Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

As I only had an afternoon booking today, I decided to head out this morning with Christiane. It would be her first time this season! We didn’t rush to get on the water and launched around 8:30, heading straight to a new area to fish. I had been wanting to check several places, but needed my time to get it done. I never use clients time to explore! I set her up with a drop shot rig and not long after, she missed her first fish. Soon after though she locked up on a nice smallie and was thrilled to have it too. This would be the first fish she had fought all season and it would also make for a great pic. I netted her catch and she held it for a few pictures before being released. Back at it, she landed a couple more before we moved to another area nearby.

This place also hadn’t been touched all season and in a short period while covering it, we only landed a few small fish. We quickly moved to another spot to check it out too!

I decided to slide up shallow and search for schooling bass over flats with blades. We both tossed them in order to cover water, hoping for a few crushing strikes. I did have one that tried to rip the rod from my hands but the line snapped at the bait and I was left with a slack line. None too happy I retied another and we resumed our search once again. A little further I had another taker and this one stayed pinned! A chunky bass, but he was alone! I almost expected to see several others when I hooked up, but he was solo. I had another explosion on the lure and saw one other fish before I slid into an area I was sure should have some fish.

Before we started casting, I decided to text my client for the afternoon to see how much time we had left to fish. As expected, he said that he wouldn’t be able to make it! Not surprising but a little disappointing! We would be able to continue fishing as I had nowhere else to be, anymore! Back to the task at hand, fishing!

Christiane was immediately crushed on her blade bait and it was a good one once again. Time for another pic before a release and hopes were high for more! We covered the area and managed to get a few more smaller ones and several walleye as well. Looks like we’re having fish for dinner! Along with plenty of bites, there were also some big eyes and several more quality smallies landed. Christiane caught one of her better ones on a drop shot while I was unhooking an over sized walleye. This told me that there were plenty of fish in this area to be caught. We stuck it out for a little longer before the bugs and heat just got the better of us and we called it a day. That and a damn bass boat that just had to check us out! This a hole idled a long way over to see what we were fishing and got close enough to be able to blindly punch in a waypoint for future fishing. I freaking hate these guys that think it’s alright to get everything for free! This is the main reason why I don’t tournament fish anymore! New generation of tournament fishermen, wow! We waited until he was gone and then headed back to take out.

Being the weekend and an absolutely beautiful summer day, I expected the worse at the dock. Fortunately, although bad, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and I was able to take out quickly. We had a great time on the water landing loads of fish and Christiane finally got out! Except for the incident on the water, it was a perfect day. We had a mostly relaxing time and caught many fish in the process. Oh yeah and nobody got hurt!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

September 15th 2017

I hit the water this morning with Bernard (aka Vern) for a mix of fish today. We began on smallies, moved to walleye and ended the day with a giant dinosaur that proved to be his PB by far!

Although we had a light wind, it was enough to be a pain in the butt as it was blowing from the N/E. Drifting over flats proved to be difficult and it even seemed like we were anchored at times. We had to switch up presentations often in order to get bit. Plenty of fish were landed in the several hours we remained here. After many big walleye and bass, I eventually pulled the plug and headed to another place to fish.

We arrived on a main river point and were casting drop shot rigs into the current for our strikes. The lack of flow wasn’t great and hits were few & far between. Several missed fish and a couple of walleye later, we pulled the plug on this spot too, as the fish weren’t cooperating.

By now the sun was high and it was getting quite hot with the lack of wind but I thought I’d give the « Big Dogs » a try. We headed to an area that I knew would be holding some giants. I wasn’t looking for numbers, only size and would be happy with just one bite! I raised the roof for some shade and enjoyed the drop in temperature while anchored. Well, after a couple of moves, we finally got our wish. I reared back into dead weight on the bite and immediately passed the rod to Vern. I knew when I had set on her that it was going to be a good one as it never moved! The battle lasted about 15 minutes with this thing remaining on the bottom almost the entire time. Well except for one spectacular leap that was about two feet off the side of the boat. It damn near scared the crap out of Vern when she landed with a huge splash. It even got the inside of the boat wet! Eventually he brought his catch alongside and I was able to net the monster. Easy part over, hard part about to begin! Now he had to lift it for the pics and it wasn’t going to be easy. With a little help, we managed to get it on his lap while he sat for the pictures. A quick release and away she swam unharmed! I immediately packed everything up and pulled out as we had accomplished what we had come for and it would surely be all downhill after this fish!

I thought we’d stop on a walleye spot to see if we could pick up a few more, but it wasn’t meant to be. Although I was marking plenty on the bottom, that was exactly where they were staying. Twenty minutes later, we decided to call it quits. I fired up the big engine and had issues getting it up on plane when I tried to head back. I experienced this once before but thought the problem had been fixed. One of my coils had crapped out on me and was replaced, fixing the problem completely. We made it back alright but the engine was definitely down on power and would need to be fixed. I made a quick call to the Raisin River Marina on my way home and scheduled an appointment for the following morning.

Jumping ahead to today, motor fixed and running again! They replaced a coil (N/C) & plugs and put me back on the water in less than an hour. No other dealer can provide service like that and on a Saturday as well. Hats off to the Raisin River as their service is the best! I know I’ll never change dealers!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

I hit the water this morning with Dan for a half day outing. It was his birthday and I wanted to make sure he started it with a bang! With limited time to fish, I decided to stay fairly close and go for bass & walleye, to maximize his fishing time. We would start out drop shotting and it didn’t take long for him to hook up. I believe it was even his first cast! He was into a nice chunky smallie and loving the way his day was starting! There were even several more fish landed on the same drift with a mix of bass & walleye. I was fishing a small area with a good wind and the drifts were almost perfect. Each time we made a pass, there were fish being caught! I even livewelled a few of the keeper eyes for dinner tonight!

