A Very Eventful Day

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Peter & his father in law Barry were with me this morning for a relaxing time on the water. We headed out shortly after 7:00 and I decided to start with a troll. I wanted to get them into as many fish as possible before the sun got high and shut everything down. Hopefully it would work!

I set the lines and covered more water than I had thought I would before we had our first rip. Peter took the rod and boated a decent pike and just when I was releasing his fish, a second reel fired. Technically still a double! Barry was up next and he landed his first ever northern! Now they were both on the board!

For over 2 hours we trolled the area and managed to boat many more pike, but nay a walleye to be found. I had hoped for at least one or two big ones as they had never caught one before. Time to relocate!

I ventured offshore and changed them up to a drop shot setup for this spot. We were drifting over the area and I was marking plenty of fish when Peter set into a good one. As luck would have it, this was a keeper and after a couple of pics, it went into the livewell for them to bring home.

I made many more passes, hoping to get them at least one more walleye, but all Peter could catch were little ones. Barry did have his chances too but the fish were biting light and they all came off before we could see their size.

Time was limited this morning as I needed to be back for another group by 11:30. I decided to try one last place and see if we could get a few more fish there. It was an open water spot that had been holding some really good fish lately. Would it produce today?

I made multiple passes over the area, marking all kinds of fish on each drift. Peter caught a few smaller ones and a perch or two but lost the only heavy fish he had on the line. We were on walleye and I was sure that one was another good one too!

Barry was having a rough time as well and missed a couple of bites before finally getting into a good fish. He fought it well and based on how he was struggling, I was pretty sure it was way over the slot for these fish. As luck would have it, I slid the net under his first walleye and it was a big one! Although they wouldn’t be taking it home tonight, at least he would have a great memory of it, with the pics.

We made a few more passes after getting into the last big fish, but weren’t able to catch any more. We were officially out of time and called it a day!

Barry and his son in law Peter had shared a great morning and landed a few fish in the process. I would have liked to see more action, but I always do! At least they both managed to tick a couple of fish off of their bucket lists and were bringing one of them home to eat. Overall, I consider this a win, win kind of day!

The afternoon outing was with my brother and two of his grandchildren. Emma and Mason were my niece’s children and I was happy to finally get them out! Hopefully they would catch some fish too!

The waters were practically flat calm so I decided to make a long run to a shallow area where they could cast for bass. They would be throwing soft plastics for the fish and I was sure they would do fine.

It didn’t take long for Mason to hook into a nice one and it beat him up pretty good! This fish showed no mercy as Mason struggled to land his beast! Sort of reminded me of when I was his age & caught my first bass! Eventually I was able to slip the net under his catch and he was all smiles. I also decided to livewell the fish in hopes of a few more. We would concentrate on fishing and take pics later.

Not long after Mason’s bass, Emma hooked into one of her own. This too was a good fish and it also put up quite a battle. These kids weren’t use to catching fish and definitely not expecting the fight to be so strong. Mike & I just laughed as she tried to reel in a fish that just kept taking her line out! When I finally netted the bass I realized why. It was definitely a good one and she fought it like a champ!

After live welling Emma’s bass, we resumed casting for more and as luck would have it, Emma hooked up again. She may have had a smaller one on the line, but she had another fish! Emma fought this one a little better and I quickly had it in the net. This bass was released quickly seeing as how it was smaller than her first and back at it, they went.

With time passing and the wind increasing, we were now fishing in a pretty good roll. I figured we’d stay a little bit longer and then make a move. Emma was definitely in the zone as she managed to hook another decent bass from here before we were done. I also put this one in the livewell for her and moved soon after.

I wanted to check out an area in deeper water for them but saw that it was only holding small fish. After a couple of passes, I called it quits to go elsewhere. Before we made the move however, I decided to take a few pics of their catch and made the kids hold their fish. Emma was fine with it but I had to give Mason a glove in the end. At least they both held their catch and that’s all that mattered! They quickly released the bass afterwards and we were on our way.

I would have liked to bring them trolling but with the bright skies, I knew it would be tough. Instead I took them somewhere where they could drop shot and they managed a few more fish from here. Although the walleye were on the smaller side, Mason did catch a keeper that he decided to release after his pics.

Our day was cut a little short due to the skies as I could see that the weather was about to change. The radar showed that we would be getting some rain shortly and we ran back before getting wet.

This afternoon was fun for everyone and the kids got to catch a few fish too! If given more time, I’m sure that I would have been able to get them a bunch more, but at least they caught something. With any luck I will be able to get them out again this season, but only time will tell. Either way, at least we all have great memories from today!