Today had to be the hottest one so far this season! Zero wind, blazing sunshine and high heat & humidity made the temperature feel almost 40 degrees. Pascal had brought his family fishing and we set off just about 8:00 A.M. With this many people on the boat I decided to troll to avoid any accidents. With rods set, it was just a matter of time before we would hook up! Light bites were the norm lately and this morning was no different. As with previous days I found myself hitting the throttle just to lock the fish up. The first couple of hits were so subtle that even I barely heard the clicking occur. Fortunately we did manage to get several walleye, & pike up to 8 pounds in the first part of the day. After a quick bathroom break we were back to trolling and catching a few more walleye, bass & pike once again. Although some fish were biting, it really wasn’t what I had expected. After a few more hours of washing lures I decided to try elsewhere and set up for a little drop shotting. I had relocated into some really dirty water and found the temps hovering around 74 degrees. It was a huge difference from the 67 that we had been previously fishing in! The lines were still trolling while I got the rods ready and we picked up a bunch more fish while waiting. In fact, Pascal got exotic species of the day with an 8 pound lunge! When we were finally able to change presentations & the rods were in, it was game on. In the remaining couple of hours everyone had several chances at fish and many bass & walleye were caught. I don’t know exactly how many came to net but they did manage to catch a bunch. Enough that they were taking fish home for dinner tonight. By 3:00 they had endured enough heat that they were fried. We pulled the plug and headed back, calling it a day. Ironically the ramp was void of boats and I was out in an instant. Although not an excellent day by my standards they still managed to land almost 35 fish for the day. Under these conditions, they all left quite satisfied. Hopefully they will be back on a slightly cooler day, or at least one where they can all swim. Either way, it should be better all around!!

Ross & his wife Margaret were in Montreal on a convention and took some time to fish with me today. Not having ever fished for these species before, there would be several firsts for them. Despite the completely flat water, it was almost picture perfect too. Unfortunately for us though, the torrential rainfall from a recent storm followed by high north winds had the water really muddy. It was going to be interesting to say the least! We set the lines shortly after 7:30 and I began searching for walleye with a troll. Almost immediately one of the reels fired and when I passed it over to Ross, it was gone. The second fish to eat was a bass and he went to the air even before the reel fired. It also came unpinned and we were zero for two! Not a good start but we had all day to make up for the loss and I was confident. We trolled all over, marking plenty of fish high in the water column but very little activity was had. Time for a change and a relocation! We were off to an area that should have plenty of fish, but they would be mostly pike. After a rather cold start it would be a welcomed thing! Well we spent close to an hour all over this area and I didn’t mark much. In fact not one reel even fired and this was a first for me. I soon realized that this wasn’t working and shifted gears completely. We were headed for smallmouth and going to cast reaction baits to see if we could get bit! Ross had fished for many salt water fish before but never for smallmouth and I wanted him to experience just how hard they hit. He would be throwing a spinnerbait and hopefully getting crushed! Margaret on the other hand had barely fished before and needed a little coaching on the basics. I would have her throwing a tiny crankbait and hopefully it would work out for her as well. I gave Ross a demonstration cast with the spinnerbait and instantly got hammered. They were here and he was ready to do battle with them. I think it may have also been his first cast as well that he got hit and was into a nice chunky 3 pounder. This would continue for a while as we had no plans on leaving until they stopped biting. Margaret was just happy to be learning how to cast properly and loving the casting thing. Hooking up would only be a bonus! Well eventually she got just that and another 3 pounder went airborne ripping line off the reel. It really looked like she was going to land this fish but the tiny hooks pulled out right at the boat. She looked a little disappointed but that would change soon. Although Ross had caught several bass he was now missing most of the hits. I don’t think the fish were actually hitting to eat and short strikes were more common. Time to relocate and we made a long run to cool off. It was beginning to heat up and those damn bugs were out! By now there were a lot more boats on the water and it would only get worse. This was the start of a long weekend and many people would be cutting out of work early to extend it. Flat calm conditions would soon turn rough and the waves would be from all directions. I would take advantage of it before it got too bad. This next place looked terrible with the water color but I knew there had to be some regardless. Unfortunately they were also short striking here and Margaret landed the only bass in almost an hour. She had finally been rewarded for her casting skills and got to feel just how hard they fight. This one made it into the net and a few pics had to be taken. After a little longer in this area, I decided to pull the plug once again and change it up to trolling. The sun had been out for several hours warming the water and hopefully the fish had a changed attitude. It was still a grind but at least we had several fish hit the lures. For most of them however, I had to throttle down to lock them up. The bites were still garbage but pike & walleye were actually coming in the boat from time to time now. By covering water I was able to put the lines over several fish and managed to lock them up. I really had to monitor the lines plenty though as they weren’t firing the reels very well. On a few occasions I noticed more of a bend in the rod and sure enough, there was a fish at the end. One of them even had a walleye of almost four pounds attached! The water temps were still around 67 degrees and it really showed. When we finally pulled the lines again I decided to finish the day with a little more casting for bass. Margaret was eager to get back to what she had learned and was once again rewarded with another smallmouth. Ross too had a couple of others but the boat traffic here had the fish messed up. They weren’t too active and we called it a day after more misses. They had come all the way from Texas and caught 4 new species of fish each today and enjoyed doing it. Several new techniques were seen and used and fish were caught on all of them. I’m sure that if they ever get back to Montreal, I will be getting a call again. They thoroughly loved the lake and despite the inactivity by the fish, fended quite well. Days like these make you appreciate the easy high number ones only more. I can’t wait to get back and get even!!

