Ray & his son Enzo had planned this day for several weeks now, but were worried about the conditions. Winds were scheduled to blow, once again and grow throughout the day! I had a game plan set in place and was going to follow it based on the increasing winds. I would have my work cut out for me, as usual!

We headed out in a west wind that saw 1 to 2 footers on the water and I stopped in an area that would be impossible to fish later. It was here that they both got into their first fish. We managed 2 walleye and a couple more smallies before jumping to the next spot. I was on a run & gun quest and hitting every place until we were forced to just settle!

The second area may not have seen as many fish, but the bass were much bigger! Both of them only managed one each but they were quality! Enzo caught his on a blade and Ray on a soft plastic! A little disappointed, I left here and headed much further away. I wanted to make the long run while I still could, before the winds got too bad.

I began with a systematic approach by starting deep and gradually moving shallower. The last couple of days had seen hurricane like winds and extreme cold temps making me think that some of the bigger fish had moved back out for shelter. They drop shotted over the spot and although I did mark a few good fish, nothing bit. A slightly shallower area was next and the results were about the same. Time to move in tight and hit the shallows!

Enzo was still throwing a blade and as soon as I told him to cast, he slammed a great bass! Historically this spot produces numbers as well as size in the fall and it was looking good! I quickly anchored up with the electric as they went to work on the area. Both Enzo & his father were into fish for over an hour, before we moved. Unfortunately most of the bites turned into lost fish as they had a tough time keeping the bass pinned. I even had to refine techniques in order to monopolize on the numbers. Despite losing more than they caught, they still managed plenty of good ones!

Our next stop wasn’t nearly as productive and saw only one bass and an out of place northern from Ray. I didn’t stay long with these poor results and winds having increased, before moving again. Similar results from the next place saw a couple more bass and we moved once again!

I realized quickly while running that we were not going to be able to fish many more open water spots, but had to try regardless! We headed to one more in 3 footers, running with the wind! It was next to impossible to hold properly, but somehow I managed long enough for Enzo to land another quality bass. One more was also lost boatside before we were done for here!

With time remaining, I hit a couple of other spots with similar conditions. The first one was tough but Enzo brought to net another nice bass in the short time here. The next place was to be our last stop but we remained here for about 90 minutes. I hadn’t fished here all year and it was slightly protected for a good drift. With the aid of the electric keeping us sideways, I managed a good speed for what we were doing! I’m not sure how many fish were landed in the remaining time but every drift yielded multiple hookups. Enzo was on fire slamming one after the other and his father added several as well. They even had some doubles before we were done!

Our run back to the docks showed us exactly what we were dealing with as threes became fours in many places. I kind of went back like a sailboat, tacking in the waves! By 4:00 we were safely on the docks and our day was over! I had somehow managed to zig & zag at all the right times today and made it work! They had caught fish throughout the entire time on the water and got into a couple of good flurries too! The final spot was definitely a good decision as they went out with a bang! I literally turned lemons into lemonade on another cruel, Mother Nature, hurricane like day! Too bad tomorrow is going to be much worse as I would have loved to get back out and do it again!

Another day on the water with Val and it was a windy one once again! He has an uncanny track record of pissing off Mother Nature this season! Would we be able to make it work?

My day started off not so great when I had to change a flat tire on the trailer before heading to the ramp. I had a screw in the tread and had no idea where I managed to get it. Fortunately it only put me behind by about 20 minutes. The fish would just have to wait!

Val & I headed out in a not so bad chop that I was actually looking forward to fishing. We had one to two footers and they were from the south. It looked totally doable as I pulled into our first area and marked all kinds of fish. The wind had them active and it wasn’t long before Val was into his first walleye of the day. It was definitely going to be an over by the way it was fighting. Within the first three minutes we had several fish in the boat, but only one was a high end keeper.

After about 45 minutes the action just stopped and I was no longer marking like I was before. Something had changed and on my next hit, I was just bit off. I guess old toothy had arrived and crashed the party! We stuck it out for about 30 minutes longer before changing locations entirely. I would return later when he had hopefully disappeared.

I ran to a smallie spot just for a change and had Val tossing a blade in the area. He had fished it with me only a week before and just crushed the bass! Too bad today wasn’t the same as not a follow or take did he have! I slowed down by trying a jig here and managed only one fish. After close to an hour of covering the water we decided to relocate again. The winds had also switched direction and were building like they had forecasted. It was about to get bad!

