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August 19th 2018

 

Steve and his son Sam were with me today, looking for a big bite. They were hoping to either catch sturgeon or possibly a musky. It was time to try again for the dinosaurs!

We headed directly to the deep water in hopes of marking good concentrations of fish. After about ten minutes or so of scouting the water, I finally settled on a spot that showed some signs of life. It didn’t look like what I was hoping for but there were a few fish down there and I thought we’d give it a try.

We fished for about 2 hours or so but never really had anything large eat. They did both manage to land one small sturgeon though and actually got to see what they looked like. They also got to see why I was here when they witnessed several quality ones take to the air. This only made them want a big one, even more!

I eventually pulled anchor and idled around, looking for another place to possibly fish. This never happened though and eventually we packed everything up and changed species all together. I was going to take them drop shotting for bass and walleye and hoped their luck wouldn’t be the same!

I set up on a break and locked the electric in place allowing them to cast to the areas that held the fish. I think it was on Sam’s first cast that he was locked up and on a really nice smallie too! A few quick pics and she was released to fight again! He went right back at it and a couple of casts later was tight lined once again. This time the bass was even bigger and gave him even more of a fight. Eventually I was able to slip the net under his smallie for a few more photos.

Things were going pretty good for Sam but his father still hadn’t landed anything yet. They changed spots and his luck finally changed too! Steve managed to bring a nice walleye to net that made its way into the livewell after a pic or two. They would be bringing it back with them tonight. He also managed to land another one but unfortunately it was a little on the small side and released. Sam also managed another small eye before we left the area to fish, elsewhere.

The boat traffic had picked up considerably by now and we had waves from all directions. The cruisers were out in full force, throwing 3 & 4 foot rollers. You could really tell it was the weekend!

I idled over to another place in hopes of getting them into some smallies, because it would have been impossible to troll anywhere that I wanted. Fortunately it was the right decision as both of them landed several nice brownies. They even had a double that had me netting both fish at the same time, due to a line tangle near the boat.

I hit a couple of other places without any luck after and decided to run to one more in the late afternoon, before we had to go. I stopped on a remote place in the middle of nowhere. Although I hadn’t fished it once this season, I was sure it would have fish! Steve made one cast and was immediately locked up on a nice bass. It also brought a school of its buddies to the boat at the same time and we were officially on fish!

We remained in the area for about 30 minutes or so before we had to go and they landed several other nice bass while we were there. They had plenty of chances and saw all kinds of bass following their baits in the time we fished. Unfortunately not all of them would bite, but many tried!

Today was an interesting one filled with all kinds of different techniques and a variety of fish. In the end, both of them slammed and Steve had four different species to his name. Tomorrow will hopefully bring even better results with less boat traffic on the water, allowing me the luxury of hitting more areas. With any luck, they will also slam but this time on even bigger fish. Bring on the dinosaurs!!

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August 18th 2018

 

This morning I had the pleasure of fishing with another group of four. Gardy brought along his wife and treated his in laws to a day on the water. They were in for a great day!

By 7:30 we were heading out in a NE wind that put a pretty good chop on the water. I immediately ran to an area to troll, setting the lines in hopes of our first bite. Within 5 minutes they were into the first of many pike of the day and loving it. They had wanted to bring a few fish back with them and the northern went right into the livewell.

I trolled all over this place, but only managed to pick at the fish. I wasn’t use to only a few bites and eventually moved away and to a newer area. It was here that the reels began to fire and we even had a couple of doubles. Although mostly pike, there was one really nice, over walleye that had to be released!

With the end in sight, I kept at the troll, all the while hooking into more northerns. With only a few more minutes left, the long line screamed and we were into our last fish of the day. Little did anyone know that it was also the biggest! We had stumbled onto a small musky and I had to clear the lines to land this fish. With all the nets too small I was also forced to boga it in order to bring her aboard. Now that’s how you end a day!

They may have only had a short period to fish, but everyone had a great time catching plenty of northerns. Raymond even brought a few of the bigger ones home with them, for their dinner tonight. The highlight of the day however would definitely have to be when his wife brought her largest fish aboard right at the end. This would be a day they would remember for a very long time!!

I picked up my afternoon group when I dropped off the morning party and headed out to new areas to fish. Peter was back with Mila and his grandson Adam, for another day of fishing. I had two of them this past week and Adam landed loads of fish. They were hoping for another equally good day today!

I began with a little trolling and picked an area that had produced in the past. Unfortunately with this NE wind there were all kinds of floating weeds, making my work more complicated. I was having to clean the rods, almost in rotation. Although I tried to get out of them, it seemed almost impossible. After one bass, one walleye and only one pike, I just gave up. Time to go elsewhere! This morning had plenty of weeds as well, but nothing like I was in now. I was going to make a long run and start where I had ended.

After a bumpy ride, we arrived and I began setting the lines. I had only gotten the first rod in and was about to work on the second when it screamed. Now that’s what I’m talking about! It took less than 30 seconds and we were into another fish. Adam reeled in a pretty nice northern and I finished setting all the rods. Hopefully there would be more!

