Family Time

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Adrian joined me this morning, along with his mother, father and 85 year old grandfather. They were all just hoping to catch some fish. With a good west wind at the start I knew what I had to do. I would begin with a troll and hopefully it would produce some quick bites!

The ride was a little bumpy as we headed to our first spot to fish. Once we arrived though, it seemed a whole lot less windy than the run we had just made. It would make for easier boat control while trolling!

I quickly set the 4 rods in the holders and I don’t think it took 2 minutes for the first reel to fire! Adrian’s father landed his first northern of the day and the skunk was officially out of the boat. Soon after, we had another reel fire and this time it was actually a smallie. Adrian got to fight this fish and it really gave him a hard time! Eventually it did come close enough for me to net and a few pics were had before the release.

We kept at the troll for a couple of hours and managed to get several more northerns. For some reason however, the walleye just eluded us. I finally gave up altogether and shifted our attention towards deeper water and a little drop shotting.

Our first spot did produce some walleye, but they were all under the slot and had to be released. Several passes later and a couple more small walleye, we pulled out of here and headed to another area much further away. I was sure we would be at least able to get into some good smallies from there!

With 3 rods working, we drifted over various depths until I zoned in on where we should be. Once I figured it out, the bass started coming aboard quickly. Both Adrian & his father hooked and landed several good fish and I also hooked into a few of my own. I planned on passing the rod to either his mother or grandfather, but for some reason, they didn’t want it. Oh well, I just had to land them myself!

With the time passing fast, I decided to hit a few other areas and went to an offshore shoal for walleye. We continued our drift & dropshotting and Adrian’s dad was into a nice walleye almost immediately. This one fell in the slot and immediately went into the livewell for them tonight. Next pass, his father was tight to another good eye, but unfortunately it was over the slot and had to be returned. It did make for a great pic however before being set free!

We made multiple passes over the area and although I was seeing plenty of fish, catching them was a different story. There were so many baitfish marking that I think the walleye just didn’t need to eat! Adrian did manage to hook into another keeper eye, but it was unfortunately lost right at the boat.

We hit a couple of other spots in the remaining hour or so and despite seeing fish and having a few bites, came up empty. In the end, we called the day a few minutes early and just packed it up.

Adrian’s family had a great time today and managed to get into a bunch of good fish. They had wanted some quality time with his grandfather, having lost his wife recently and enjoyed a day of fishing. At 85, they didn’t want to expose grandpa to anything and wore their masks for most of the day. I guess you can’t blame them for wanting to protect him from this damn “Covid” crap! Another great day all around!