This was going to be an interesting day as the weather forecast called for 100% rain for the entire outing. Thankfully, they weren’t totally right and for once it was for the good. We launched in overcast conditions and little to no wind and were fishing not long after. Although the air temps were just 68 degrees, the humidity made it feel a whole lot warmer. Rick & his son Jeroen were from Europe and in for a real treat as I set the lines to begin the troll. If it was only half as good as yesterday they would be thrilled, but I knew better. Three lines in the water made for 33% better odds and I was banking on this when the first rod fired within the one minute mark. It was a small northern but it broke the ice. There were plenty more pike before I finally got the first walleye to eat. This fish came from shallow water and not anywhere near the areas I fished yesterday. It was a beautiful 5 pound plus eye and into the livewell for some shots later it went. Although Rick had caught the cousin of this fish before in Holland, he had never really seen one with yellow coloration. The Zander pales in comparison to the beautiful Dore that we have here in Quebec and he was impressed. When we finally located some fish it was just crazy as reels were firing off every couple of minutes making this really exciting. I knew we weren’t going to be lucky all day with the weather and eventually we had the rain move in on us. It didn’t last too long but it was annoying as we were always putting it on and taking it off. Sort of like « Wax On Wax Off »! By covering plenty of water and focusing on specific areas I was able to keep them on fish all day long. There were even 4 more beautiful walleye landed with 3 of them close to if not six pounds. Northerns up to 7 pounds were caught along with many, many others slightly smaller too. It may not have been the best all around weather day but the action was fast & furious from start to finish. At one point in the afternoon, we even had the clouds break up and sunshine move in for a while. This was really a messed up day, weather wise and we were overcoming it with the quantity of fish being caught. I may have stayed out even longer if it weren’t for the thunder that we heard close to 5 o’clock. This is never good and within minutes we were blasting off in the direction of the boat ramp. I’m not a big fan of electricity and when thunder sounds, lightning isn’t far behind! I don’t think either of them were too disappointed as this was probably the most fish they had ever caught in a one day outing. They must have boated around 60 fish today and lost plenty of others along the way too! Action from start to finish, non stop! They will definitely be taking loads of memories home with them as well as some excellent pics of their catches of the day. Another safe trip on the lake with no mishaps, despite the amazingly low water levels!!

First day out on local water and boy was it scary! Darren joined me on the « Maiden Voyage » in pursuit of walleye & pike. With the water levels so low, I was really careful as to where I ran and the launch wasn’t too pretty either. I am however thankful for the jack plate that I have as I am able to raise the motor as much as 8 inches. We were blessed with sunshine and S/W winds of 5 to 10 knots along with highs that came close to 80 degrees. I focused entirely on trolling today in order to get a feel for the water and what was going on in the lake. Everything changes when you lose 3 feet of water level and an adjustment was needed to locate these fish today. The water temps were between 63.5 & 68.5 degrees throughout the day as we moved along. The first reel to fire was a rather small northern but it took the skunk out of the boat anyway. After travelling a fair distance and changing up lures to meet the conditions we finally locked into what I was after. Many northerns were landed before this walleye was brought to net but she was worth the wait. It was close to a 5 pounder and real fat too! Clouds had moved in a little earlier and these fish were becoming active because we popped another clone moments after the first one was boated. In between the pike bites we were taking a walleye here & there and before we knew it, we had landed two limits worth. It would have been a sin to kill these fish as they were all between 3 & 5 pounds. I had to make another adjustment when the sun came out and switch depths as well as lures in order to keep the bite going, but I figured out the winning combo. By the end of the day there were over 50 fish landed as well as plenty more lost along the way. It was a very successful first trip of the season and nothing got damaged in the process. I did run through some skinny water at times but with the motor elevated, it was a breeze. I can’t wait to get back out again tomorrow with clients from Holland!!

