Val was back with me today, so that meant a big windy one once again! He definitely has a track record for being lucky with the weather when it comes to windy days. Oh well, we were both use to it and I would make it work regardless!

We headed on the water around 8:30 along with his faithful companion, Britney. Three footers were coming from the west making our run to the first spot quite bumpy. Even once we arrived, I realized that it would be difficult just holding while he fished the area. Boat control & presentation here was key and I really had my work cut out for me!

With Val covering the water, I slowly made my way downstream, while trying not to slide away from the fish. It didn’t take long for him to hook up and on a lure he never had confidence using. He landed a quality bass on a blade! In the past, he never wanted to throw this lure because of how well he had done. Today would be different however as he was about to gain the confidence he needed!

He fished thoroughly over this spot and only had one bass to show for his efforts. Even after trying a few other presentations, he still wasn’t able to hook up. Just before we were to leave, I made a cast with the soft plastic he was using and slammed into a real good one. I passed the rod and readied the net for the beast! We spent a few more minutes in the area after the release but were unable to hook anything else and decided to leave.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next in these big winds and started running blind. As I neared the other shore, I realized that the wind didn’t seem so bad. Thoughts of anchoring up for sturgeon crossed my mind and I began searching for them. After idling around for a bit, I decided to give it a try! With both the anchor and the electric motor holding, we were able to make it work. The only thing was that we had to hold the rods as they were bouncing too much in the holders to detect any bites.

We hadn’t been set up for more than ten minutes before Val hooked the first fish. I could tell by the lack of fight that it wasn’t very big. Regardless, it was the right species and put us on the board! Not long after we reset the lines, Val had another bite. This time however, when he reared back, there was weight! It was definitely bigger than the first! Somewhere during the fight it must have rolled and managed to tangle itself in the line, causing it to be reeled in backwards. Not much fight again but once untangled, it went insane! Too bad it was already at the surface because it would have been a much better fight down deep!

We decided that we would stay a little longer and set the lines back, hoping for a third bite. In less than ten minutes again, we had another bite. This time I reared back on some definite weight. Val took the rod and began to do battle with what turned out to be the biggest sturgeon of the day! This one also rapped itself in the line and when he untangled it at the surface, it went straight back to the bottom in a line screaming run. At least he was having a longer fight on this fish! Several pics were taken and I reset the lines back, after the release again. Unfortunately we never had another bite! We had only fished for about an hour and managed to get three sturgeon but that was all she wrote. After almost 30 minutes of nada, we decided to pull plug and go for bass. The winds had built up and it was now harder to feel anything in the bouncing waves.

I had hoped on getting Val into a few more active smallies on the blades and headed to a couple of shallow areas to try. The second spot was pretty good with him landing about a half dozen big ones and missing a few more too. He actually caught all of them on blades and is now a believer!

With not much time remaining in the day, I headed to an open water shoal to see if we could get into a few walleye for his dinner tonight. With a good roll on the water, I was pretty sure we would!

Once I located the fish, we were able to land several good keepers and he managed to take a limit from this area. We also lost a few others and landed a couple of big northerns from the same spot too!

Today may have been a little rough at times and getting around was not very pleasant. Fortunately the fish cooperated making this one of the best days for Val, so far this season. We definitely ended it on a high with some tasty fish for dinner. Hopefully the fall fishing will continue to improve even more and this will become the norm for the remainder of the year. Great day to be fishing!

Scott, Cory & Obi joined me today for another mixed bag outing. They were looking for sturgeon but would settle for bass & walleye if they didn’t bite. It’s always a good idea to have a backup!

It was another chilly morning when we hit the water and with zero wind, quite foggy in places. I needed to watch carefully as I headed to the area that I was going to fish sturgeon. With very few showing on the sonar lately, I just hoped for a couple of bites.

The conditions were just perfect to detect the subtle bites with the rods in the holders. Within the first 15 minutes one of the rods received a light movement and I set into a fish. I knew by the lack of weight that it wasn’t big and passed the rod to Obi, hoping that he would get his first sturgeon. Without much fight on the heavier rods, he managed to bring the fish in quickly! Although it was the right species, it was definitely the wrong size!

We remained in the area and after making a few moves, were unable to get another bite. I had one other place further away that I wanted to try and headed there to investigate. With this being such a beautiful day, I didn’t want to waste too much time on fish that we couldn’t locate. I idled over the area and scanned everywhere looking for marks, but soon gave up on these fish. It was time to change our tactics and switch to something different!

With rods prepped for smallies, I made a move to an area that had been good to me lately. Scott was the only person to hook up here but not for lack of trying from the others. We were seeing some big fish swimming that just weren’t interested! I had arrived too late and the sun was not helping us with the bite. Early morning is always better but we had fished for sturgeon instead!