I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted to go but stopped on the first spot I thought looked doable. We drop shotted the area for about 20 minutes, landing several bass and a good keeper eye. Unfortunately we were blown off the area when walls of white caps began to appear. Even the spot lock wasn’t holding us in place! Time for a different location I guess!

I tried a couple of places somewhat sheltered from the wind, but never really felt comfortable fishing them. They were early season spots and completely void at this time of the year. We would have to move again!

I decided to make a long run to try and drift the open water but realized quickly that the waves were just too big to be able to fish. We tried the area that we had started at instead, hoping that the toothy critter had relocated. Once out in the open I made a few drifts and soon found out that it was just too difficult to feel anything. We were in 3 & 4 footers and finessing baits. Not an easy task to say the least! I had another back up plan in place and decided that now was the time to use it!

I headed over to a spot that I had recently had success fishing, in big rollers! With the aid of a drift sock to slow us down, we pounded on the walleye for a couple of hours. We were also able to add many more keepers to the well, completing Val’s limit for the day!

For some strange reason, the wind diminished around 3:00 and we were able to make another move out to open water again. We would be fishing where we had started in hopes of a few more big bites!

Within the first three minutes, Val managed to get his first bite and boated another nice big eye. A quick pic due to the lack of photos today and back it went. Val only managed to get one more bite but this time it was a good keeper and added to his catch. Looks like I would also be bringing a few fish home tonight too!

This was definitely a strange day all around with changing conditions causing many adjustments. We may not have been able to get to most of the areas I wanted to fish but we made it work. By switching it up plenty of fish were landed including a very nice limit of walleye for Val to bring home. Even I was able to take a few smaller keepers for dinner tonight! Tough conditions but par for the course with Val!

Scott was with me once again and this time he brought Chris along, hoping for a big bite. The weather was definitely in our favour for holding, but would the fish cooperate!

I arrived in the area and began marking some fish almost immediately. A couple of them looked like the ones I was looking for and I decided to start right there. As always the pesky gobies decided to bite first and I was back at checking and re baiting the hooks often. To make matters worse, we were only able to land a few sturgeon in the several hours fishing and they were all small. After one last red horse sucker and multiple moves, we decided that we weren’t going to stay any longer. Time to switch to another species!

I knew Scott & Chris wanted to bring some walleye back with them, so we targeted the eyes. With a couple of drop shot rods in hand, I was forced to use the electric motor to move the boat along, with the lack of wind. Scott hooked up pretty quickly and brought a nice big fish to the boat that was unfortunately way over the slot. Great pic but he wouldn’t be eating this one tonight!

After several passes, we finally had a light wind starting and I was able to drift the area more effectively. I made several passes and was marking plenty of fish but the bite was slow. Scott managed to land a couple more walleye around the same size, but Chris was still not on the board yet. He missed several bites while we were here but just couldn’t seem to hook up! I decided to try for a while and unfortunately was in the same boat as Scott when I brought a big over to the net as well. Both of us had keepers on a bit later and Scott was the only one to actually make it to the livewell before we ended it for this area.

I had one final place that I wanted to fish and it was here that the guys got into them pretty good! They had to filter through many smaller ones to get keepers, but the numbers were great. In the end, they managed to take 5 nice fish back with them before we were done.

Although the sturgeon fishing was tough, they did manage a few small ones this morning. The afternoon backup plan came through as well as the walleye definitely bit better. The day may not have gone as I had hoped but there were still plenty of fish caught. They were even going home with a few of them to eat tonight! Plan B comes through once again!

Neil was back again today along with Mike, for some sturgeon action. I was hoping that it would be as good as the last trip I had, only a couple of days ago. Would the fish cooperate was the question!

We set up in the usual area after marking several good ones and waited for our first bite. Too bad the gobies were enjoying our presentation more than the targeted fish! I had to constantly re bait the hooks and monitor the rods as they were relentless. In fact we made a couple of nearby moves just to try and get away from their piranha like nibbles. In the process we managed to land 5 juvenile sturgeon and one small walleye. Not really what we were looking for, but better than those annoying minnows!

We had spent a number of hours anchored up in search of a big fish, but weren’t really having much luck. I wasn’t even marking much now, each time I made a move! Talk of going for another species was on everyone’s mind and then it happened! I saw a good bite on one of the rods and set into some substantial weight. The rod was instantly passed to Mike and it was game on!

