Andre was back this morning, after his great trip last week, looking for more! We started at 10:00 because a friend of his would be joining us this afternoon and scheduled our finish for 7:00 this evening instead. Although the lake had a good blow early, it flattened out to virtually nothing for the remainder of the day and became scorching hot in the process. I dropped the lines in the water where I had fished only a few days before with success and hoped for similar results. We weren’t fortunate enough to get the walleye that I wanted, but there were a couple of quality smallies and some decent northerns boated from here. I searched elsewhere for a bit and eventually found what I was looking for when three high end keepers came aboard. Andre’s friend would be wanting to bring some fish home tonight, so we livewelled them for him. He now had a head start on his limit! Several more pike and smallies were landed from this area and others nearby before we got the call for Robert’s pick up. It didn’t take long before we were back out and I stopped on another area that I hadn’t fished yet, today. Lines set and three minutes into the troll the first reel fires. Robert is about to witness walleye fishing at its finest! He boats his first good keeper and not long after, another reel goes off. This time however it’s quite a bit larger and would have to be returned due to the slot. Although he considers himself a walleye fisherman, he had never seen techniques like these used to catch the fish. He had also never seen such quality sized fish on average being caught. I think he may have a new trick in his bag for the next time he fishes eyes! We reset the lines and resumed our troll despite all the floating weeds and kept hammering the fish. It was about 50/50 for the size and many of them were released after the pics. The remainder of the trip saw plenty more overs and keepers being landed. We even had a couple of double headers making it a perfect initiation for Robert to experience. Both Andre & Bob enjoyed their day and were amazed at the lack of boat traffic on the water. Weekdays are just so much better than the weekends and I can fish anywhere I want without being bothered. I think I may just have to do it again tomorrow! Back at the dock I think I found the new « Darwin Award » winner!!

A previous cancellation for today opened up the door for Yousef & his family. Although the weather forecast wasn’t looking good, the radar showed something different. I should be a meteorologist because even I can read it correct! We hooked up for a half day and started a little later than I usually do. We were to meet at 9:30 and hopefully fish in the best conditions. Yousef had brought his 3 year old son and his father today. This was the 2nd day in a row for bookings that I actually had 3 generations in the boat at the same time! I wasn’t sure how the fishing would be as this was also the third day on a row with strong NE winds. It wasn’t so much the direction as the amount of floating grass like weeds that were the problem. The lines were no sooner in the water and I had to clean the rods and lures from all this mess. It was a continuous rotation! After what seemed like an eternity and only 3 fish to show for our efforts, I gave up and went somewhere else. Although there were plenty of fish to be caught right here, I just couldn’t deal with all the torture! I moved to another area and after about 15 minutes, just left. I hate settling somewhere just because of the conditions! I headed to another area that I hoped would be better and as soon as I arrived on my waypoints, the reels started to sound like they should. We had 5 fish in about as many minutes and were putting a few in the livewell. It had taken us all morning to get just three and this happened! I informed them that this was how it was supposed to be and we just kept hooking up. Numbers of keeper sized walleye were coming aboard along with a few smallies and northerns as well. At one point one of the reels fired and I was sure it was another lunge. I cleared all the other lines and awaited a sighting. This fight was a good one as Yousef battled the weight of his fish. It may not have jumped but several long runs were indicating musky! You could imagine my surprise when I finally saw that it was a northern. I decided to net it with the slightly larger net I carry and even at that, had a difficult time. I had not seen a northern like this since last summer when my wife reeled in her personal best. It’s definitely nice to know that there’s a few of these giants still around! We took several good pics and released her unharmed. Although we reset the lines and did catch a few more fish, nothing was to compare to the GNP (great northern pike). I called it a day just about 3:00 and we headed back to take out. I wish it could have been a better start to the day but at least we finished with a bang and they were taking a few fish home for their dinner tonight. All in all a pretty good day!!

