Well, two thirds of the Mikes were back this morning making it the M & M show. The other Mike was to join us mid day as he had scheduled appoints in the AM this time around. We hit the water before 9 and gave walleye trolling a shot for about 90 minutes. It was the first time in over 2 months that the floaters actually allowed me to run a board. In one area, they were non existent! Along with the lack of weeds were the lack of eaters and we struggled to come up with only one bite. I was marking them real good in all the usual places but they just didn’t want to move. With flat calm conditions and almost no current they were tightly pressed to the bottom, not feeding. In fact, the one fish we did manage to get to eat was taken in much shallower water and over 24 inches long. I guess he was lost or something! Time to pull the plug and cast for something else, somewhere else! We made a long run to an area that I thought we would get them good but soon found out different. For some reason, there were boats all over and two of them were parked on a couple of the best spots. I decided to remain over deeper water and try drop shotting on a flat where I was marking fish. They were also in the same mood as the trolling ones, with only one small bass coming aboard. After two unsuccessful passes over this area, I threw in the towel and headed shallower. One of the boats had vacated the area and now it was our turn! They both threw tubes to the rocky areas and managed just a few smallies for their efforts. I realized quickly that the presence of the other boat had dispersed the fish, regardless of how many they actually hooked. By now the other Mike had given me a 45 minute notice for pick up and I wanted to hit one more spot before we returned. We made another long run and it was here that they finally hooked into a few good ones. By working their baits slowly along an edge, they managed to land 5 nice walleye and a couple of bass. Junior had two Walters that made the slot and one under. Senior on the other hand didn’t contribute to dinner, but instead released a 23 & 24 inch plus walleye that were just beautiful. Their golden appearance was absolutely picture perfect! After the pick up, I thought we’d give trolling another shot, seeing as I had my rod guy back on board. I ran through all the good sections of one area and definitely marked loads of fish. Unfortunately they were still pressed to the bottom and not moving on our baits at all. This lack of wind really has a bad effect on how the walleye feed and we were feeling the pain. Plan B and off we went to cast for smallies once again! This time they managed to hook up many times where we were and landed over 50% of the fish. Some fell to the tubes and others ate the senko but at least we were on eaters! Once the action slowed, we moved once more and found another area with a few more to play with. With the blazing hot sun & high humidity just crushing us, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were done. We pulled out of this place and headed to another area to try a little drop shotting. Without any wind and almost no current we would surely have a difficult time vertically. With two Mikes up front and one out the back, I positioned the boat for a drift. Back Mike hooked up first with a small bass and almost on cue, the others also locked up. This is what you can expect when vertically fishing over the reefs as you encounter small pods of tightly grouped fish. Mike junior managed to hook up with one other smallie before I called it a day. It was too difficult to concentrate on specific sections of this place and the fishing was slow at best. Add the insane heat wave and I was fried! The fishing may not have been phenomenal but we did have our share of chances throughout the day. They had landed a bunch of walleye & bass and oh yeah, a couple more sturgeon too! A tough but rewarding day on the water!!

I had a boat load of Mikes today as 3 of them came out to fish bass & walleye. For once, I had a hand trolling and it definitely made my life a whole lot easier. Mike # 1 was designated rod man and it felt good, to just concentrate on the fish as he manned all the rods! I set the lines and we began the troll under a nice chop of 5 to 10 knots out of the west. Add a slight increase in water level from all the rain we had received in the last few days and I knew we would score. Mike # 2 was the son of Mike # 3 and this day was designated to him. His dad had come in to fish Musky and planned a couple of days from the week for some action. When the first reel went off I never even had to leave the chair and # 1 was on it immediately. I could really get use to having a mate! First walleye landed and a 19 inch beauty was swimming in the well. We’re having fish for dinner! Lines checked and the next rod goes off giving up another 18 incher and things were looking up. We covered this area thoroughly and managed about 10 walleye up to 24 inches and a few bass, before shifting gears. We moved to another spot and began casting for smallies when Mike junior got crushed on his very first cast. It blasted his spinnerbait, trying to rip the rod from his hands and immediately went to the air. His dad almost doubled up on a jig too, but lost three in a row when they just came unpinned. Mike # 1 was also having similar results with a spinnerbait, but missing almost every one. He switched up to a tube and the results were the same! These fish just kept coming off and I really didn’t know why! I switched one rod up for a slower moving senko and the next four fish came aboard without throwing the hooks. Out of a possible 12 to 15, I think they landed about half. Definitely not a great average but at least we had action. When the wind layed down, that all changed! No wind equals very little movement and the fish just stopped biting. Time to relocate again, but this time we dropped #1 back off at the dock. He had an appointment and the three of us returned to a new area, hoping for bigger & better. Next