Andrew was with me today, along with his wife and son Nicolas. We began in a NE wind and apparently made the right call for our starting spot. I had barely gotten the rods in the holders when one fired! Nick was about to land his first pike and the second one went off allowing his step mother to reel hers in too. They had requested pike today and were rewarded quickly. For the next several hours, they were to have plenty of action with many rotations by all. The pike were mostly great looking and had obviously recuperated well, after their spawn.

Late in the morning when the action had slowed down, I made a move to another area hoping for a better bite. The waves were bigger when we were out in the open, with the wind blowing against the current flow. This big run however wasn’t lost once we arrived and began fishing. We were somewhat sheltered in the new area and I was confident we would catch some fish from here.

Within the first 15 minutes we had a bite and the reel fired hard! I was pretty sure what it was when I passed the rod to Nick and immediately cleared all the lines. He was into a musky and I needed room for him to do battle. Lighter pike & walleye tackle always make the fight interesting. It took him about 5 minutes before I was able to net her and remove the hooks. With the season still closed, I was quick to release his catch. It may not have been a monster, but it was his first and worthy of a few water pics before swimming off, unharmed. Definitely a welcomed surprise for everyone on board! We finished off the afternoon trolling for pike and walleye and unfortunately nothing was to top what had previously happened. Despite the slow fishing later in the day, everyone was thrilled with their experience. Nicolas was definitely elated as he had landed his first ever pike and musky today! It was a win, win on all accounts!

Chris and Jimmy joined me today for a tough, but rewarding day on the water. Plenty of walleye were caught, including a couple of personal bests! The fish were finicky in the cool 57-degree water, but we eventually found over 60 degrees where we did the best. Jimmy even managed to land his first drum as well as the boat’s first of the year, as an added bonus. It was an over all great day on the water with bluebird skies and flat calm conditions. First hot day of the season! Oh yeah, they each brought their new limit of eyes home too!

It may not have been my first outing this afternoon, but this was the first report of the season. Patrick and his wife Aubry wanted to fish and despite the big winds, we made it happen. I had to find a somewhat sheltered area in the back of a bay, just to fish comfortably. Bites were tough but Patrick managed to get some good fish into the net before we were done. Water temps still remain cold with the warmest being just under 55 degrees. The fish were quite lethargic and were caught on a variety of presentations and depths. Covering water was the ticket today! Better days ahead with the warming trend on the way!!

After 2 days of cancellations due to crappy weather and winds, I was back on the water this morning. Gaetan, Chantal and Michel were with me and we were going straight to a smallmouth spot. I was under the gun to get it done as the weather was going to get nasty sometime this morning. I needed to get on the fish fast!

Water color wasn’t in my favor, looking gray from 2 days of wind and rain, but I decided to give it a try regardless. Gaetan managed to hook up quite quickly and this gave me the encouragement that I needed to cover the water efficiently. He also hooked into several more before Chantal landed a few of her own. Michel managed to get hits and only temporarily had them hooked, but rebounded later on. All three of them managed to land fish this morning. It may not have ben the numbers I was hoping to see but the quality was definitely there.

We ended the morning as the winds began to get nasty and headed back to the ramp. It was a little bumpy getting there but still better than it had been the last few days out. Gaetan had wanted to get the others out before the season ended and somehow the stars aligned, allowing us to make it happen. They had both managed to land their first ever smallies and that’s all that counts. Everyone left satisfied and a little cold from the weather. Overall a good day nonetheless!

Day 2 for Stephen & Chris saw us targeting sturgeon, in the rain! We may have gotten to our starting location before it began, but it lasted the entire day. Thankfully we had some shelter under the roof. Anchoring up wasn’t easy with the NE winds, but by using a drift sock, we at least kept the boat straight. Stright sideways that is! Something must have been working because we were still able to see the bites and put 5 sturgeon in the boat. Two of them were decent size and gave both Stephen & Chris a great battle. I was surprised that we stuck it out as long as we did, but had to pull the plug shortly after 12:30 when the winds increased. They were now gusting at over 20 knots from the NE and turning the boat completely in the opposite direction. Time to pack it in!

We ran back in some good-sized waves and heavy rains. It felt great getting pelted in the face from the drops. Sort of like hail, I guess! Hell was the word of the day and three crazies had endured the wrath of Mother Nature, once again. Fortunately, our time wasn’t without reward and we all left with a sense of accomplishment. A little damp, but fully satisfied!!