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What a roller coaster ride it’s been this season, literally! I wasn’t on the water yesterday and it was flat calm. I’m back out today and it’s howling once again! Get to the ramp this morning and the water is back into the parking lot. When will it end?

Peter & Bryan were glad to be in the Ranger as we made our way up the lake to reach our first location. Three to 4 footers were the norm but by running at a comfortable speed, we never even got splashed. I wasn’t quite sure where we were going to start and made a decision on the fly. Bryan made the first cast with a blade and locked up immediately. He was from Texas and knew that it was bad luck to catch a fish on your very first cast but did the same on his second & third too. Oh well, so much for superstitions! Peter was throwing a jig and I immediately switched him to the same thing hoping for similar results. Between the two of them, they managed to get a bunch of bass before they just shut down. Instead of relocating, I decided to refine the area and switched Bryan to soft plastics and Peter back to the jig. We worked it slower and they managed to pick up many more fish including a couple of walleye before changing spots. Any thoughts of the lake calming down were soon dismissed when we started to fish the next area. Although the run wasn’t too bad, I was on the electric in two footers, as they casted this area. Several more smallies were both landed and lost in the winds before I took refuge in a sheltered area hoping for a better bite. Unfortunately this wasn’t to be and it wasn’t long before we were right back in the crap once again. I didn’t let these winds win and ventured offshore to a rock flat to try and drift drop shots rigs. After a little explanation, they were both into more fish. It started out with only bass but after several passes, I soon found the walleye and they were now mixing it up. Each pass had some fish and we remained in this area for the balance of the day, catching. They wanted to get off early so by 2:00 we were headed back to the ramp to take out. I was informed by a friend while on the water that it was officially closed due to the high water but had no choice. My trailer was there and nothing was going to stop me from getting out of the water. I had left Don a set of keys in the morning in case something like this occurred and he was backing the trailer in as we approached. Something to think about, Valet service! Boat ramps would run a whole lot more efficiently with something like this. It would eliminate all the weekend warriors!

We may have been dealt a crappy hand today but with a little adjustment, we were able to turn it around. Big winds seem to be the norm lately so it’s no surprise when I have to scramble for places to fish comfortably. Today was just one more of those days! Both Bryan & Peter will be talking about this day for quite some time as I don’t think they had thought it would end with as many fish as it did. The heck with Mother Nature!

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The weather took a turn for the better overnight and allowed me to fish effectively throughout the morning. Danial, Jake & Dimitrie joined me today and fished hard to land everything we managed to bring aboard. Although the first fish was hooked in less than 30 seconds, the others didn’t seem as cooperative. We trolled for most of the morning and managed a handful of walleye and a pile of pike but most were barely hooked. There were even a number of rips that never even got pinned. At one point, Dimitrie lost 3 in a row! It was a struggle just to keep them on, so I decided to try another technique close by. I figured that we might have a better chance dropshotting so we relocated and gave it a go. Jake wasted no time and locked up on a nice smallie followed by another over walleye shortly after. Dimitrie also added a smallie to the numbers and things were definitely looking up. We made several drifts over the area and hooked up on almost every one before things turned full circle. The winds were starting to increase as the rain began and I knew we were about to get it big time. In about 10 minutes it went from a nice slow drift, to impossible. We were flying and they could barely feel bottom at this speed. The waves had also generated into 3 & 4 footers and it was time to leave. I had to make a long run across open water to get to where we might be sheltered and made the move. When we arrived, it was like night & day! We were now able to fish in a light chop and not rolling waves. Too bad the fish weren’t cooperating here as we trolled all over with only one good rip, that Dimitrie lost as soon as he touched the rod! He was definitely unlucky today as this was now the fourth good fish that had come off his line! I covered plenty of water before another reel fired and Jake boated a beautiful smallie. With the afternoon coming to an end, I thought we’d make a long run again and give dropshotting another try. Obviously the right decision as everyone landed fish in the last 90 minutes. Although mostly bass, there were several decent walleye also taken  We ended the day with a fish from Dimitrie but not before everyone had a round of losing one too! By the time we headed out, the winds had switched to SE after beginning SW earlier this morning. They had done everything but go north on us today! No wonder the fish were messed up! We pulled out after 4:30 due to a late 8:15 start and parted ways. I will be back out with them again next week and hopefully the weather will have stabilized enough to get the fish active. Who knows, maybe the water temps will even climb more than the 66 degrees we had today. Easier days ahead!

