I was finally back on the water again today after a long dry spell of inactivity. Scott, Manson & their friend John (aka Keep) were with me, looking for some smallie action. It started out a little sketchy as I left my house, driving in below freezing temps. It might not have been so bad, if it wasn’t raining! The roads were a little slippery and I knew it would be a long drive when I was stuck in traffic for almost 45 minutes. People really need to learn how to drive defensively! We finally hooked up before 9:30 and were into fish almost immediately after. Scott drew first blood and the others followed with several of their own. I was searching for active fish and managed to find an area where they all had their chances. Although most were in the 3 pound range, there were several quality ones in the mix. I covered plenty of water looking for the bigger fish, but had a difficult time filtering through the average ones. Eventually I switched presentations and locations and Scott was immediately into a good one. It also turned out to be the largest of the day! The east wind wasn’t allowing me to drift properly with three fishing and I had to move again in order to get them back into fish. Eventually I found the area I wanted and had them casting and covering water one more time. The bites were slow but if you paid attention, you hooked up. Even the » Keep » managed to get into a few bass so I knew there were more! Scott and Manson took turns in the front of the boat but it really didn’t seem to matter. It was a large area and the fish were everywhere! Along with the bass, there were also a few walleye landed that were returned back to the water as well. We stayed out fishing a little longer than I usually do at this time of the year to make up for the delay this morning. Fortunately the fish cooperated pretty much right till the end before we called the day. Despite the slow fishing, there was still a good amount of fish landed by everyone under not so perfect conditions. It’s always tough in an east wind to properly present the baits but we managed nonetheless! By making the necessary adjustments, were able to fish slower and get more bites. I’ll be back out again soon and hopefully the weather will cooperate a little better. But probably not!!

Craig & Herm were back this morning and the fog was just as thick as yesterday. Unfortunately it didn’t lift like the day before, by the time we reached the ramp. We launched in the really thick stuff and I had to be extremely careful for the run. Needless to say, I didn’t race to our starting spot but rather slowly made our way there with all eyes open. GPS is a necessity these days but radar would have been even better! We arrived safely and it didn’t take long before they were hooking up. Both Craig & Herm were into fish in the first couple of minutes and they were good ones. I was fortunate enough to have a little visibility allowing me to remain in the area I wanted. As soon as I moved off though, they didn’t get bit. This went on for a few hours and many, many fish were boated throughout this period. I could hear boats running in the distance several times, but we never even saw them. As I didn’t want to venture too far from land, I remained close to the shore for the morning. I think it finally lifted after 1:00 and the sun actually came out of hiding for the afternoon. Along with the sun, plenty of other boats also came out! They must have been waiting for the same thing because now many of them were running all over the water. We on the other hand, stayed put and covered water slowly and efficiently. When the smaller fish became more present, I made adjustments and got them on the bigger ones again. By fishing slowly in the right areas we were able to repeat yesterdays results, less a couple of giants! The fishing has been incredible lately and unless something drastic changes, it should continue right through till the end of the month. Maybe even into December! All I know is that the big fish are eating now and with the right adjustments, they can be caught. Craig & Herm can attest to this as they both had an incredible two days of fishing, catching all kinds of big bass. Despite all the traffic, they were still able to boat plenty of smallies before we ended the day shortly after 3:15. Darkness sets in early nowadays and it’s always nice to get home in the light & they had a long drive too. This will be their last shot at giant smallies, but not mine. I hope to get back out several more times before the waters freeze over signaling another season is done. As much as I enjoy the hard water fishing, I prefer open water and the flexibility of moving around in the boat. Let’s just hope Mother Nature is kind to us and extends the season a little longer. Too many fish, too little time!!

Craig was back again for a couple of days and accompanied by Herm this time. They had been here a few weeks back in October and had unbelievable wind & rain for 2 straight days. Hopefully this time the weather would be a little nicer! We headed to the water in dense fog and I prayed it would lift soon. Although GPS can get you to where you need to be, limited visibility and danger is present! Luckily it cleared and we had beautiful sunshine throughout the day. This was definitely different from what they usually experience! It didn’t take long once we stopped for the first fish to get hooked. Herm was into a really nice one and I knew there would be more. Craig followed up quickly with an even bigger one and things were looking great for the day. I kept the boat in the area and they just hammered fish of all sizes in the first couple of hours. Craig even managed to get into a real beauty that we thought would be the big fish of the day. This would soon change with what was coming up next! With this nice weather I knew we would have company today and carefully picked places to fish. I slowly fished down to an area nearby in hopes of getting into more fish, but a boat ran into the spot first. Oh well, let the games begin! I stayed my distance and worked the water above, gradually fishing along our way. Long before we got close, Herm locked up on a monster and the other boat saw the fish, when it jumped. As I was now off the electric motor, we were gradually drifting towards the boat. Without hesitation, he drifted out of the area allowing us room to land this beast. This courteous gesture is quite rare these days, amongst the other boats and Christian showed me his true tournament colors. He gave way without hesitation and didn’t even think twice. I thanked him afterwards and we went our separate ways. Karma has a way of coming back and this will not go unreturned! Herm on the other hand had just landed his personal best and it was giant! Multiple shots were taken along with measurements for a future fibreglass mount. He would be adding yet another wall hanger to his trophy room back home and we needed to get it right! Back she went as quickly as possible to give someone else the same pleasure, another day. We resumed our fishing in hopes of more of these giant smallies, but never came close. Although there were plenty of other big fish caught, we would have to settle for just the two today. I don’t think any of us were use to fishing in conditions like these but we didn’t mind. Usually we are faced with hell and have to work hard for every fish we catch. I guess it had to happen sooner or later! With the weather & fishing like it was, the day passed fast and before we knew it, we were heading home. Plenty of pictures as well as great memories were made on this spectacular fall outing. We’re all looking forward to getting back out tomorrow as the forecast calls for even nicer weather. Let’s see if they can get it right, two days in a row. My money’s riding on a big fat no, but I’m crossing my fingers regardless!!

