I decided to fish with my bother in law & his son today as I had no bookings and didn’t want to miss another day on the water. We met up shortly after 9:30 and were fishing before ten o’clock. Although we had a wind that I wasn’t too happy with, we set out from the dock in the east 15 regardless. Current fighting wind is never great, but it sure beats a flat calm day anytime! Air temps barely reached 70 degrees and the best I could find was 64 for the water. It had fallen almost 5 degrees since yesterday when I was out for another half day. Oh yeah, plenty of walleye were caught then too! I don’t think we had set the lines for more than 3 minutes when the first reel started screaming. Eric quickly grabbed it from the holder and a 3 pounder was soon in the boat. We weren’t as lucky on the next fish as Michel fought a huge over all the way to the net, only to have it use the rubber as a trampoline and release itself. I really do hate these nets when it comes to landing bigger fish, despite the anti tangle mesh for the hooks. Out came the other net after the 27 inch fish got a quicker release than anticipated. Back out went the lines and several other smaller fish were caught & released before Eric was into another big one. As with Michel’s earlier one, this too was of a greater size and I was ready with a real net. Although the hooks did tangle some, I was able to land this one without any problems. A quick pic of another fish near 27 inches and back she went. I had an area that produced well yesterday and decided to make a pass or two through it and see if anybody was home. Well, let’s just say that it was loaded as all 3 reels began screaming simultaneously! Three more quality fish in the slot were released into the livewell for their dinners. I kept the trolling pass going close to the same line several more times and had reels firing on just about every one. There’s definitely something down there that attracts these fish as they are schooling pretty good in a small area. I’m really not sure just how many fish they landed today but it was more than enough to keep them happy. We pulled the plug by 2:30 after many more hookups and another nice 25 incher that Eric was lucky enough to reel in. Today was a typical half day of fishing with numerous fish caught and not too much dead time while doing it. When they were going it was about every 5 minutes or lees and that made for a real great day once again. For all of you out there that love catching walleye, there’s no better time to do it than right now. Without the summertime weeds hampering your troll, it makes for an easy way to load the boat every time out. I love this time of the year and can’t wait to get back out for another day of the Walleye Olympics!!

After Saturday’s outing, I knew I had to get back out as soon as possible. Christiane & I hit the lake around 10 o’clock and fished for about four hours. Conditions were flat calm except for the boat traffic waves, but that was to be expected. Sunshine & temps in the mid 70’s had the water between 63 & 68 degrees depending on where we were. I set out a couple of rods and began trolling for our dinner. Plenty of walleye were caught along with a few large northerns and the occasional bass. Most of them were between 16 & 19 inches but there were several short ones as well. We even managed to get one around 25 inches and it went right back after a quick pick. In the short time we were out, the action was almost non stop. It was nice to get back on the water and just have a relaxing half day of fishing. No pressure to produce, just plenty of enjoyable action. Oh yeah, we also caught our dinner too! Who could ask for anything more!! Ron accompanied me this morning for another half day of fishing for walleye. We launched around 9:00 and were scheduled to fish until 1:00. At least we thought we were! It was quite a bit different from the weekend as the winds were now blowing 10 to 15 knots out of the NW. Clouds were also present and the air temps had fallen to the low 60’s. This also meant that the water temps would have fallen and I noticed it almost immediately. The best I could locate was 63 degrees and most areas were closer to 62 making me wonder what it may have done to the fish. I set the rods in and had a confirmation almost immediately. Although it was only a smallie, I had my answer! We fished a couple of areas for about an hour with limited results but still managed several fish. One of the hits was a violent reel scream that quickly went silent, leaving us with an empty line. I had not only lost the lure but about 6 inches of the flouro leader as well. I immediately thought Musky! By now, the wind layed down slightly and this allowed me to hit an open water shoal in hopes of more & bigger. Well it didn’t take long there either as a reel fired off almost as soon as we had the rods set. This one had weight and Ron was barely able to reel the line in at first. It just kept going off the reel and I switched to neutral to reduce the pressure. All the way to the boat, this fish stayed down and I knew it had to be a walleye. A confirmation was had when I saw the leader knot and it was a biggun! In the water it looked like a 10 pounder but once in the net, it shrunk a bit. It was still a good fish nonetheless as it would have gone at least 6 pounds. It was