stop, a big follower almost got a hold of junior’s spinnerbait, but didn’t seem to be interested. It followed the lure all the way to the boat only to disappear into the weeds. Soon after, he got crushed and a big fish took to the air with a three foot, Olympic leap. Unbelievable runs and jumps and one hell of a fight later, it was in the net. Not before tossing the blade off the lure, tearing a larger hole in her mouth and shaking the lure free as well. This is why people love to fish for smallies! After a couple of pics she was released and went on her way. The next fish was unexpected as Mike battled a sturgeon for a while. He couldn’t believe the shear power of this fish and eventually brought it close enough for me to grab its tail. Several pics later and back she went no worse for wear! We continued along for a bit and hit another area that had been holding a concentration of walleye & bass. Ironically, no walleye were caught, just smallies! They even had a double header that was the first of the day. Juniors’ fish was considerably larger as it was pushing 21 inches in length. It should have weighed over 5 pounds but fell lighter due to the lack of girth. Either way, it was a real beauty and released immediately after the pics. A few more bass were taken as well in this area and then it just died entirely. We kept moving along and I made another stop in a place close to a deep water edge. This section had been only holding big fish and today would be no different. While chunking the spinnerbait, Mike got a hold of another giant and one hell of a battle followed. He finally brought it close enough to the boat and I netted it in the air, under another spectacular leap. This was to be the largest one of the day and definitely in the five pound class, as it had plenty of girth. Unfortunately it was the only fish to be seen here and not long after we were on the move once again. After an unsuccessful attempt at the next location, we moved to a drop shot area and finished off the day. Not many fish were landed here and I wasn’t surprised. There was practically no current and all fish were small because of it. They both managed a couple of walleye & bass and we headed back to the ramp. I had fish to clean and we had dinner to eat! It was definitely a day full of action and plenty of firsts for Mike. Or was that Mikes!!

Darren was back with me again today but this time he brought a guest. His son Ethan was to be at a day camp close by at 9, so we figured, why not get him a few fish before. Ethan was all for this and after reeling in 4 nice walleye, he wanted more. Looks like Darren might have to take him out more often now as he would rather have stayed on the lake with us. After we brought the little guy back in, we headed to an area close by and tried a little drop shotting. I was pretty sure it would be a tough bite as the wind was blowing NE at 10 knots or better and opposite the current flow. I was right, the surface water was moving us upstream and the baits were going the other direction. It wasn’t easy trying to keep a vertical presentation and once I got the speed correct with the kicker, we somehow started going sideways. Although Darren did have a couple of big fish hooked, the boat control was almost impossible and I pulled the plug in frustration. This area had been putting out plenty of quality bass and I wanted more, but it wasn’t going to happen today! We headed off to another area where we would be casting to shallower fish and began tossing jigs and spinnerbaits. There were a few smaller bass landed and then Darren locked up with a real dandy. This fish was big and pissed! After an incredible fight and some spectacular jumps, I slid the net under an almost 5 pound bruiser. To no surprise, it had buddies and now I really wanted more. Unfortunately the others scattered once we landed this one and were never to be seen again. We kept moving and managed to stumble into a small pod of walleye, catching 4 nice ones, as well as another smallie. Eventually we moved off and encountered a pod of smallmouth again and Darren was locked once more. The fish looked to be another big one and I concentrated on getting it in, despite all the followers that were with her. Once in the net we realized that it was almost as big as the previous one he landed and equally as impressive. I decided to toss a spinnerbait, to try & find the group once again and just about had the rod torn from my hands by a violent strike. As expected, this fish had the pod with it and Darren almost had another beauty that tried to eat his jig, twice. These fish are like ghosts on the flats. One minute you see them and the next, they’re gone! We too were gone as I had run out of the quality stuff holding these fish and decided to try another section of the lake. We would be drop shotting in deeper water and hopefully, a mixed bag would be caught. To our surprise, these fish were all on the smaller side, but really active. I don’t know how many we caught but the largest ones were just over 2 pounds. As the day was getting on, we saw that the clouds were starting to roll in pretty good and opted for a final location change. One more smallie spot and wouldn’t you know it, a walleye came in on a jig. As were nearing the end, Darren decided to keep this slot fish and hoped for one other to take home. After a few more smallies, I switched gears and set the lines for another quick troll nearby. One walleye coming up! Five minutes or so into the troll, I checked the lines and saw we had a hitch hiker. Darren reeled in the last fish of the day and the Walter joined his friend in the well. We were getting a light mist now and I knew the weather wasn’t going to get any better. We pulled the lines and headed back to the ramp, just in time for Darren to pick Ethan up from day camp. I think Ethan told everyone at camp that he had fished this morning as he was still excited. Looks like we may have another guest more often, or at least for a couple of hours before day camp starts!!