A morning booking with Ting, his father and his son had us trolling just after 7:00 and into the first fish moments later. Winds were not very friendly, blowing from the east and gathering all this moss like weed on the lines. Even with the rods under, the lures still needed constant attention to remain clean. I decided quickly to leave the first area and hoped the second place would be better. As luck would have it, the conditions were much better! We spent a few hours moving around and hitting all the key spots. They were rewarded with several keeper walleye and nice overs up to 24 inches. A few smallies and a couple of pike were also landed during this time. I had hoped the fishing to be better but with wind against current and the cold front that we were experiencing, it was tough. It was blowing 15 knots or more with gusts from the east and changed to the NE late in the morning. At this time, I decided to relocate and try something different. We were going casting for smallies! Ting was a knowledgeable angler and had fished back home in Maryland plenty, but his dad & son were pretty new to everything. I showed them how to fish a senko and hoped for the best in this wind. Only a few bass were caught with several others missed, so I tried a few more areas. They were all quite difficult for them to fish with the winds and eventually we went back to trolling instead. With limited time remaining is the already extended day, I managed to put them on another keeper walleye before we called it quits. We had remained on the water a little longer than expected due to the difficult fishing. As I was already there and not booked for the afternoon, it didn’t matter to me anyway! They had caught a bunch of fish and were taking a few of them back with them. Not a banner day, but still great nonetheless!!

What a strange day this was! A mid afternoon booking at 2:00 was cancelled due to forecasted thunder storms. I checked the radar, got back to Andre with the all clear and he decided to meet me at 1:00 instead. The person he was supposed to come with was reluctant to go out after he saw the weather and heard, 90% chance of thunder storms. You have to love our weather men! Rarely right! Anyway, I had some time to kill so I decided to head out earlier and continue the search for additional new areas & fish. It was on fire with the walleye biting really good this morning. Unfortunately, so were the lunge! Got another big one again. I covered lots of water and figured out what these fish were doing and where they were holding, then left. I would be back with Andre this afternoon. I headed to the ramp to meet him just before 1:00 and we rolled out. It had been quite a few years since I had fished with him and he was happy to be in this rig. With much more room than a bass boat, he loved it! We began our troll and the first fish to hit was a smallie around 3 pounds. He hadn’t been fishing in a while and was just glad to be hooked up with the fish. A little while later, the walleye started hitting and he was now boating some nice eyes. As he hadn’t eaten dore in a while, he was looking forward to eating some. I obliged him and put a few in the livewell throughout the afternoon. We covered all the areas I had located these fish the last couple of days and picked at them pretty good. There were even a couple of double headers that I hadn’t seen in a while! The fishing was great and I don’t think Andre had imagined it could ever be like this. Although he never really boated any giants, he did manage several overs up to almost 5 pounds. Along with these, he also caught plenty of quality keepers. Some of which went home with him for his dinner tonight. We stayed out a little later than I was use to and pulled the plug just before 6:30. Not before we were able to boat three more good fish though, in the last 5 minutes! I think we might have been able to do even better, if we didn’t have the north wind blowing 2 footers on us most of the afternoon. We definitely ended a great day on a high as Andre caught more fish than he ever could have imagined. All this from a cancelled day due to potential thunder storms and rain. Go figure, it was sunshine the whole day long!!

Corey and his wife were with me for a morning trip and he requested smallies. No problem, I knew just where he could catch a bunch! We met at 7:00 and were fishing 15 minutes later. After a quick orientation on the area and a small explanation on how to work the baits, they were ready. I had Corey try some blades but the fish just didn’t seem to want to chase anything. I quickly switched him to soft plastics and hoped the bite would change. Minutes later, his wife hooked into a nice one but it threw the hook on a jump. Corey on the other hand started hooking up and kept at it with many smallies being landed. In fact, they both hooked into fish and even managed a double at one point. With the water on a slow rise I anticipate an improvement in the bite really soon! They worked this area thoroughly before we moved to another one further away. As bad luck would have it, his wife hooked into the largest bass of the day and it came unpinned on another jump. Although a little disappointed, she soon got over it! They hooked into a number of fish here and even had another double headed! I had them work this area over completely before moving to what would be our last stop. It was here that Corey brought up the numbers with many more fish coming aboard. Plenty of other strikes were also missed, but that’s fishing! Shortly after noon, we called it and headed back. It was definitely nice to be able to run in smooth water for a change. The last few days had seen 3 footers or better each time out. By 12:30 we were back and soon after parted ways. They really enjoyed catching these brown bass as they usually fish for only largemouth back home in Florida. Although they may be bigger, you can’t beat a smallie!!