also around 27 inches and a real beauty! A few quick pics and back she went to live another day. This was only the beginning of many a fish as the action really picked up. Rods were going off every five to 10 minutes and fish of all sizes were being reeled in. Many quality walleye were caught & released as Ron wasn’t keeping any today. These fish were to be as lucky as all the ones landed this past Saturday. When another rod went off and the reel started screaming violently, I had thoughts of big walleye once again. It fought lust like the first fish in this area and stayed deep right up to the boat as well. I was a little disappointed when I caught a glimpse but Ron was elated to see the large northern. It put up quite a battle and wasn’t easy to net with the rubber net! Another few quick pics and back it went after she crapped all over the carpet. After trolling the area and catching many more walleye, I noticed that the winds were steadily increasing. Along with the winds the skies were getting a little dark as well and eventually we heard thunder. It was unanimous, we were out of here! Once the boat was on the trailer, the rain started falling and I thought we were really gonna get pounded. Fortunately, we were on the edge and it never really hit us with its full force. Although we had cut the day a bit short, Ron had caught a plenty of fish in the 3.5 hours we were on the lake. For his first outing with me, it was a successful one and I was glad. You never know what a cold front can do to the fishing and this was definitely one. I was still able to stay on the walleye and managed to pick at them enough to have action the entire time out. Overall, it was a productive half day of fishing!!

I fished with Hassan & his brother Sam today as well as a friend of theirs, Stephan. We were targeting walleye but I knew they would be catching a few other species as well! Although this was not the first time I had been out since the trout season, it would be the first report from local waters. With the best times being the mid day period, there was no rush getting out too early and we hit the water just before 9 o’clock. It was a picture perfect morning with air temps already in the upper 60’s and expected highs closer to 80. What an unbelievable month of warmth this has been! Well it didn’t take long after setting the lines before a rod fired and Sam was into the first of many fish for the day. To my surprise, it wasn’t a walleye but a rather large northern close to 8 pounds. Not what we were after but we’ll take it! Today was a rescheduled birthday gift from Hassan’s wife and I was going to make sure it was a great one. Due to unforeseen motor issues, I had to postpone their trip from the previous week. With the water temps on the rise I knew they would be catching better today anyway and looked forward to boating many a fish. With all the lines back in the water we continued the troll for more & bigger. They were all reeling in fish after fish throughout the morning with plenty of walleye being caught but I didn’t like the overall size. The walleye were mostly keepers but no real giants. Steph did have a heavy fish on at one point but it came unpinned before we actually saw what it was. I hate the unknown! Sometime after noon I decided we needed a location change and switched areas completely. It was here that we remained for the balance of the day as they just pounded the fish, one after another. Before the four rods were even set into play, one went off and Hassan was battling another large northern close to his brother’s starter fish from this morning. They may have been taking turns with the rods but there wasn’t much time in between. Two of the four rods were doing the most damage, but we needed a spread and I left the others out hoping for a bigger fish. I believe it was Stephan that managed to land the largest walleye at right around 5 pounds. There were so many other walleye in the slot that could have been kept today, that we almost lost count! Water temps were key and as long as I stayed in the upper 60 degree range, we were on fish. Despite the flat calm & high sun conditions, we were trolling over lots of fish and picking at them pretty good. The dog pecker knats were out in full force along with the caddis flies and we all prayed for any wind to keep them away. Well, sometime mid afternoon it kicked up and we got our wish. It went from a mirror to a 10 to 15 knot wind out of the SW. Not only did this help with the bugs but the fish decided to go nuts as well. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better, it did! Our numbers increased rapidly in the last couple of hours and so did the size of the fish. We started having double headers and the rotation was even quicker. Although they didn’t keep any fish today, they surely could have all left with real decent limits of walleye. Plenty of fish between 18 & 21 inches were released to fight another day. We ended the day just around 4:00 when the last couple of fish were reeled in making this an excellent first outing for the gang. I know I will be seeing them in a few short weeks again when the bass season opens. I expect the fishing to be even better as there will be three rods casting for post spawn smallies. Hopefully the weather will be as cooperative as it was today, just spectacular!!!

