Beating The Weather

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Chai & Daniel joined me today, for another annual fishing trip. This time however, we were going to troll for pike & walleye instead of the usual dropshotting they were use to. Hopefully the bite would be as good as it has been, the last several times out!

The winds were blowing out of the NE this morning, creating a good chop on the water. Overcast skies also greeted us, making for a great shallow bite combination. I set the lines and began searching for both bait and marks over the vast area we were on.

Although it took a little longer than I was use to, the first reel to fire was a walleye and Chai fought a beautiful over to the net. We were officially on the board! I continued searching for more and despite not seeing much, another reel went off and Daniel landed a pike. We covered lots of the usual water but I eventually moved further away due to only a handful of fish. They were really scattered and I needed to find a concentration.

I eventually went to an area that hadn’t been great this season and we began hitting many more fish. I focused my attention on a small section and just kept going back in forth. For quite a while, fish were coming frequently, but that eventually came to an end. Time to move on!

After picking at them for a bit longer, I decided to try deeper and many more walleye and pike were caught. In fact, they were able to put several of them in the livewell as well as releasing plenty of overs too! The sun had come out and these fish were now active where we were. I was marking both bait as well as fish and we were getting into many from this area.

I hadn’t planned on trolling for as long as I did, but the bite picked up considerably as the morning passed. As I always say, “never leave fish to find fish”! We remained on them until they stopped and then we pulled the plug and changed up to bass. I put away all the trolling gear and pulled out a few rods with soft plastics for the next species.

The winds were blowing pretty good now from the SE and I went to a section of the lake where we were somewhat protected. I would have liked to go offshore but the waves were bigger there, making it more difficult to fish. We stayed shallow and they managed to get into several bass as well as miss a bunch more. I hit a few other rocky spots close by, but was beginning to see a weather change happening. Clouds had moved in and the radar was showing possible storms all around. We were also getting sprinkled on now and I needed the raingear, just in case it got worse! They picked up a few more bass from the areas we fished and then I decided to try a couple of other spots further away.

The winds were getting worse and the skies were getting darker when we stopped on the first one and despite their best attempt, they came up empty. I thought we’d give one more place a try and when I arrived, I knew what the result would be before they began. It was rolling pretty good here and almost unfishable! Within 5 minutes the winds picked up even more and we saw lightning. Time to go!

The run back to the ramp was a roller coaster of a ride, with 3 footers out of the SE. It was a twisting, pounding one and we were glad to get back, safely! The waves were rolling onto the ramp as well and I got the boat on the trailer as quickly as I could. Not before having gallons of water roll over the back deck though!

Today was a very interesting experience, with multiple changing weather conditions. Several adjustments were needed to stay on the fish and make this a great day. Mother Nature may have tried, but this time she didn’t win! She may have sent us off he water a bit early but not before all the damage was done. They had caught plenty of fish today and even had a limit of walleye to go home with. In the end, we even got off the water before the big rains began and that’s a first! This was a very productive and satisfying day for fishing!!