the few bites and the fish were generally smaller too. In fact they managed to land probably 50% of the hits they had in this area. John needed to be somewhere this afternoon, so we made the run back to the ramp & dropped him off. I figured that as long as we were here, I would stop and drop shot an area nearby. Although it did produce some nice smallies, it was slow like everywhere else and we didn’t stay long. The biggest bass were dropped from a lack of solid takes and I needed to find better eaters! We slid into a mid lake hole that usually holds only big fish and were surprised to find just a handful of big ones that all got off. It wasn’t until the next small spot that things started to happen. On Scotts first cast, the bottom started to move. He had crossed paths with another dinosaur and it was big. Not really what I had hoped for, I tried to slide the beast away from where the bass and walleye were. Gradually he was able to bring it close enough for me to grab. It had to be 4 feet or better and definitely in the 30 pound class. I snapped a few shots and it was on its way back to the lake unharmed. Back to the task at hand and immediately Scott was locked up again. This time however it was what we were after. A nice smallie came to the net and he had buddies. Too bad Chris had just made a cast as he might have been able to monopolize on one of the others. As I turned around to let him know, I saw his rod bent too! Doubles and we had just begun! Several more bass were caught here up to about 4 pounds along with another walleye before the action just stopped. Time for another move and it would be our last as the day was getting on. This area also had them doubled up immediately after we arrived. Smallies all around! The water had a bit of color to it along with a bunch of floating debris and I guess this helped with the bite. We spent about 20 minutes or so here and they had a bunch of fish on before we called it a day. Despite all the changes throughout today, they managed to stick with it and monopolized on each area we fished. Although the biters could have been better, they still caught their share of fish throughout the day on a variety of presentations. Too bad John wasn’t with us for the better afternoon activity. Oh well, next time!!