Darren joined me once again today for more incredible smallmouth bass action. We hit a local lake around 7:00 and were into them before we knew it. With the weather an overcast one with light chop, I knew it would be good. Air temps were a little on the cool side and in the low 60’s but it was better than scorching hot! Water temps had been falling slightly every day with the nights getting cold and were now around 68.5 degrees. Smallies from 2 to over 4 pounds were being caught mostly on jerk-baits with jigs being a close second in choice. Unfortunately, the weather took a change for the worse by mid day and the afternoon had the winds increasing, causing the boat positioning to become more difficult. They went from less than 10 knots to almost 25 knots and were blowing S/E. Although we were still into good fish, it was becoming a little more difficult to feel the bites on the jigs and many a strike was missed. The lures were definitely producing more action but now mostly followers. By 4:00 we decided to call it a day and take our punishment running back to the ramp. Ironically, we were the only boat trailer in the parking lot and this made it a whole lot easier to take out. Unfortunately the winds were blowing directly into the launch and waves were rolling over the back deck when I loaded the boat onto the trailer. I was glad to finally drive it out and let the pumps drain out. Overall, it was a pretty good day with plenty of action and a roller coaster day of fun!!

Well I was back on local waters this morning, hoping that the weather forecast was going to be right. Fat chance as the waves were 2 footers at the start and they got even stronger the longer we stayed out! Although there wasn’t any sign of movement on land, the lake was rolling pretty good. Terry & his son Josh were joining me with great anticipation of catching some fish. They really hadn’t done too much fishing before and hoped to change their results today. The weather had us in an overcast sky with cooler air temps in the 60’s and winds from the SW blowing 10 to 15 knots at the start. To my amazement, the water temps had dropped considerably and were now barely 68 degrees. This was down over 5 degrees from two days earlier and had me a little worried. I knew the fish were still there but would they bite? I set the lines and began trolling over areas that usually produced multiple catches and waited. There were several drive byes and short rips before one finally locked up and sounded the reel. I quickly passed the rod to Josh and he began reeling in our first fish of the day. It was definitely the right species as a 3 pound walleye came aboard for their dinner that night. Skunk out! Several more short strikes and a relocation change later, another reeled fired and this time Terry was landing a decent walleye, slightly larger. Although it wasn’t fast & furious, I had the confidence to continue hoping the sunshine would change their attitudes. Well, more short strikes and a few good rips after the last fish, another reel fired and this one stayed pinned. Unfortunately it turned out to be a northern pike and was immediately released. It seemed that the fish were only nipping the baits as even the two landed, fell off in the net. They just weren’t eating and I wasn’t happy! I decided to change up completely and went to casting for smallies elsewhere. It was here that I taught both Terry & Josh how to handle a spinning rod and it didn’t take long before they were looking pretty good. Josh had the first bass hooked on a jig and for a while he was just nailing them on every other cast. Terry had several on but was having a hard time keeping them pinned but I’m sure it was just the attitude of these fish today. I even tried a few casts with a jerk-bait and had more followers than takers and that showed me that they were really not interested. By now we were feeling the winds increase and a slight drizzle was starting making the fishing even more difficult. Waves were building causing me more problems with boat control and they were having a hard time feeling the hits too. After a few more fish I decided to try another area hoping for better results. I really had a hard time here as we were getting waves from both a SW & W direction. It felt like being in a washing machine as we were twisting all over. I finally had to start the small motor and put it in gear to be able to hold where we needed to be. It obviously worked as Terry was locked up tight on what I thought was a good bass. To my surprise, it came to the boat as a 5 pound walleye! Wow, a bonus fish in this bass infested area! Several more casts later, Terry had another fish and this time it was a decent smallie. They caught a few more of different sizes before I decided to try trolling again. By now the winds had increased to 20 or more knots from the west and still had a south west blow as well causing a real difficult time trolling. This didn’t last long and after several rollers came over the bow, I called it a day. If it’s not fun, it’s not worth it! Although we had to battle many elements today they still came out catching some fish and that’s all that counts. Both Terry and his son Josh had learned many things with this day’s outing and hopefully it will aid them in their next father & son outing, wherever it may be. Tough conditions with pretty good results overall!!