With no bookings scheduled for today, Christiane & I decided to hit the lake for a little fishing. No rush to get out as the best fishing had been once the water warmed anyway! We decided to drop in around 10:30 and hopefully the ramp wouldn’t be too busy. I needed several walleye for dinner tonight and as everyone knows, I don’t eat frozen fish! Well, it doesn’t really get any easier than this when a limit was swimming in the livewell in under 30 minutes. I could have caught plenty more but chose to pull the lines and leave this area when the third boat moved in on us. They had seen several fish netted and wanted theirs as well. No problem as they had no clue what they were doing anyway. I wasn’t about to educate them either and decided to go somewhere else for bigger fish. We had what we had come for and now it was time to play! With many, many boats on the water, I was forced to be looking over my shoulder at all times while fishing. I didn’t want a repeat of what happened earlier! Once positioned in the right areas and presenting the proper baits, it was game on. First reel to fire had quality in the 5 pound range and all gold. A few quick pics and back she went awaiting the next bite! Soon after Christiane was into the biggest one of the day and after a lengthy battle from the depths, a walleye of 7.5 pounds lay in the net. This one was definitely photo worthy and would make for some great pics! It was nice to see her swim off so perfectly afterwards and I was glad we were the ones that caught her. Despite the slot limit here in the province, I’ve seen many people keeping anything they catch. It’s a shame that rules only apply to some people and others just abuse them! After the release we went back to covering water and catching plenty more fish in the process. Bass, pike, perch and walleye fell victim to the lures and the action was great. We decided to call it quits shortly after 3:00 and pulled the lines for the day. In a few short hours there were many fish landed and we were quite satisfied with the results. Weekend traffic is always heavier and today was no exception. Although a light SW wind under 10 knots was present, there were waves from all directions. So many boats out that I felt like I was running an obstacle course on my way back! I was lucky at the docks though and was on the trailer in just a couple of minutes. We pulled out of the ramp and headed on our way as I had fish to clean and dinner to prep. This would be the perfect end to an excellent day of fishing and nobody got hurt!!

