After taking a day off yesterday due to torrential rains, I was back on the water with Tim for smallies. The day started off with a misty rain but soon passed leaving us in the clouds for the rest of the day. Air temps were in the 40’s with the water temps barely in the 50’s and the bass were very lethargic. Fortunately, there was little to no wind and this made the day a little more enjoyable. Most of the fish caught today came from off shore structures in the 12 to 15 foot range, as these smallmouth weren’t in the shallows quite yet. By slowly working jigs tipped with 3-inch grubs, and tubes we were able to get into about 50 bass up to 3.5 pounds. Some of the fish came on jerk-baits as well, but the pause had to be really long. The next few days are calling for similar conditions and the fishing will probably be slow once again. By fine-tuning the presentations for these conditions, I know we can have more successful days once again.

Frank & his uncle, Antonio were my guests today on a trophy lake for lakers. Due to the weather forecast, we decided that our best chance for success would be on trout instead of bass and how right we were. Frank was on fire! The weatherman called for light drizzle with rain showers and a possibility of a thunderstorm. Fortunately, there were no winds to blow from the north today and the lake was practically a mirror all day long. The air temps never exceeded 56 degrees and the best water temps were around 49 degrees at the end of the day, but the lake trout were really going strong. I believe that by days end, Frank had landed 6 trout up to 5 pounds and either lost or had chances at, at least double that. I couldn’t complain about his total because I had close to that myself and never landed a single trout. I did however manage to get into 1 bass that would have gone in the 5.5-pound category. Franks uncle wasn’t as lucky as us and may have had a hit or two with nothing to show for his efforts. To say these fish were hitting lightly would have been an understatement. I think they were licking the jigs by the way they all got off and even some of the ones that were netted, fell off in the net as well. I really wanted Antonio to catch a few trout and decided to try trolling fly rods for them to see if I couldn’t have a few pulls. It didn’t take too long before the light 5 weight fly rod fired and he was tight to a real fighter. This thing took him way into the backing when it sounded for the depths of the lake and a fight that lasted over 5 minutes. Unfortunately for him, we were a half-inch too short to livewell the trout and back she went. Antonio caught one more trout a little later, around the same size and the same thing was to happen. Two lakers taken and both too short! The fights were great though and that’s all that counts, as we were there to have fun. All in all a great day with about 25 or 30 chances at the trout but very little rewards! Maybe the next time they will hit with more authority and we will have a higher percentage of hook ups!!!

Darrin & Joe had to leave early today so we decided to fish Memphremagog for the 5 hours or so. The weather was really strange on the lake with winds changing direction 3 times during the time we fished and really screwed up the fishing. Water temps were 52 degrees at best and some areas were barely 51 degrees. Air temps were 56 degrees at the end of the day too! Some of the areas that we fished just a couple of days earlier that had produced the 100 fish day seemed like there wasn’t a fish around. Clouds and some sunshine helped for a while but the N/NW winds of 10 to 20 knots definitely didn’t. We got into bass but had to resort to 3 inch grubs in some areas. There were a few caught on jerk-baits and jigs but overall, we had a tough day. With cold temperatures and rain in the forecast for the next few days, there really doesn’t seem to be a break in store for me. I can’t wait for the weather to change!

Darrin & Joe thought we should hit the trophy lake again and see if there were a few big fish willing to go. The water was pretty cold in the same areas we had fished just a couple of days earlier and we could only find 51.5 degrees as the warmest temp. It had actually dropped 5 degrees in 2 days and the fish weren’t active at all. The winds were chilly again and from the N/NW at 15 to 20 knots causing the 56-degree air temps to feel a lot colder. There were only a couple of bass caught on this lake with one of them coming from 20 feet of water and going around 4.5 pounds. Late in the afternoon we decided to get off this lake due to the waves and blowing winds from the north and jumped to another lake nearby. This lake was even colder and it was difficult to find 47 degrees as the warmest water. We thought we would try for some lake trout and unfortunately came up empty with just a few hits. The cold temperatures are stalling the fish from getting active and feeding before the spawn this month. I hope the water warms up real soon!

Darrin & Joe decided that they would like a shot at some action today so we went to Memphremagog for the numbers. Darrin hooked up with a decent bass of almost 3.5 pounds on his first cast with a jerk-bait and the games began. From that point on, we were tight to fish almost all day long! The jerk-bait bite was happening and we didn’t have to use anything else in order to hit that 100 fish day that everyone always hears about. There was even one location after lunch that produced fish on just about every cast and it lasted well over an hour before we just got tired of catching bass ad relocated. The winds were a chilly N/NW of 5 to 10 knots causing the air temps to not reach 60 degrees. The best water temps were found to be in the high 50’s with plenty of sunshine for the better part of the day. Due to the numbers on Memphremagog, we decided to give the trophy lake another try late in the afternoon and relocated there. The water temps had dropped slightly due to the wind direction and this made the fishing a little tougher Only a couple of the larger bass were caught but there were a few other smaller bass in the 2 to 3 pound range taken as well. We gave it a shot and came up short today but not for lack of trying. They still have a couple of days left to get into that elusive 6 pounder and we will due everything in our power to try and succeed.