Our next spot was a little more productive as Scott once again had chances almost immediately. He missed two big fish on a couple of casts but rebounded by nailing one on his third blow up. He was throwing a soft plastic and the fish just crushed it! Cory also had a chance but ended up missing a big one too! We covered more water and they picked fish here & there but the numbers weren’t great. I covered the area thoroughly with several different presentations searching for more, but eventually had to leave.

Our next stop had all three of the guys catching more smallies on a drop shot rig. The bite was slow but they did manage to hook into some smaller ones while casting a deep edge. I realized quickly however that the numbers weren’t here either and relocated for one last time.

With about an hour remaining in the day we headed out to a deeper shoal in hopes of a few more bites. The conditions weren’t in our favor as the water was like a mirror. I was forced to use the electric motor to move us along. They ended the day with a bunch more jumbo perch and one walleye before we were done. There were plenty of fish marking but with almost no water movement, they just remained there!

This day was probably the nicest one so far, weather wise, but not the best for the type of fishing we were doing. Despite the lack of numbers, there were still plenty of fish seen. Some were landed and some were just lost! I will be seeing Scott again in a couple of weeks and hopefully the fall bite will be in full swing. I’m sure that either way, he will have a great time landing more of those football sized bass!

Neil was back again today along with his nephew Dylan. We were going to do a mix of fishing and hopefully catch all the species targeted. If everything went well that is!

Winds were pretty big for the start and unfortunately blowing from the NE, causing quite a roll in the current. I was heading to fish sturgeon but not liking the 3 footers to hold us in place. Running in them confirmed my fear but we were going to try regardless!

I idled around looking for fish once I finally arrived, but never really found anything that I felt comfortable stopping on. After almost 30 minutes of this, I decided that it wasn’t worthwhile even trying and headed elsewhere to try our luck at the beasts.

I had wanted to try a different spot due to all the boat traffic lately and made the choice to check it out today. Neil had hoped to get Dylan a big fish and was willing to do a little more looking as well. Off we went, out into the big rollers again!

The area looked pretty good to me showing more signs of life than the usual spot but the wind wasn’t in our favor. It would be difficult holding here in the bigger waves and I gave up before we even got started. I would come back some other day under better conditions!

Plan B saw us turning to bass fishing and I went to some of the areas that had been producing the day before. Our first reef that had held many fish, only put out a couple of smaller bass and we didn’t stay long. After 3 or 4 drifts, I moved to another one a short distance away instead. Hopefully this one would be better!

Well as bad luck would have it, we didn’t remain here for long either and switched to a shallower casting area instead. Here there was only one good fish that followed a bait and never actually hit. It was looking like it was going to be a very long day!

With a few hours behind us, I knew I really needed to get something happening and went to another place that only held big fish. Within the first couple of minutes Dylan was into a real giant of a smallie on a drop shot and things were finally looking up. After a lengthy battle, I netted what may have been his personal best smallie and many pics were had before its release. I believe it was on his very next cast that he hooked into another beast, going back to back on tanks! This one too put up a great fight with several spectacular jumps before the net was slipped under her once again. Another monster smallie was held for more photos and immediately returned unharmed.

Neil may not have been as lucky with the fish but didn’t seem to care. He was just happy to see his nephew having a great time catching these football sized bass! I wasn’t worried either as I knew he would rebound sometime as well.

Although I remained in the area for a while longer, Dylan only managed one more bass from here. We had been seeing several big ones swimming and he was able to hook another good fish before we changed locations.

I moved to another deep reef and we only made one drift over this place. Neil had hooked a fish and lost it immediately but this was the only one! I hadn’t even seen any signs of life and decided to go shallow instead.

Apparently it was the right choice as Dylan hooked into another monster immediately after we arrived. This time however he had gotten it on a blade bait and in less water than the others before. Added to his previous 3 pigs, he was well on his way to a quality sized tournament limit!

We covered the area thoroughly and several more big fish were landed by both Dylan and Neil as well. Some on drop shot, some on soft plastics and a few more on the drop shot! When things slowed and time was closing in on the end, I thought we’d round it out with some walleye fishing, in open water.

After making a long run, I set them up with a couple of drop shot rods and started the drift. With almost no wind here, I was forced to use the electric motor just to move the boat along. Plenty of bait, perch and walleye were seen on the sonar as we passed over the area. They managed to boat several big perch and bring two good keeper walleye aboard before we were done. They also had lost a couple of other fish that I knew were walleye too!

Today was a difficult one at times and I really needed to make adjustments in order to put them on fish. It seems that lately this is the norm and I almost feel like I’m in tournament mode again! Regardless of what I am faced with, I somehow always make it work and today was a perfect example of being flexible. The cooler night are dropping water temps quickly now and fish are on the move. I just have keep one step ahead of them in order to make it work. I only wonder what tomorrow will bring as I head out once again in pursuit of another great day of fishing!

Today I had a double set of clients and Corey & his daughter Hailey fished with me in the morning. Claude & his son Patrick would be my afternoon guests and I hoped that all of them would have a great time!

