What do you do on your day off? Go fishing of course and that I did! The weather was just too perfect to pass up so Christiane & I decided to hit the Lake for a few hours to see if we could repeat our trip a couple of days earlier. Unlike yesterday, the conditions were back to normal and the wind was almost non existent today. High humidity and overcast skies were what we were faced with along with air temps in the mid 70’s. We were planning on starting with a troll to see if the walleye were active and then moving on to smallmouth a little later. Well that never happened as the walleye were just on fire once more and we stayed on them the entire time. We caught fish from 2 pounds to over 5 pounds on a variety of baits along with smallies and some really big northerns of close to 10 pounds. The reels were firing like popcorn and fish were being reeled in every 5 minutes or so for several hours. Although we got a late start to the day by getting on the water just before 11:00, we made up for it between then and 4:00 P.M. when we got off. Days like this make the fishing seem just too easy and I’m glad that Christiane got to experience it several times during her vacation week. After this weekend, it’s back to work and reality for her, but she’ll have the memories and pictures to show to everyone once again!

Scott & his son Zane joined me today on a totally opposite one from yesterday! The humidity had layed down and the winds intensified to 20 & 30 knots from the west rolling the lake pretty good. Although the air temps were in the mid 80’s once more, the waves were definitely a major factor while fishing. We tried bass for a while but decided to switch it up to trolling after catching just a few. The area that I had done so well in just a few short hours yesterday was actually full of floating weeds and moss & too difficult to keep the lines clean. We attempted to fish there for over an hour and managed one small Muskie of 36 inched and a 3 pound smallmouth. We also had a hard time keeping waves from rolling over the bow while trolling into the wind and decided to hit another area instead. Here we casted for bass but only caught a few with all the moss drifting from the wind and lost several more as well. Eventually, I decided to relocate further away in hopes of slightly smaller waves and tried trolling another area for pike and walleye. This proved to be the right choice as we were in only 1 to 2 foot waves and it was definitely a doable thing! It didn’t take long before we had a couple of rods go off and Zane was into northern pike one after the other. We also had several doubles with the best one being a big pike and a walleye of almost 7 pounds. This was the largest walleye Scott had ever taken and Zane had a 7 pound pike as well. After several quick pics we released both fish unharmed to fight another day. For the next few hours we were into fish every few minutes and Zane was one happy camper. He muscled these fish in one after the other and the only way his dad got to reel one in was when they had two reels fire off together. Thankfully, we had many doubles! Zane wanted to catch a walleye, so we stuck it out a little longer knowing that the odds were in our favor too hook into one and we did. Although the pike seemed to fight better, he was glad to land a 3 pounder and after releasing it, called it a day. Despite all the miserable weather conditions we were dealt with, it still turned out to be a great day on the water. Scott had landed his first ever Muskie and the largest walleye of his life, all in the same day. Zane on the other hand had caught so many fish trolling that I think he might want to do it more. He started out not too willing while in the rough water earlier, but was converted when we got into them real good. By making several adjustments we were able to monopolize on a technique and area that finally worked & this saved the day!!

After a client decided not to go out today, Christiane & I headed out for a few hours of what we thought was going to be pleasure fishing. As it turned out, there was nothing pleasurable about it at all! There was absolutely no wind and the high humidity was just unbearable. Add the billions of “dog pecker knats” or midge and it felt like some sort of torture test. Temps topped out in the mid 80’s and the water temperature was in the low 70’s as we began to troll. I knew that if we casted it would be even worse, so we dropped the lines in to see if we could get into a few bass and a possible walleye or two. Well, it didn’t take long before one of the reels started to scream and a decent smallie was going to the air behind the boat. It’s always quite the fight when trolling and this was pretty light tackle too! I netted the 3.5 pound bass and was shocked to see just how fat she was. I also noticed some crawfish claws sticking out from her throat telling me that there must be even more in the area to catch. The second & third time the reels went off, there were also smallies attached to the lines and one of them was in the 4 pound range and fat as a house. Apparently there were plenty of crawfish in this area and food wasn’t scarce! We continued trolling, all the while dying with this dead air and humidity trying to decide whether or not to just leave when another rod fired. This time however, it was a walleye and the first of many more to come as we continued our troll. In the next hour of excruciating weather, we were able to land about a dozen walleye and several more smallies up to & over 4 pounds on a variety of baits before we had to throw in the towel. It was just too much for both of us as we went through about 10 waters in the short time we were out. It was definitely worth it though as we managed to catch a bunch of quality fish in less than 3 hours of fishing and had a blast despite the heat. Overall, the pain was worth the end result and we were glad we stayed on the water. As luck would have it, the wind kicked up pretty good about 5 minutes after we were off the water. Gotta love “Mother Nature”!!!