Steven & Mark accompanied me this morning on this almost perfect day. The winds were still blowing out of the north though and would build up to 15 knots a little later in the afternoon. We can’t catch a break with the cold fronts and the fish were definitely feeling the same. They weren’t too active at the start as we saw when we set up for a little trolling. With hopes of getting a few walleye to take home, I moved into a zone that had produced only yesterday. Water temps had fallen overnight, back below 65 degrees and I knew the bites wouldn’t be loud. The first fish only made a couple of clicks on the reel as I hammered the gas to lock her up. Mark was first, but unfortunately into a northern of about 5 pounds. When the second fish hit I had to do the same thing as they weren’t crushing the lures like they wanted to eat. This time Steven brought a nice walleye to net and shortly after it was swimming in the livewell. It had made the cut and was on their menu for dinner tonight. A few more northerns and one more walleye were caught in the next hour or so but I wasn’t satisfied with the results. After Steven landed & released one more over I decided to pull the lines and try something different. We changed it up and were heading for smallies in hopes that they would bite. Mark was throwing a crank bait and Steven a spinnerbait to create vibration in this muddy water. The north wind had turned this normally clear water into coffee, with three cream! It didn’t take long for a confirmation as I hooked up immediately on the demonstration cast. Mark would continue the trend with the same crankbait and hook into many of his own afterwards. Steven had several as well on the spinnerbait but the action wasn’t fast & furious under these conditions. It seemed like every time I mentioned leaving, someone would hook a fish! This prolonged the departure several times until I finally pulled the plug and left. We headed to another area to try for a few more eyes and began the troll all over again. Unfortunately the bites here were about the same as they were previously and I really had to listen to the reels in order to lock the fish up. We missed several short strikes that I’m sure were a percentage of walleye and landed only pike from this area. Too bad too as there was a good roll on the water, only from the wrong direction. By now we had the 15 knot blow from the north and waves were at 90 degrees to the actual current flow. Time to relocate again and off to the shallows for largies! This didn’t work out as I had expected though and was short lived. I figured that the water would have warmed up considerably but was shocked to see under 67 degrees. Although Steven did have a shot at one big largemouth, it wasn’t to be. After about an hour of just seeing the bass cruising the area, we decided to leave. A couple more smallmouth spots and a little trolling for walleye all came up somewhat disappointing. We manages only a fish here & there and I was on the move once again. One last try at walleye on a new area had better results as they managed to put 4 more walleye into the livewell in the last hour. A few smallmouth and a couple of northerns were also landed before we called it a day. It was an interesting one to say the least with all the scrambling we did to find active fish. Oh yeah, the winds died off completely as we headed to the boat ramp signaling that "Mother Nature" is definitely a woman! Who else would have a sense of humor like that? All in all a pretty good day with lots of fish landed!!

Ed & Josh were with me this morning on a not so friendly day. The winds were out of the north, blowing 15 knots at the start and expected to increase during the day. We hit the water with high expectations knowing what we were in store for! It was bass we were targeting today and I raced over to our first spot in a terrible cross wind. Waves were already two footers and almost impossible to smoothly navigate, even in my boat! I set up in an area that usually had a decent current but this time it felt like the tide on an ocean. The wind was opposite the flow and it was a roller coaster ride just standing on the electric. Regardless, they managed to get into a bunch of small bass and had a great time hooking but losing most. For whatever reason, the fish just weren’t staying pinned most of the time and on their first jump, getting off. Hooks were sharp so I knew that wasn’t the problem! Despite the fact that the water was around 64 degrees, the fish still seemed active and should be eating. It was post spawn in most sections of the lake and feeding should have been on their minds. This north wind had created a cold front effect and I just had to make them slow down with their presentations. Our very next area was the same as Ed missed over 75% of the fish he got hits from. Thoughts of adding a stinger hook to the spinner bait crossed my mind but he was hanging onto a few. With each & every move the same thing occurred and eventually I decided to give it a try. Well it didn’t seem to matter because they still got off! It almost seemed like the fish were hitting with their mouths closed. Josh was throwing a small crank bait and hooking into a small percentage of what Ed was but losing almost all of his too. I decided to change it up and switched areas completely as well as species. We were going trolling and the lines were set for walleye this time! I fished a little deeper and managed to have a couple of reels fire quickly but pike were the ones that ate. We covered a lot of water before we finally contacted what we were after and Josh landed a high end keeper for Ed to take home. A little later, Ed was into another one but unfortunately it was in the 25 inch range and returned after a couple of quick pics. We kept fishing for a while longer but could only come up with pike and decided to go for largemouth just to change it up. By now the winds had blown up to their max and waves were 3 to 4 foot in the open water. We had made the run to this area just before it got insane and I planned on staying here for the remainder of the day. For the next several hours they picked at the largemouth as we covered the area thoroughly. A few of the places produced multiple hookups but most were just one fish here and there. The water temps were actually a little warmer here with 70 degrees being seen in a couple of spots. The skies were looking threatening and I could see storms in various areas and readied for the worst. As luck would have it though, we never got more than a light sprinkle. The city looked like it was getting crushed and south of us as well, but we were safe! Ironically we had dodged a bullet and were glad to be fishing where we were! After the storm passed through, it seemed like the winds had gotten lighter so we switched areas one more time to try & get Ed a few more fish to eat. Apparently it wasn’t meant to be because each time we had a shot at a walleye, it just came off. All we could manage were a couple of pike and bass and we were done. It wasn’t the easiest day of fishing but there was plenty of action everywhere we went. These cold north winds really need to leave in order for the fishing to stabilize and get better. Although difficult at times today, we managed to make the best of it and boated plenty of quality fish. Too bad they only caught about 50% of what actually could have been, but that’s fishing! We’ll get even the next time around!!