Mike was joining me today and we hit the lake just after 7:00 A.M. with hopes for a great day. The weather had warmed up considerably and hadn’t cooled off much overnight. It was 56 degrees when we started and the water temps were above 66 when I set the lines. Although the lake was blowing at 10 to 15 from the south, the area I was in hadn’t a ripple. Mostly cloud cover with an occasional sunny break made the trolling quite pleasant. Too bad the fish weren’t active here as it was over an hour before we had a reel fire and it was another drive bye. Eventually I found a sole fish suspended 15 down over 40 feet of water and once again stalled the boat letting the lines drop into the strike zone before hitting the gas again. Seconds later the short, deep line screamed and it was game on. Mike had the first fish of the day and of his life on the fly and boy was it a crazy one. It must have gone to the air at least a dozen times and blazed line from the reel the whole time. It was touch & go several times as to whether or not he was going to land this fish but we were finally able to get it into the net. To my amazement, it wasn’t a salmon but rather a very nice rainbow of over 3 pounds. Bonus fish! After battling this trout on the fly rod, Mike wished that he had taken me up on the spring season salmon fishing much earlier. We combed this section a little longer without another touch before I decided to hit the other area I had found yesterday afternoon. When I arrived, I wished that I had hit it earlier as the wind was blowing pretty good and there were fish everywhere. Along with all the suspended hooks there was also the presence of baitfish and I knew we were going to get bit. Within minutes over 120 feet of water, the long line started screaming and before I could even get it out of the rod holder, the salmon was going aerial, way back. Mike was having a blast battling these fish on light tackle and couldn’t believe just how much fun they actually were. Unfortunately, this salmon was a little short at just under 16 inches and had to be released. I reset the lines and started trolling again and within 10 minutes the long line went off once more and Mike was into another silver bullet. I think this salmon came close to the rainbow with the number of jumps it made before getting to the net. Once again we had to release the fish as it was 1/8 of an inch shy of the legal limit. I was sure we were going to get into a bunch more and wasn’t worried! To my amazement, the winds let up almost completely and when they died, so did the bite. It was like I was in a ghost town as nothing was marking on the sonar at all anymore. I covered different water trying to find them again and around one point started marking fish when both reels went off at the same time. Too bad one was a perch and the other a juvenile salmon! We kept at it in search of active fish but only picked at them for the remainder of the day. A couple of short lake trout and another salmon were added to our catch but none of them were legal and went back to the water unharmed. Although it would have been nice for Mike to take a salmon or two home along with the rainbow, he still had a blast fighting these scrappy little aerial acrobats on the fly. I’m sure when I let him know next season that the bite is on that he will be one of the first to book a day, knowing what he knows now!!

Norm & I hit the water early as he had to leave by one o’clock and we wanted to get in every minute we could. It felt a whole lot cooler than yesterday’s start to the day as we nearly froze running across the lake. Air temps were barely 43 degrees but the water temps were down to 61 where we began. No wind at all had all the pollen floating and I had a difficult time keeping the lines clean while trolling. I was marking plenty of fish so I concentrated on them and covered the area thoroughly before moving on. In the 6 hours of fishing we managed to get into 7 salmon, several perch and a couple of small smallies all the while trolling flies. It wasn’t a banner day but we did do alright considering the amount of time we were on the water. Back to the docks by one and away he went. I on the other hand went back out and tried to cover new water looking for something different for tomorrow’s trip. I spent most of the time just looking around checking the sonar for bait and concentrations of fish. Let’s just say that it’s a big lake and there’s a whole lot more nothing than something out there when you’re checking deep water. I did find an area that looked pretty good and had both bait and hooks suspended over as much as 120 feet of water and left it alone for tomorrow. Headed off by three and called it a day myself. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!!

Norm & I were back on a lake this morning after a long drive of over 2 hours. We were pleasantly greeted with cooler air temps of 53 degrees instead of the humid 90’s we had been having lately. The expected highs were to be around 74 degrees with a cool wind of 10 to 15 knots from the north. This was going to feel like fishing in air conditioning! Unlike the last several days on the water, the boat traffic was also non existent and we were excited. Water temps had risen to the upper 60’s and were almost 68 where we began the troll. With the warmer water, I decided to run one rod high and the other deep to cover the area more thoroughly. Although I didn’t mark nearly as much activity, I did see some hooks and small amounts of baitfish present and that was reassuring. As I came over a giant hook down 20 over 35 feet of water I immediately stalled the motor allowing the deep line to settle in the fish’s zone and as soon as I picked up the speed, the reel started a blazing. It was a smoker and I knew we were tight to a big fish! Without knowing for sure, Norm played the fish carefully in hoped of at least getting a glimpse of what was so powerful on the other end of the line. I think it was close to the 5 minute mark and well into the backing before he was able to bring it close enough for a good look. Not to my amazement, it was exactly what I had expected. A very large brown trout was sounding once more as we saw the full view, at the same time as the fish saw the boat. Eventually I was able to slide the net under this beast and we were both relieved to see just how big it really was. At over 27 inches, it was surely a trophy for this lake and Norm’s personal best. Several pictures were taken and we both decided that he was too beautiful to be killed. This was to be the brown’s lucky day as he tangled with someone that believed in « Catch & Release » and was allowed to fight another day. I knew that after this one that everything else would be downhill for the day, but fished on none the less. Although we did have several other hookups with short lakers, legal lakers and a couple of smaller brownies, we never were able to match the first fish of the day. Somewhere around 5:00 P.M. we decided to call it and head on in. Today was the perfect example of just what a full moon does to the fish with trophies being the quest instead of the usual smaller numbers of fish. Who knows what tomorrow will bring but thoughts of bigger & better are running through our heads for tomorrow’s fishing!!