After an excellent walleye start to this week, Douglas joined me today and kept it going. We decided on a 9:00 AM meet just to let the morning frost dissipate, before heading out. The weather was to be unseasonably warm today with temps to top out around 60 degrees. Sunshine and absolutely no wind would also join the day making it picture perfect! Water temps were hovering around 44.5 degrees and stable from the previous couple of days. Doug was in for a real treat with November conditions like these! We began by trolling a couple of baits along a drop and had our first rip in less than 5 minutes. He was officially on the board with a nice 19 inch walleye and definitely having fish for dinner tonight. With flat calm & sunshine, I knew our trolling window would be small. We kept at the troll for the first hour or so, and had limited action with only one other fish brought to net. We did have a few short rips that just ended in silence signaling that we should switch up presentations all together. I immediately pulled the plug and we went to casting jigs along the same break, hoping for better results. After missing a couple of strikes, Doug was tight to a real nice walleye and shortly after, in the net. He managed one other fish with the jig a little later, but it turned out to be a snagged sucker and we had a laugh. I wanted to try another area nearby to see if there were any other walleye interested in eating, so we reset the trolling lines and covered water. We must have gone close to an hour before one of the reels finally screamed and another walleye was locked up. Although it wasn’t the best conditions for trolling, we did manage to squeak one out and were happy to have done so. With the sun high and water visibility gin clear, we went to a drop shot & hoped for better results. In the last couple of hours there were about 6 more eyes brought to net but it was a tough bite. Although I had been marking them all over, they just weren’t very interested under these conditions. They would probably be biting much better just before dark but we weren’t hanging around to find out. Somewhere around 3:00 we decided to pull the plug and called it a day. Despite the difficult fishing, we had managed to land about a dozen good fish and he was taking a few of them home for dinner. As far as the weather goes, who could ask for anything more? Flat calm, bright sunshine and temps above 60 degrees don’t happen too often in November. It was just a perfect day to be out and catching fish was a bonus! I had been out the previous four days as well with similar conditions and loved it! There had been many fish caught with plenty of large eyes released as well. The run back to the ramp was absolutely beautiful as the mirror calm water was like glass with no other boats around. This would go down as probably the most pleasant fall day ever spent on the water and Douglas got to experience it. He would remember this one for a while!!

I was back on the water this morning with Darren & Leslie, just hoping for an easier day. At least we weren’t facing giant winds this morning and that was a bonus! We met up around 9:00 and dropped the boat in immediately after with high expectations. It was crisp, but the sun was out and there were no winds when we started making it quite comfortable. Almost immediately after we began, someone was locked up. Darren had hooked into a nice smallie and it was just the first of many for today. Leslie was soon to follow with a few of his own and both were on the board. We were drop shotting areas that should have been holding bigger fish but for some reason, they were smaller than I had expected. I decided to move around slowly having them cast different zones in search of the bigguns. Leslie managed to find a small area that started producing on almost every cast and they were better quality. We remained here until they actually got smaller and moved once again. It’s usually like that every where you go as the bigger ones tend to eat first! Plenty of mid sized fish were hooked in the first few hours before I decided to make a longer run to a place I hoped would be better. We weren’t disappointed as this was to be the zone with the largest ones of the day. Water temps were way down to 42 degrees and a slow approach was needed to get these fish to bite. It wasn’t fast & furious but by dead sticking in some areas they were able to pick up more bites. Fish of all sizes were hooked into here but Darren had the biggest bites. Unfortunately out of a possible 7 real heavy fish, he was only able to keep one of them pinned. We realized that based on the size of the landed one that all the others were giants as well. For whatever reason, it was not meant to be and they won! The activity level was definitely slow under these water temps and it wasn’t a surprise to see so many fish just barely eating today. In all the places they fished, some sort of activity was had. Although there was a brief period mid day that had the bigger ones sort of aggressive, it was still a slow bite. We finished off the day in what I dubbed the day care! There were loads of fish in this deep water but most were on the smaller side. It had plenty of action on almost every cast, but small. A few larger ones were mixed in but they were rare. We hung in as long as we were catching but eventually finished off on Darren’s last fish. Throughout this day there was loads of action by everyone and many fish were caught. Both Darren & Leslie had also slammed with a pike and walleye a piece! The weather would have to be the winner though as the heat from the sunshine had us removing clothing during the peak of the day. It was really pleasant not to be so bundled up and very comfortable fishing under these conditions. A perfect ending to a great day on the water!!