Sam, his brother Hassan and their friend Stephan were with me today, for their fill of fall bass fishing. We hit the water shortly after 8:30 and headed to our first stop, hoping for a few quick bites. Overcast skies were upon us but sunshine was expected sometime during the day. Little to no wind was going to make this  a pleasure as I usually get hurricanes lately! I decided to have them drag jigs along an edge in deeper water and it didn’t take long before Hassan was locked up. Although not big, it was the first fish of the day and welcomed. We had a few more fish boated but the action wasn’t what I had expected so I relocated and Sam was rewarded with a nice one on his first cast. This was definitely what I was looking for and I hoped there would be more. His brother also missed another one almost immediately after his hook up, but we’ll never know how big! We made multiple passes in hopes of others just like this one but fell a little short on the size. I wanted the sun to come out so that I could try something different but decided to give it a shot, regardless. The cloud cover was so thick that it looked like it would never clear! I instructed them on what to do and demonstrated on a couple of casts. We were covering water and I was sure they would begin catching more. Both Sam & Hassan had a few chances but unfortunately the fish threw the hooks not long after they locked up. I made a few adjustments slowing them down some and then it began. From that point on, they were into fish for the remainder of the day. I had cracked the code, so to speak and the fish were getting hooked. Although they did lose quite a few, they landed way more  and some were real quality too! Stephane caught several as well but not the numbers the other two were into. He was having a little difficulty feeling the bites and after a little more instruction, he locked up on a good one. I think a lot of his problems were lack of confidence and that hopefully changed with this fish. The three of them managed to boat many, many more fish in the last few hours, right up until we were done. Somewhere around 3:00 we pulled the plug and made our way back to take out. They had a tremendous day of fishing and for a change, the weather held out. The only thing I would have changed would have been the sun. We managed to get less than 30 minutes of it during the entire day, contrary to what the weather had forecasted. Go figure! All in all I think everyone was completely satisfied with the outcome and they all had some real good bass as well. Fall is definitely trophy time and today was a perfect example of what to expect. Big numbers of fish along with big fish too! Hopefully the weather will remain decent for a few more days and not lock me out too soon. I can’t wait to get back out and hammer more of the feeders before the winter arrives. With any luck, I will go right into the next month, once again this year!!

Peter was finally with me today after a weather cancellation took him out, just a couple of weeks before. The winds were so big that I had made the decision, not to venture out. Better safe than sorry! Today we would be trying for that elusive, hateful creature and hopefully getting him, his first one. Although it wasn’t raining when we began, the clouds were low and an occasional mist was present. Temps were just over 40 degrees and not expected to climb much higher. The water had also fallen slightly since the last time out and was anywhere between 45 & 47 degrees, depending on location. I started trolling and ran him through the drill on setting lines and waited. We did this for almost 2 hours and unfortunately had only 2 pike to show for our efforts. I decided to switch it up with the heavy cloud cover and we headed for walleye somewhere else. It didn’t take long before we were into our first targeted fish of the day. Peter reeled in a nice 20 incher and into the livewell it went for him to take home. I set back up and another good fish was boated soon after as well that also joined his friend in the well. We covered the area thoroughly catching a few more eyes and a bass and finally shifted to casting a smaller spot. Peter hooked into another decent smallie and we also boated more walleye in the several hours spent here. I thought we would try our luck at trolling a little deeper before leaving and Peter landed several more eyes including a couple of really decent overs. I had wanted to try for musky again and waited until the last couple of hours in our day to begin. We ran to another area further away and set the lines once again. It didn’t take long before the deep one fired and I knew Peter had his first ever musky. Although not large, it was still his first and he was happy. We reset the lines after a quick release and soon after, had another reel scream. Unfortunately by the time Peter had it in his hands, I could see the rod tip vibrating from only the lure. It was gone! We continued our troll for the remainder of the day with only a pike and pulled the plug just before 3:30 when the clouds & mist were making things darker. We had successfully managed to catch both species of fish that we had set out to do and left with a sense of accomplishment. Peter had also checked another species off his bucket list and with any luck, the next time out it will be upgraded too! Great day for fishing!!