George Michael

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June 3rd 2018

 

Another day, another ton of fish! Stephane finally made it out with his kids today and despite the terrible conditions, they had a blast. He also brought along his brother Alex who had never fished before. I definitely had my work cut out for me!

Winds were out of the E/NE when we dropped the boat in and they were blowing! Sustained 15 knot with gusts upwards or over 25 knots made for a real roller coaster. Boat control was going to be an issue but I set the lines and hoped for the best.

I hit some waypoints close to the ramp, but in 30 minutes, they had only landed a few small fish, trolling. I knew I had to make a run and it wasn’t going to be easy. With wind against current the lake was rolling pretty good. Thankfully we were in a big boat as we headed across to the next spot.

We arrived safely and amazingly the water seemed better! I decided to give it a try and reset the four lines to troll again. I had started further away and up wind of the spot I wanted to fish just so I could troll comfortably downwind. As I approached the area I wanted, a down rod fired and one of the kids got to battle a fat walleye. Although it was in the slot, barely, I decided to release her due to how large she actually was. I’m not sure if it was George or Michael as they were difficult to tell apart. At only 4 & 5 years old, they looked so much alike and also dressed quite similar. Regardless, things were starting to look up as we had several more fish on in the next 15 minutes and they were all large. Steph’s other son, either George or Michael, fought a decent northern with a little help from his dad. They now officially both had decent fish and I knew there were going to be many more!

I trolled my way over to the better area slowly, all the while picking at fish along the way. Pike were being landed and there were lots! In fact, Steph and his brother even got a chance to land a few of their own! There was really no bad area, just some better than others! I had a good spread of depths running and every rod was going off. All we were missing were a few doubles!

I eventually made it to where I wanted and George & Michael were into fish often now. They were taking turns reeling them in and there were many! So many in fact that Steph & Alex even got a few turns! The bites were fast & furious and the reels were really howling when they fired! They both landed enough fish that it tired them out, causing both to take naps. I guess I broke two more! This worked out perfectly as now Steph and his brother could land a bunch of their own!

In the next hour or so, during nap time, there were many pike caught & released. There was even a double header on walleye too! Steph landed a really nice over and Alex managed to finally put one in the well for them to bring home. With the kids sleeping they were really able to focus on their fishing and enjoyed every minute of the downtime! Eventually they both awoke and it was back to business. It was also off to the shore as one of them had to take care of business!

We broke for a late lunch after they returned and took a few minutes to relax and eat. Once done, I decided to run to an area I was saving for the afternoon bite. I also wanted both kids to land some bigger fish and knew it would happen here!

Lines all in and a couple of minutes later, one of the long lines fired. Big fish on and Michael was battling a nice northern. He struggled somewhat but with the help of his dad was able to bring it to net. It was definitely his biggest fish ever and pics were in order. Back she went and we did too! George was soon to fight one of his own when another reel started screaming. He too required a little help from dad but did most of the work himself. With both kids landing personal bests it was now time for more rotation.

For the next couple of hours the action was almost nonstop with fish after fish coming to net. Most were pike but a couple of big walleye were also landed making this a great day for all. The winds may not have been cooperative but by relocating I was able to find fishable areas. Boat control was still difficult at times but we made it work! After we got one of the boys into another quality pike, we decided to call it a day. They had all landed more fish than they could have imagined and were ready to go.

I’m not sure what they enjoyed more, the fishing or the boat ride! The run back was a little bumpy and they loved it the whole way! I on the other hand was just trying to keep us dry and not pound the boat in the rollers. I was riding the waves due to the wind direction. Fortunately with only a little splashing, we arrived without incident.

Steph’s two sons were great today and lasted the whole time without getting bored. I guess that’s what happens when you’re catching lots of big fish! I don’t even think their father expected it to go so long. He would have been happy just getting to noon! I believe that this won’t be the last time I see them as they just had a great time catching.

This is without a doubt the best time of the season to introduce kids into fishing. The number of fish being caught, even on difficult days, is absolutely incredible! They definitely don’t lose interest as there is very little downtime! Father’s day is just around the corner and what a better way to spend it than fishing with your kids. Open days are still available! Just saying!!