Michel & Christiane joined me today for a little walleye & bass action. After a couple of pit stops we were on the water fishing before 8 and fighting the floating weeds once again. Air temps were to reach the mid 80’s and the water temps were hovering around 76 in the areas we were trolling. It took a little longer than I had expected but once I found them, the rods went off regularly. We even had a double header and I hadn’t had one of them, in forever! In a matter of 45 minutes we were able to land about 10 walleye and most were in the slot. Christiane had top fish with a 24 incher that made for a great pic. I was really having to work for the bites now and decided to troll outside the area hoping for a few more rips on the reels. We did manage a couple, but they were smallies and not the targeted species. Time to move to an area & cast for them! Next stop was a deep edged weed line and hopefully a few more eyes. With not much flow to the water, I had to really work hard to get the bites we had. Only 4 more walleye were landed but they were all good ones! Three of them were in the 4 to 5 pound range and nice to see. This edge has the potential for some real giants! Too bad that was all we could manage and we moved on once more. Drop shotting deeper water was next and this too was proving quite difficult as well. Without any movement in the water, the fish were holding tight and we really had to be right on top of them in order to get bit. I decided to finish off the day on a bigger flat that had been putting out plenty of smallies lately in hopes of better results. Both Christiane & Michel had their shots at several but only landed a few. These fish weren’t hammering the baits, just lightly mouthing them and not all were getting hooked. Somewhere around 3:30 we called it a day. I had fish to clean and a dinner to prepare and needed some time in order to do it. We would be having blackened, Cajun walleye on the bar b tonight! Despite the overall slow day, they still caught a bunch of fish and had a great time on the water. Oh yeah, they’d be eating some of their catch too!!

Graham & Phil joined me this morning on one of the most difficult days of the season. Between the left over full moon effects, the heavy floating vegetation and the NW winds blowing 10 to 20 knots, I would have my work cut out for me today. We hit the lake shortly after 7 and I went straight to a troll. This was not the best choice however as I soon found out. I spent more time trying to dodge big patches of the floaters and cleaning lines. All we had to show for our efforts was one walleye and a drive by in 45 minutes of fishing. I slid in a little shallower, hoping to avoid some of the vegetation and managed to keep the lines wet for more than just a couple of minutes at a time. Although the fishing wasn’t much better, they did get to play with a few smallies and one big northern just under 10 pounds. Round two and off we went to another location, where we would hopefully jig up more eyes! Unfortunately, all we could come up with here was one fish, but she was a beauty. It fell on the high end of the slot and joined its buddy in the well. They had wanted to feed a party of five tonight and I would have to pick up the pace, if they were to succeed. I figured I would switch them up to drop shots and scour the depths of a steep drop next. It wasn’t great but Graham managed to get into a couple of bass and one of them was pushing 4 pounds. I think they only caught 3 or 4 fish in the time here and it was off once again! Along my route to the next location I decided to stop on a deep reef and check to see if anybody was home. It hadn’t been producing lately and I didn’t know why! First drop and Phil’s locked! They’re finally here! As it turned out however, this fish was a nice walleye around 18 inches and an addition to their menu for tonight. In about an hour or so of fishing this reef, they had plenty of action with a combination of smallies, walleye and one big northern pushing 10 pounds again. Phil even managed to catch another walleye and lost an even larger one right at the boat as well. Eventually it looked like we wore out our welcome here and I had to move again. I thought I would try shallower to see if we might be able to locate a school of feeding bass but with the dirtier than usual water in there, they only managed to get a few small ones to commit. Off we went once again and back to the deeper humps looking for more. It was definitely a slow bite as we covered plenty of nothing water and very little, holding biters. We shifted gears once again to another section of the lake and continued with the drop shot set up in deeper water. We remained here for the balance of the day and they got into the fish pretty good! Although plenty of bass were either missed or lost on the jumps, they landed more than their share as well. By moving around plenty, I was able to take advantage of the smaller groups of fish in specific areas. The drop shot was definitely the winner today and they both realized just how effective it can be. We literally had to present the rig right in their faces to get them to eat. Not much chasing today! Hopefully things are on the upswing now and I can go back to aggressively feeding fish at least part of each day!