Adapting to The Conditions

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A later than usual start today saw Milos back for some more fast action. He was accompanied by Honas, a young Czech teenager as well, also hoping for some good fishing. We finally got on the water around 10:30 and I headed to an area not too far away, as we had limited time to fish. The conditions had been great for a drift all morning with a good W wind but it was about to change.

Milos wasted no time getting into the first big smallmouth, fishing a new technique. He was trying drop shotting and was locked up on a big fish. Honas also had one on but unfortunately it came unpinned before we could get a look at it. The drift was about as good as it gets with conditions allowing us to move at a nice speed and in the direction I wanted. On our first pass, they had a half dozen hookups and landed 4 nice fish. Milos was staying pinned while Honas was having a difficult time keeping them on the line most of the time. We made about three drifts perfectly, hooking multiple fish on each and then the wind picked up! For the next several hours it increased steadily, creating huge rollers and difficult fishing. I was forced to put not one but two drift socks out in order to reduce our speed. Although I managed to bring it down considerably, it was still difficult for them to feel the bites. Milos managed to bring quite a few more fish to net and Honas continued to lose most of his hookups. He did however land a pretty nice walleye that would later become his dinner!

The drifts were becoming much faster now. Each time I went back for another one, I had to keep the bow way up so that I didn’t bring any of the giant waves over the deck. I literally couldn’t get it on plane if I wanted to stay dry! We stuck it out until 2:30 and still managed to catch a pile more fish, but it just wasn’t much fun anymore. These waves were 3 & 4 footers now and not worth the effort. We called it a day and I had to tack like a sailboat in order to return to the launch.

Although today was rather short, they still managed to catch plenty of fish and miss even more. Conditions like these are never easy and keeping the fish on the line is even harder! Despite everything, it was still a great day. Although short, it still beats staying at home. Another great day of fishing!