For a couple of hours we trolled the area and plenty of rods were bent. Although they didn’t land any more walleye, Adam did have at least one or two hooked. Unfortunately they came off on the way to the net and pike were all he caught.

With a little time remaining in the day, they wanted to try for bass. I pulled all the lines and made a move to what should have been a very productive area to fish. To my surprise, it didn’t show any signs of life and we never had a single hit. I quickly relocated to another spot nearby, hoping for much better results!

With everyone on soft plastics, we drifted up current with the NE winds and both Mila and Peter missed a couple of chances at fish. Towards the end of the drift, I set into a terrible strike and surprisingly hooked into a nice bass. I quickly handed the rod to Adam and he fought the fish perfectly. We finally had a sign of life and confidence grew!

I had noticed on the drift that there weren’t a lot of fish up on the flat and decided to try something different on the second drift. I hit the edge and held with the anchor mode on my electric motor. First cast to the deeper water and Adam was battling another nice smallie. I instructed the others as well on where to cast but they weren’t as fortunate. Adam on the other hand, hooked and landed two more on consecutive casts. He was on fire!

I don’t know if the fish just got smart or if we ran out of them but the action stopped and we were forced to move once again. With time running out, we only had about 5 minutes before we were done and unfortunately no more fish were had. I packed up and readied for the run back to the launch.

This afternoon was a little slower than I’m use to but there were still plenty of fish landed, by Adam! I will be back out again this week with Peter & Mila and hope to get them into some really big ones. I will concentrate my time on hooking them up with sturgeon and possibly musky. Hopefully they will cooperate, making my job easier. Either way, we’re going big game hunting!!

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August 16th 2018

 

Olin was with me for a half day morning trip, looking for some action. As usual, I wasn’t worried about catching fish and headed out to start with a little trolling. His wife Cindy was also along, allowing me to use an extra rod, increasing our chances of hooking up.

A quick run to our starting spot and we were fishing! Within 5 minutes, the first reel fired and a small northern was landed. Minutes later another one of equal size came aboard and I knew there would be plenty more before we were done.

I was covering a trench area that had been holding some big walleye lately and really hoped to encounter a few of them on the feed. One northern after the other was taking our baits and several doubles were had on simultaneous hits. Cindy really didn’t want to reel any of them in so I just kept passing the other rod to Olin after netting the first fish. Eventually he did land a walleye, but it on the small side and would have only been a keeper. Today it was not going to happen as I was pressed for time and wanted to leave enough to be able to go for smallmouth. After several more pike, I pulled the lines and headed out.

With a little over an hour left in the morning, I brought Olin for some bass. Soft plastics were what we were going to be using and I was also going to fish and pass the rod when I got bit. Minutes later, I felt a pick up and gave the rod to him. Although he did have the fish on briefly, he really didn’t set the hook and it came unpinned at the boat. Too bad as it was a really good one! We covered the area thoroughly and unfortunately only came up with a few more, along with a couple of missed strikes. One more move to another area nearby had similar results with a few more being landed before we were done.

Half days are always tough as there never seems to be enough time to cover the water I need. Although plenty of fish were landed, it would have been nice to hit a few more areas before we had to leave. I’m sure there would have been many more smallies landed!

Despite only fishing for about 4 hours, Olin still had a great time boating plenty of fish. Without even realizing it, he had landed three different species. The small walleye and bass he had caught gave him the three he needed for the slam! This morning turned out to be a memorable one in Canada, being all the way from Arkansas! Another happy customer with another great day of fishing!!

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August 15th 2018

 

I had two trips scheduled today with the morning seeing Mila, Petra and Adam. Both Mila & Adam were with me last year and back again looking for more action. Adam wanted to just catch fish so we headed out to do a little trolling for pike & walleye.

With only a half day to produce, I decided to go where I knew the fish would be. Within a few minutes, the little guy was locked up and fighting a nice northern pike. For almost three hours he would be battling many more and loving every minute of it. Mila was just chilling, letting his grandson land everything but I wanted Adam’s mother to bring a few of them in herself. The next reel to fire turned into a double and she finally got to fight a fish too! With both mother & son locked up, I took this moment to snap a couple of pics. I always love bent rod photos!

Most of the morning was spent trolling up pike but a few keeper walleye were also brought to net. I wanted Mila to fish as well and eventually left this area to change it up and do some drop shotting. This way I knew he would have to fish!

We had run closer to where we launched and I wasted no time getting the lines wet. The winds were actually favorable for a change and with three lines in the water, I knew it was only a matter of time. I had been marking some fish but mostly smaller ones and several of the walleye confirmed it. They brought a few really small ones to the boat and I soon made another move. The next area did produce one bass and several more tiny eyes and another relocation was made once again.

With the winds picking up some I checked the radar and noticed a storm approaching. I hoped it would hold off before I had to run back, but it didn’t look good. A few minutes later, it didn’t really matter as I took Petra back anyway. She wasn’t feeling well in the waves and I wasn’t too far from the launch We dropped her off and headed back out for the remainder of the trip.