Jay & Lyon accompanied me today on a local lake for another “Multi Species” day. We hit the water around 8:00 and were fishing shortly after on a smallmouth location. The weather was looking like it was going to be a real scorcher as we began our day in over 70 degrees and high humidity. Water temps were also around 71 degrees and the winds were out of the SW at 5 to 10 knots, at least giving us a little relief from the humidity. I believe that it was Jay who hooked up first on a crankbait as we covered the water. While Lyon threw a spinnerbait I tried to see if they wanted soft plastics and made several casts to locate some others. Jay managed to get 3 or 4 fish before his brother in law Lyon finally got into one of his own. It was a little slower than I was use to and we really had to work hard to get the bites we had, but they were good ones. A couple of the bass were in the 4 pound or better class and full of energy. After a few hours in this location we decided to give another area a shot and relocated with high hopes of more aggressive fish. Lyon was still throwing a spinnerbait around rock & weed clumps when a small northern attacked the lure and he landed his first pike of the day. He had a few others follow the lure several casts later and right beside the boat got hammered by what turned out to be a pike of over 8 pounds. This wasn’t what we were after but at least it was some action and Lyon loved every minute of it! Lots of smaller bass & northerns were taken as we moved along a stretch of shallow water hoping to stumble into the “Mother Load”. We jumped all over the lake looking for aggressive fish and even went in for some largemouth bass later in the afternoon without much success. Eventually, we shifted gears and began trolling an area for walleye & pike. The northerns weren’t very large with the biggest going just under 5 pounds but at least it was action once again. Only one 3 pound walleye was caught in about an hour of trolling and we decided to pack it in and try for more bass. In about another 45 minutes they managed to get into 8 more smallies with the largest being a 3.5 pound animal that just beat Lyon up. He really had a tough time bringing in this one in as it was hooked on the long cast and fought all the way to the boat. By the time we were ready to leave the temps had climbed to around 85 degrees and the humidity level was through the roof. It may have felt cooler to Lyon being from Florida, but it was unbearable for me and I was just drained. By 5:30 we were done and satisfied with the overall outcome of the day despite the sluggish nature of many fish. They had caught loads of fish and had a great time on the water today and that’s what it’s all about!!

I headed out onto the water with my wife, Christiane today seeing as how this was her vacation week in hopes of getting into some decent fish. What I didn’t count on though, was just how good it was going to be. The weather looked like there might be thunder showers some time during the day, but overall it was just a day of sunshine and intermittent clouds. The winds however were a different story with a heavy blow from the SW at 10 to 20 knots and even stronger gusts. The air temps today would exceed 80 degrees and the water temps were slightly above the 70 degree mark. We began our day with a troll and it didn’t take long before the first fish was on and almost landed. Unfortunately the walleye came unpinned right at the boat and I watched the 5 pounder dash back to the depths from where she came. Oh well, they can’t all stay hooked! We continued trolling and caught a pile of northern pike along with a really decent sized largemouth bass and then the winds kicked up and we were in average 2 to 3 footers. It was just about this time that the fish really started to bite and the rods were firing off like popcorn. Almost every time one went off, so did the other and reels were just screaming! In the next hour or so there were multiple doubles with a couple of really big walleye landed as well. It eventually looked more like Lake Ontario out there and trolling started to become a pain with all the wave action so I decided to change it up a little and head somewhere that we could cast. It didn’t take long for Christiane to lock up on a nice smallmouth and now she had another species to add to her already “Grand Slam” for the day. We kept fishing the area as she boated another walleye along with a northern shortly after. There was loads of smallmouth up to 4 pounds also caught before we decided to call it quits for the day. The run back was a real roller coaster ride as we were going with the wind in 3 to 4 footers. Now it really felt more like the big lake “O” than our home waters & I was glad to be in the Ranger. Any other boat would have most likely eaten a wave or two, but we stayed totally dry! Although we may have only been on the water for about 6 hours, it was full of action and plenty of fish. All fish released to fight another day!!