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A last minute request yesterday had me travelling to another body of water to fish this morning. Charles had asked me to meet him on a lake that he was camping at and I accepted. I always love new bodies of water! We hit the lake shortly after 7:30 and it didn’t take long to get him in the game. I believe it was on his third cast that he was locked up. A decent largemouth was his reward and it wasn’t going to be the last one either. For the next several hours, he was into plenty more of the green ones and even managed to get a pretty nice smallie mixed in as well. Half days pass by so fast but I wanted to try and see if we could get some more brown ones before it was over. With only about 90 minutes left before we were to call it, I hit a couple of rock shoals and sure enough, he locked up on a beauty. Definitely worth the change up! After landing her several pics were taken before she swam away. A couple more fish were missed on the hook sets after and then we moved to another shoal nearby. It was here that Charles managed to hook into the largest one of the day and it was a tank! He landed her and we shot several more pics before the release. The big smallies were starting to become active and just before we had to call it quits. Charles missed a couple more afterwards and we shifted to one last shoal before it was over. He managed to get another big fish and miss a couple more and we called it a day. Although half days are still good, it makes it difficult to plan how much time you spend in certain areas and on specific fish. The morning just flew by and before we knew it, we were back on land. I don’t think Charles expected the day to be as productive as it was. I know he didn’t expect to tangle with such quality smallmouth bass! We parted ways but not before he talked about another trip this summer, back on local waters. I can’t wait to show him what they have to offer! Great Half Day!!

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Neville & I were right back at it once again today, hoping for a repeat of yesterday. There was definitely more traffic on the lake this morning and more wind as well. An early troll was cut short as the water color wasn’t cutting it for me. Although we did manage to get several fish, I wasn’t happy with the results and decided to move on. I did a bit of running around looking for areas that we could fish, but the wind just made things difficult. We caught everywhere we stopped but I wanted to get him into some more smallies and didn’t stop until I found them. I even hit a bunch of areas that I usually do well in at this time of year only to find that the depth required serious adjustment. Baits I usually caught fish on just weren’t working! The winds weren’t helping either so I tried something and immediately found results. We were drop shotting and drifting with the wind over deeper flats and getting bit. We may not have gotten into a ton of fish this way but both bass and quality walleye were falling victim to the slower presentations. Neville was catching fish on a method he had wanted to learn! We made several different drifts over the area and rods were bent each time. I thought we’d hit another spot close by and it didn’t take long before he was into another quality bass. One more technique to tick of his list! Afterwards I thought we’d try a little casting for smallies with soft plastics and on our first casts, we had a double. I had only wanted to search the area but somehow managed to get the hooks into a nice smallie in the process. After catching several more we both agreed, taking one on the fly was up next! I rigged one of the 6 weight rods and he began the quest. It really didn’t take long before he locked up and a beauty it was. He had hooked into the best smallie in two days and on a fly too! After several minutes of battle Neville finally netted his prize, but not before a comedy show of tangling the net in the rod holders! Obviously it was meant to be because the fish stayed pinned long enough for him to complete the job. Several pics were taken of his fish before it was finally released to fight another day! We had every intention of remaining in the area as it seemed to be holding some really good fish. Unfortunately the radar showed that we were about to get crushed and the system looked electrical. A unanimous decision to move had us running to the other side of the lake to avoid the storm. It apparently was the right decision as we stayed relatively dry and watched walls of water blanket the area where we were before. With bigger winds upon us, I wasn’t left with many options. I trolled for a little while until it passed and caught several more fish in the process. Once it looked safe, I ran to an area further away and closer to the ramp to fish. We dropshotted for the remaining time and managed to catch several more bass & walleye before calling it a day. Neville had completed a long list of items in a very short period of time. Of all the things he did, I think the one that he will remember the most is the bass on the fly! Hats off to the Englishman in Canada for making these two days a pleasure. I’m not sure who had more fun!!

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Neville hooked up with me today for two days of fishing, all the way from England. We hit the water in overcast skies that soon gave way to a non stop drizzle, but we didn’t care. The big fish were biting and that was all that mattered! He had never landed a walleye before and managed to get a bunch of really big ones back to back on the troll. Along with the Walters, he also reeled in many good northerns before we relocated and changed it up. He wanted to catch some bass so I brought him out for smallies first. It wasn’t going according to plan with the high muddy water and all he managed were a few lost fish on the jump. I quickly set him up with a blade instead of the tube and he landed his first ever brownie. Prior to this, he managed to catch a 3 pound walleye as well. He also had a great follow from a small musky that blew up at the boat. This area was starting to look like a multi species spot!

The afternoon saw a change in weather and with it, a change of species. We were now targeting largemouth and getting into them pretty good. The sun was shining, the wind was down and the bite was on. Many green bass fell victim to a soft plastic and a few brown ones as well. We ended the day just before 4:00 as I was taking him to a local watering hole for a great dinner. This proved to be the highlight of the day as both the food and atmosphere were to his liking. Tomorrow we will try to get a few other firsts for him including one of those feisty smallies on the fly. He also talked about learning the drop shot technique so that too is on the list. Hopefully we can accomplish everything he’s looking for in the two short days he’s here!!