After having landed a few smaller sturgeon today, Mike was thinking that this too was a small fish by the way it was coming in. I however knew better, from setting the hook and told him to keep the pressure on and reel quicker! The rod wasn’t bent like it should have been, due to the fish coming at him and in a split second it breached right beside the boat. Instantly the line screamed from the reel and the fish rocketed to the bottom. It also went to the opposite side of the boat as quickly and I had to bury the rod in the water as I went around the motors. This little issue happened a couple more times and I had to take the rod from him every time to ensure that the line didn’t get tangled in the prop.

Mike was beginning to feel the pain after several long runs and nearly 15 minutes. Each time he had it within 30 feet, the fish ran out double or even triple that in line. It was quite funny watching the show! Eventually he managed to bring it close enough for me to net and the battle was over. He was relieved too as his back was feeling the burn!

Everything was prepped for the pics when I found out that Mike wouldn’t be able to hold the fish. He had back surgery the year before and didn’t want to chance anything. No problem, Neil would take over for the shoot! She was sent on her way right after and although we attempted to hook into another, it just wasn’t meant to be. We eventually pulled the plug and went for something else.

I decided to take them to an area for smallies and set the rods up with a couple of different baits. Neil was tossing blades and Mike was on a soft plastic, hoping to get bit. After covering the area and only seeing one fish actually attempt to hit, I tossed in a jig and was tight almost instantly. A quick change of baits for both had several more fish brought to net after, but the bite still wasn’t great. I realized that these fish just didn’t want to eat and by fishing slowly, was at least able to put some in the boat. Time to make another move!

Neil and Mike had hoped to bring a few walleye home so I headed to another area to give it a try. The winds were out of the east and not favourable for what I wanted to do so I used the electric motor just to move in the right direction. Despite marking schools of walleye, we had no luck here and didn’t stay long. Limited to time, I made one final attempt at catching something to eat and moved once again.

We had only about 30 minutes remaining as I stopped on a flat and almost instantly Neil hooked into a fish. He passed the rod to Mike and grabbed the other only to have a double. Both were walleye and they were also keepers! We covered the area and they were able to put two more in the box, along with catching a few unders before we were done.

Today was not the banner day I had hoped it would be as we worked hard for every bite we received. At least there was one quality sturgeon landed along with some fish for them to eat. Even the bass were a little slow, but they did manage to get a few of them too! In the end however, it all worked out and everyone had a great time on this cool fall day. Hopefully the sturgeon will be back on the bite tomorrow as I have plans to fish for them again! We’ll just have to wait and see!

Chad & his son Charlie had rescheduled a bad weather trip a while back and today was the day. We would be going for walleye as they were hoping to get something for the BBQ. Hopefully the fish would cooperate!

Although the winds weren’t big, they were bad for a drift. Blowing at about 5 knots from the north had me adjusting with the electric motor to cover the area I wanted. It wasn’t easy but it got the job done!

With only a morning to fish, I wasted no time getting to an offshore area and set both of them up with a drop shot rod. Charlie managed to catch the first three fish consisting of 2 big perch and a keeper walleye. I was marking all kinds on the sonar and thought it would be easy to get a limit, but I was wrong. Many bites were had but not much was coming aboard. Chad did catch his first walleye on one of the drifts but they weren’t jumping in the boat today!

I decided to try another presentation and made one cast to see if it would work. Immediately I was tight to another walleye that joined theirs in the well. A quick switch to the same baits had them both landing another fish apiece. I really thought we were on to something but unfortunately that was all she wrote. The winds had died completely now and I was seeing fewer fish, with almost all of them pressed to the bottom in a negative feeding mood. It was about to get a whole lot tougher!

We spent a bit of time trying to persuade something to bite by casting the area instead of slowly moving over it and Chad hooked into a nice smallie. Great fight but only one! Time to try something different!

With time passing quickly I decided to hit another area for bass and had them casting soft plastics. Surprisingly only a couple of bass actually were seen hitting the baits but none of them got pinned. It was almost like they did it with a closed mouth!

One more move had us washing baits again until I decided to go back to where we had begun. I kept them out almost an hour longer than expected, due to an afternoon cancellation and managed a couple more walleye before we were done. At last they had a limit of fish for their half day!

It may not have been the easiest to get the fish to bite but with the conditions and full moon period, I wasn’t surprised. After a small flurry of activity in the morning, the fish just went dormant! Despite the tough fishing, Chad & his son still had a great time on the water and a few fish to eat. Who knows, maybe they’ll be back again during the hard water period for more!