At one point we had to move away from where we were fishing because there was another boat coming straight as us. Huge lake and nowhere else to go I guess! Areas like these are quite difficult to find and I didn’t want to hand it to him on a platter. I just ran to another place much further away. We barely made a half drift and Dan nailed a really nice walleye on a jig’ that turned out to be his big one of the day. Unfortunately it was short lived as that boat was on another collision course with us to see what we were doing. What a pain in the ass! Not another boat for miles and this guy thought he’d just fish with us. I immediately packed up and did a drive by, showing him how pissed I was! I expect this on weekends but not during the week. Absolutely unbelievable!

We ran back to the original area and had to drop shot again due to the increase in wind. It had also swung a little more south and I had to compensate for the new drift direction. We spent about another hour making several passes, all the while catching more fish. Eventually he had to go as he had to be somewhere by noon and we cut it as close as we possibly could.

Despite the relentless and annoying other boat, I still managed to make this a birthday to remember. I can’t think of a better way to spend it than to fish. I know I take advantage of mine each year by enjoying it either in the river or on hard water, ice fishing. I’m sure he would have rather stayed out on the lake, but duty called and he was off to work for the afternoon. At least he got the day started with a bang!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

September 11th 2017

Jeff, Nick and his father Denis were with me for sturgeon today. We headed out at 7:00 and set up in an area hoping for a few bites. Although I was marking plenty of fish, they just didn’t seem very hungry and in the first several hours, all we had to show for our efforts was a lousy rock bass!

Late in the morning, things started to turn around and they finally started to bite. The first fish unfortunately stayed pinned for about 5 seconds, before the line went slack. I reset the line and not long after, Jeff was into a nice one. Several jumps and an insane spiraling on the line shortened the length of the battle. The fish had wrapped itself tightly and Jeff reeled it right to the net. I don’t think he had more than 3 minutes fight time! It went insane while in the net after I cut the line and untangled the mess. A few quick pics and back she went no worse for wear!

I was hoping for a rotation and fortunately we got it. Nick fought and landed a smaller one and his dad also brought an even smaller one to net not long after. We had completed what we had come for and now I wanted more! Bigger was next, or so I hoped!

After a few missed strikes, Jeff set into another decent fish that seemed even bigger than his first. It too took to the air and made a couple of spectacular leaps, that made it look even larger. This one gave him a great battle! What I had thought was giant however, was only long. Once in the net I realized that the girth was much smaller than his first and although heavier, it would have been giant if it was as wide. Regardless, still a great fish and an awesome fight!

As we were now getting more bites, I thought we’d stick it out a little longer and see if we could complete another rotation. It didn’t take long and Nick was tight to his second fish after missing a couple of strikes before. Although not a beast, it was still larger than his first one and made for a great fight. His dad wasn’t as lucky however as his second fish was a drum and he wanted no part of that pic. We stayed a little longer to see if we could get him another but it never happened. Six fish but one was a junk fish. Two if you count the rock bass earlier this morning!

With less than an hour remaining in the day, we pulled the plug on the sturgeon and tried for something smaller. Walleye was what we were after and a few of them were landed. Unfortunately only one turned out to be a keeper and was eventually returned back like the others. Nick did manage to catch a decent northern though that made for an interesting fight. We all thought it was a big eye and were a little disappointed when it came to the net.

We had focussed almost all of our attention today on getting sturgeon and managed to have a pretty good day in the process. A number of bites were missed and some decent fish were landed making for a very successful day. Hopefully the next outing will be even better when I head back looking for another giant dinosaur. I know it’s just a matter of time!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Philippe was with me today along with his dad & sister Sarah. We headed directly for sturgeon as he was hoping for a big one like last year. Light winds from the SW made it easy for the anchor to hold but the bite wasn’t great. We moved several times and were always on fish, but they didn’t want to cooperate! One bite and one fish hooked was all we had and unfortunately it came off during the battle. A little disappointed, we kept at it a while longer, but that was all she wrote! More boats were moving in and we were heading out.

The next area had them casting for smallmouth bass and Philippe got it rolling with a nice chunk. His dad and sister also landed a few as we slowly moved through the area looking for a bigger bite. Philippe hooked and landed a couple more before I decided to pull the plug and head for walleye for them to be able to take home to eat.

The boat traffic was insane today and I had to pass up a couple of areas along the way due to all the boats. I finally settled on a spot as far away from the others as possible and it looked great. All three were drop shotting but after several drifts with only perch, I switched them over. They were now throwing jigs instead! I explained how to work them and made several more drifts over the fish with the same results. I couldn’t believe that they weren’t hooking up and decided to make one cast to see why. Immediately I was into a fish and it was the right species too! Unfortunately it was an over and I tossed it back. I thought they would have better success after this but only one small walleye was landed. We eventually pulled the plug here and I headed to another place for them to drop shot.

In the last couple of hours we fished two different areas and managed to pick up several more fish. Although they had a rough time getting use to the presentation and technique, they did have the bites. Philippe managed to land bass, walleye & pike while his father and sister caught perch, bass & a few walleye. I even helped them out by fishing a bit and passing off the rod when hooking up! In the end, they finally had 4 walleye in the boat that they would be taking home. Fish was on the menu for them tonight and it would be fresh!

Although the day didn’t go completely as planned, it worked out in the end and plenty of fish were caught and lost. The bite is changing slightly with the cooling temps but the fish are still active in many of the areas I fish. In the next few weeks I expect a shallower bite as the overnight temps drop more and easier fishing as well. In the mean time, I will be fishing deep, mid and shallow in order to maximize on all the zones the fish are in. Hopefully in the coming weeks, the boat traffic will diminish some making it possible to cover more areas as well. Only time will tell!