With less than an hour to go, we concentrated on one specific area and they boated several more small walleye. Mila did have a few nice smallies on, but unfortunately they threw the hooks when they took to the air. Time to go!

As soon as I arrived back at the ramp I could see the afternoon guys waiting for me. I quickly said goodbye to Mila and Adam knowing that they would be back again this Friday for more action. I was hoping on taking them for sturgeon, if the weather cooperated!

Brett and his son Jason were my guests for the afternoon and I only hoped the weather would hold off. A quick glimpse on the radar again, saw the storm moving south and barely clipping us along its path. I crossed my fingers as we headed out in pursuit of Jason’s first fish!

As soon as I arrived, I set the three lines and began searching for pike & walleye. It seemed like forever before we had our first reel go off but in actuality, I think it was only 5 minutes. I have been so spoiled lately that some days I have a hard time getting the second rod in before the first reel fires!

Jason was into his first fish ever and eventually it made it into the net. He was officially hooked for life! A few quick pics later we resumed the troll, looking for more. Although a little slower than I had hoped, the weather was seeming to hold off pretty good. We did hear one clap of thunder in the distance that had me a little nervous but that was it. I had purposely left my rain gear on so as not to jinx us and apparently it worked. We stayed dry and soon the sun even came out allowing me to remove all the extra clothing, safely!

Back to the task at hand and I had Jason locked up again several more times in the next couple of hours. Most of the fish were northerns but he did manage to land and lose a couple of walleye. The fish were biting a little strange with the weather being so nice and either short striking the baits or just falling off completely in the net. We had flat calm water and were now in bright sunshine forcing me to raise the roof for some shade. It was back to being scorching hot and the no wind thing wasn’t helping either!

Brett had decided that they would be calling it a little early so for the remainder of the day, I focussed my attention on one little area that was producing. Jason was catching fish and I wasn’t going to leave until we were done!

With double digits having been landed by the little guy, he was all smiles as I packed everything up and readied the boat to leave. It was just after 3:00 and they were scheduled to be somewhere by 3:30. We were done!

Back at the dock, they decided that the walleye in the livewell would get a chance to live. They had planned on keeping it for dinner but really didn’t have the time needed. This was one lucky fish as I really didn’t want to clean it either. They released it back to fight another day!

Today was another great day filled with plenty of fish once again. It was even better because I got to see two young kids enjoy themselves doing something they love. It sort of reminded me of when I was their age and spent time pursuing my passion. With any luck they will continue theirs as well and carry it on into the next generation. Another great day on the water!!

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August 14th 2018

 

Another group of four enjoyed their day on the water again today, filled with lots of action. Two were local but the other two were in from Italy. I was about to get a lesson in another language that I didn’t really understand. Oh well, it would give me plenty of time to focus on the fishing!

I had opted to troll once more with this many bodies in the boat and got the lines in quickly, once we arrived. Well it didn’t take long before two reels fired and we were off to the races! Their Italian guests were into their first Canadian pike, but it wouldn’t be their last. Throughout the morning everyone would have their fair share of these toothy critters. Along with them, there would also be several decent keeper walleye and a few overs too. One of them even landed a pretty good smallie that somehow moved into the pike & walleye area to feed.

The morning passed by quickly with John feeding everyone in the boat. He even made espresso coffee for them several times with his portable burner and special pot. We were like a travelling restaurant on the water!

At one point in the morning I was forced to raise the top with the drizzle we had gotten and was glad to have done so. Eventually it came down a little harder, but everyone stayed dry! When it did pass though, the sun came out and it became a scorcher, so the cover was a welcomed addition for two reasons.

All the while reels were going off constantly and numbers of fish were seeing the net. Well most of them were as one of the Italian guests released many before they reached the boat. I don’t think he understood the concept of Catch & Release! Either way, plenty of fish were still caught by everyone.

Eventually in the mid afternoon sunshine, things slowed down as usual and I decided to change it up some. We were going to go for smallies and I packed up the trolling gear and pulled out the lighter rods for them to cast. They were really looking forward to getting into some bass on soft plastics as we ran to the next spot to fish.

I decided to give them an example of how to fish these baits and as usual, had one on the first cast. Unfortunately it came off before I could get it to the boat! Once these guys got started it was one miss after the other. Everyone lost at least two or three fish before they slowed down on the hookset. I think John had the first fish up front and it started the ball rolling. By the time it was all said and done, they had landed over a dozen fish from this one small area and missed many more than that too!

These guys had experienced what everyone else has lately and landed plenty of fish. They all had slams as well with the pike, walleye and bass they caught. This was a great day all around and catered by John with the amount of food he had brought. Nobody went hungry as I think he fed them every couple of hours! The espresso coffee they had was also a new thing in the boat for me. I’m just glad I didn’t have any as I’m already wired most days anyway! All in all this was a very successful day on the water and everyone left totally satisfied. Just another great day of fishing!!