Andrew & his son Alex joined me today on the first of many windy days on the water for some bass & walleye action. We launched on a local lake at 7:30 in hopes of fishing through the morning before the hurricane winds began. As usual though, the weather man was wrong once again! They had predicted a 10 to 15 knot wind from the SW in the morning and double that for the afternoon, so we took advantage on the big lake early. I don’t think we made it past 45 minutes before I was calling it and headed back to the ramp for a relocation. Although we had managed to land a couple of nice bass and lose a few more, it wasn’t easy to hold or even detect the bites in this wind. We had to get off before it got even worse and ran back in 3 to 4 footers. Thee next location at least had more current and was somewhat protected by the intense winds and felt like a whole new world. Or so I thought! We started fishing in an area that I knew held plenty of decent bass and then the gusts began. Boat control was once more a treat and every time someone hooked up, we drifted off the spot. At least there weren’t any real big rollers, just a high wind that kept pushing us around while they fished. I’m not quite sure how many fish came in the boat here but I think it was at least 15 or more before they just stopped biting all together. Time to move and off to the next area we went. By now the winds had increased to close to 25 knots and this was causing us a little more trouble than I had anticipated. Presenting the jigs properly was becoming a difficult task and in order to just feel the bottom, I had to increase their weight. By doing this though, they were caught in the bottom more than I wanted and we changed places once again. Between shifting areas and running from the nasty skies and rain, it seemed like all we did was move! I was really beginning to get frustrated, knowing that the bass were there but we just couldn’t get the baits in front of them to eat. Every place I thought we would be sheltered, it turned out we weren’t! The winds shifted 3 or 4 times during the day and went W to SW to W/NW & back to W once more before we just called it completely. It was now past 3 o’clock and no mater where we went it wasn’t easy. Chock another one up for “Mother Nature”, as she wins again! The had caught a bunch of fish under adverse conditions and overcame a skunk, so at least that accounts for something!

I had a few days off this week so I decided to call my nephew & see if he wanted to partake in some serious catching. He usually fishes from shore near his house when he has a chance and getting him back on the boat for some bass & walleye would be a nice change. Both days saw really hot weather in the 90’s and almost no wind to cool you off. Dog pecker knat central! Fortunately, the fish were biting and we managed to get into some real nice smallies and walleye up to almost 5 pounds on both outings. With the water temps still on the rise it wasn’t a surprise to see almost 75 degrees on the second day. We both couldn’t take the heat too much and cut the days short by quitting between 1 & 2 o’clock. Even at that, it was almost more than we could endure and a change in weather will be welcomed soon. Overall, a couple of pretty good outings!!

Norm & I hit the lake today without any thought of trolling, just smallies on the brain! We began shortly after 6:30 and were casting aggressive baits quickly, just covering water. The winds were up again, as it seems now that every day has at least a 20 knot blow from some direction! Fortunately, it didn’t change the fishing as a 4 pounder crushed a jerkbait and went crazy. Our air temps were in the upper 60’s but forecasted to top out somewhere in the mid 80’s by days end. Clear skies were on us almost all day as we just drifted along in hot pursuit of that 6 pound bass, still on Norm’s mind. Shortly after the first fish, Norm hit another on a spinnerbait and it was “Game On”! From that moment on, there was no looking back as several more 4 to 5 pound bass continued to crush these lures from just about every direction. Although the winds were rolling 2 & 3 footers, we didn’t care as the bass were angry and that’s all that mattered to us. Eventually we decided to do a little exploring and stumbled onto several smaller areas holding a few fish here and there until, we came upon something special. We had found a huge deep rocky flat that the fish were just stacked on. Obviously the deeper water was the place to be as the next 6 hours had us just pounding big fish. A mix of walleye and smallies all came from around 40 feet deep on Carolina rigs and other presentations almost as fast as we could get them down. It was just insane as we fished all over, isolating the key areas on every drift. By the time 4:00 rolled around, we were totally exhausted from a combination of heat, wind and of course, Smallies! Time to call it and we headed back to the ramp with a sense of euphoria about this day. We usually don’t see this type of fishing until the water cools in the fall and welcomed it for the summertime. Both of us can’t wait to get back out and pound on them once again!!