The temps were well below the usual for this time of year and the cold north winds made it even worse. I don’t think it was much above freezing when we headed on the water and I knew I wouldn’t be running far. I wanted to get Hailey into some fish quickly so I stopped in an area that was holding schools of perch. With the rods baited up with worms it didn’t take long before she landed her first fish ever. It was a decent sized perch and quickly went in the livewell for them to eat later.

After catching several more perch, I wanted her to experience something a little bigger and rigged one of the rods with a different lure. Almost immediately I set into weight and passed her the rod to do battle. It turned out to be a quality smallie and now she was really hooked! It sort of brought back memories of my first bass, many years ago! Between the jumps and runs she was all smiles and soon after, I had her fish in the net. We would definitely be taking several pics of this one!

With the sun finally warming the air a bit more, we decided to make a small move and stopped on a small rocky area nearby. First cast, Corey locked up on a smallie and Hailey did battle with another feisty bass. She was really beginning to like fighting smallies and warming up in the process! With only one other missed fish on arrival, we made a long run to an offshore area in hopes of more fish.

I had done well on this spot recently and thought we would give it a try. Immediately another smallie was on and she reeled in this one too. We made a few other drifts and hooked several more fish for her to do battle with including a couple of doubles. When the action slowed down, I headed over to another similar area and repeated the process. Here we were into fish immediately as well and this was where we would end our day. In the last half hour I think there were about 10 fish caught including a couple of triple headers. It was quite the finish!

I made the long run back to the dock to exchange guests and was immediately back on the water with the afternoon pair. Claude and his son Patrick looked forward to catching some fish as well as they hadn’t really fished much before. I decided to return to where we had been, seeing as how I left the fish biting!

The easiest thing for them was drop shotting and I explained how to do it. Too bad the fish didn’t listen as we worked hard for the bites! Patrick officially landed his first bass ever when I passed him the rod to fight the fish. They both had hits as well, but were new to fishing and unfortunately weren’t able to keep them pinned. They would however make a comeback a little later by catching more on their own!

It seemed like the fish I had left from the morning trip had all but vanished and I was forced to move around more in order to get bit. At one point, they both locked up at the same time and had an official double header! Patrick had landed a legal keeper walleye and his father caught a bass. Perfect time for a pic!

Although there were more fish hooked there were only a few that made it to the net. We kept at it however and eventually picked at them, landing a few more. I made one final attempt at getting into fish again by running back closer to the take out area, as we were very limited to the time remaining. It was here that they both caught a few more before we were done!

Both groups today had enjoyed spending quality time together and landed some fish in the process. Although three out of four had never really fished before, I think they will all fish again! They now have the bug and are already talking about trying ice fishing for their first time as well. Who knows, I might even have them this winter on the hard water! I’m sure that if I don’t that they will return next season when the trolling bite begins. It’s like the Olympics when it comes to catching fish!

Chris & his brother Sam were in the boat today and hopes of one equal to yesterday was on my mind. The only thing that I was worried about was the cold front and big north winds. Would this be a deterrent to the bass?

We actually spent the first couple of hours trolling for musky, but we weren’t to be rewarded. I don’t think I even marked a fish! I did see a few sturgeon however, but they weren’t what we were looking for! Eventually we packed it up and changed over to lighter rods and smaller fish.

I went back to where most of the big bass were caught yesterday and had them tossing more blades for the active fish. The winds weren’t making it easy though and I had to really use the electric motor to work the area properly. About ten minutes into the drift, Chris hooked into a really good one but after the second jump, it just came unpinned. Too bad too because as it turned out, this was to be the biggest one of the day!

We spent a bit of time working the area with a variety of baits but they ended up only landing 3 smaller bass. A few other hits were had, but the fish didn’t seem very aggressive. In fact, the last bass that Chris caught from this area was actually hooked from the outside of the mouth. Definitely not a sign of active fish!

I continued the search for active shallow fish in a couple of other areas before finally deciding to go out deep. The shallow bite was just not happening and time was not on our side. With only a few hours remaining in the day, I hit a place that I hoped would produce!

Both Sam & Chris were new to the vertical drop shot technique, but it wasn’t long before they were liking the results. On the very first drift, they were locked up with decent smallies. This was to continue for over an hour in the area as we made multiple passes. They even had a few double headers from this area too! When the action slowed, I moved around slightly and always seemed to find a few more fish for them to play with.

Time had passed by quickly and with less than 30 minutes remaining, I made a long run back to fish one last rocky flat. They both had chances from here, but it was Chris that brought the only walleye to the boat before we were done.

Today was quite an interesting one filled with all kinds of ups and downs. The musky didn’t pan out along with the shallow bass bite but we managed to salvage the day by fishing deeper than they ever thought possible. Apparently it was the right move as most of the fish came from depths greater than they had ever fished before. By making the necessary adjustments I managed to turn a slow day into one that I’m sure they will remember for quite a while. They even learned a new technique that hopefully will be used by them on future trips of their own. Who could ask for anything more?