Ed & James were with me today, but on different water due to the winds. We were supposed to fish a lake for walleye but had to change plans with winds scheduled to blow at Gale. Some shelter would be required and I knew just the place! We began fishing shortly after 8:30 and were surprised to find that they were from an incorrect direction, once again. Instead of the S/W, they were straight west and would eventually have a little north thrown in just for laughs. It would be a tough one today! We had a really slow start before actually hooking up. Ed drew first blood late in the morning on a tube and so it began. From that moment on, they would be catching fish, but having a tough time too. The winds were so strong that just feeling the bottom was almost impossible. I gave James a drop shot rig instead and loaded it with a 1 ounce weight, just to make contact. Ed was struggling for a while as well but managed to get in the groove throwing directly into the wind. With boat control being next to impossible, I was eventually forced to go to the small engine, to aid the electric. I had been at almost full power most of the morning and the batteries were getting tired. Adding a little extra thrust would definitely help them cast in this howl. Thankfully the air felt warm and at least we weren’t freezing to death today. In fact it had been unseasonable warm the last couple of days and it showed. Even today there were several other boats around and it was a week day! I guess everyone wants to extend their fishing season as long as they possibly can this year. By moving around slowly I was able to find an area that seemed to be holding several fish and both Ed & James were hooking up. Each time we moved into there, someone was battling a bass. These fish were all quality and they loved it! Ed even managed to get a nice walleye and he was happy about that. He would be having fish tonight! As the weather was making things tough, I figured that there was no need to move and hung in here for the remainder of the day. Several more good bass were taken before we called it a day and rolled back to the dock. What had started a little slow definitely ended in a bang as both James and Ed fought many fish today. It took a little adjustment to be able to fish comfortably, but we had succeeded. Thankfully we were in a boat that could handle these conditions and the small motor really helped too. Overall, it was a great day for fishing!!

We were back again this morning for what I hoped would be round two of the Smallmouth Olympics. I guess most people were thinking the same thing, as there were equal amounts of boats in the area as well. Although a week day, it seemed more like a weekend! With the expected high temps to reach about 70 degrees, I guess everyone was feeling sick today! After an unsuccessful first stop, we went somewhere else that I hoped would produce. A confirmation was had in less than 5 minutes when Steve locked up on a good starter fish. It was going to be another great day! Despite the hurricane like winds predicted for today, we were able to get some reprieve from the big howl. They were to blow 15 to 25 knots out of the west and it was going to get ugly! This didn’t bother us as confidence was high and the boat could handle it. We moved around and they picked at the fish for the first couple of hours, as well as missing several others. It didn’t matter though as anticipation was high, with every hit they received. This was a hunt for bigguns and you never knew what the strike would bring. Although there may not have been as many fish landed today, there were equally as many hits. I think by the time it was over, they had about a 50 percent landing ratio. No fault of theirs, just a lack of aggressive biters. It showed too as every fish that came aboard was just bloated. The most incredible one for today may not have been the heaviest, but it surely was the fattest. At only 15.5 inches, it weighed 3.75 pounds. How it could still eat remains a mystery! As with yesterday, we decided to call it a little early and quit shortly after 3:45. Steve had managed to land the last fish again today and we were off. The lack of numbers for these two days was justified by the overall size and they were glad. It was fall and a hunt for big fish was on the menu! Both Craig & Steve had landed their share of quality bass with a few real giants as well. This was a great way for both of them to end their season and satiate their need for smallmouth. The drive home would have plenty of talk and it would be about all the pigs, both caught & lost. It was definitely a great couple of days on the water and nobody got hurt!!

Craig came back for his last trip this fall and brought new blood with him today. Steve was going to see smallmouth fishing at its finest! We managed to get through the misty rain while driving and hoped it was over for the day. A trip wouldn’t be complete for Craig without some misery from Mother Nature! Although we did start fishing with an east wind and a light drizzle, it ended early in the morning and never reappeared again. In fact, when the rain ended, the winds also started blowing from the south and they were warm. It definitely had the makings of a real great day and it showed. By the time we reached our destination, there were 6 other boats in the general area. I was going to have to make a few adjustments if we were to compete with them. A few smallies were landed by Craig on jigs but I felt like we were always fishing used water. Eventually we shifted from there and the games began. I had figured out an area that no one was fishing and both Craig & Steve were into quality smallies. By adjusting the presentations and locations, I was able to monopolize on the larger fish and we were alone. At least I thought so until another boat came in and started casting. Not wanting to let it bother me, I instructed them to just keep fishing while I moved around, ignoring the intruder. We had many more hookups and a few double headers that had us quickly forgetting about the boat. The entire day was like this with plenty of action right until the end. Despite all the other boats around, I was doing something different that had the fish eating. It was just a great day for fishing and Steve couldn’t believe how good it actually was. We fished until about 3:30 and decided to call it a day after a few more fish. Steve actually landed a couple of walleye right at the end with the sun getting low. He had a great initiation into Canadian smallmouth fishing and couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come. We would be back again and hopefully the fish would be willing to cooperate once more. It was going be tough to sleep, for them tonight!!