Mike & Corey drove in from Montreal this morning, hoping for their very first lake trout catches. We began our day literally in the fog as the water was engulfed in a massive fog bank. It was so thick that I was afraid to run too far, even with quality GPS. Without radar I wouldn’t be able to see what might be in front of me and that was a little scary. We managed to get a few miles up the lake and I decided to set the lines and start trolling regardless of where I was. The water was deep enough and that was all that mattered for now! Eventually a rigger rod started to bounce and Corey was on it right away for the release. I could tell by the bend that it would be a smaller fish and once in the net knew it would be released. Before it was returned, the other rigger rod did the same and Mike was on it as quickly. Another laker of 19.5 inches was also returned shortly after and we had our first official double header for the day. I wasn’t seeing too much on the sonar and decided to cross over to the other side, to try & find better action. At over 250 feet, a rigger popped and Mike was all over the rod like cat on a mouse. I could tell by the excess weight that this was a much bigger fish and cleared the other rigger rod and cannon balls just in case. It felt like dead weight as he brought it up from the 60 foot depth I had it set at. Once we actually caught a glimpse of the fish I knew it was the largest one by far this season. I even opted for the bigger net just in case! It was massive by comparison to the ones I was use to seeing and estimated close to 10 pounds. Mike had not only caught his first laker before but now had a trophy for this lake as well. We were planning on releasing the fish due to its size but soon found out after removing the hook that she was bleeding profusely. I tossed her in the livewell and pumped water through hoping for better results, but it was not to be. We immediately went back to trolling and the lines were reset, looking for more. We picked at them pretty good for a while and had two more in the livewell that were both over 23 inches, but things had slowed. I figured I would need to cover different water and moved over to a new location. We trolled along a shallower breakline of 100 feet as a rigger popped. Immediately the other one fired and as luck would have it, the board went off as well. We had a triple header! Corey’s fish came to the boat first and I could see that it was an under, so I told him to take the board rod instead. Mike’s fish was acting strange and almost felt like the earlier monster that he had caught over 250 feet of water. It had some weight! We were soon to find out why when we saw that the hook was imbedded in the back causing it to feel much heavier. It too was an under and released. Corey’s fish on the leadcore & board was to be the only over and a 23 incher was released into the livewell. Wow, we had gone from 7 fish, right up to 10 in a few short minutes. Talk about pumped! After this fire drill, I definitely wanted to make another pass through the area. I reset all the lines and began a turn when a rigger rod fired and Mike brought another 19 inch fish to net, only to be thrown right back. The sun was really high and the lake was flat calm making conditions less than perfect but we were picking at them pretty good, nonetheless. It was a little while later before we were to put another fish in the box, after a few smaller ones were filtered through. They were to be taking home their limits for sure and had a blast fishing for them all day. Total count landed for today was 15 and a few others were lost as well. Based on what I actually was marking, it was only a small fraction of what we should have caught. The screen was lit up big time with both fish arches as well as plenty of bait fish balls. It was one of those picture perfect days as no wind and sunshine was what we had to endure all day long. Who could have asked for more!!!

I was back on the water again this morning with Alain, but this time he was with his son Jean Francois instead of Cindy. We met up around 7:30 and were trolling before 8:00 looking for a few quick bites. The weather was cloudy with a misty rain predicted on & off throughout the day. Winds were non existent and were to remain that way making it feel like I was in auto pilot. Although it was a mild 56 degrees, it still had a damp feel to this day. I set the lines and with one board & two riggers, waited for the fish to react. I decided to switch sides of the lake earlier than I wanted to due to two other boats cutting me off as I fished the 200 foot depths. I know they didn’t know what they were doing as I had been completely alone the last couple of times out and saw both of them somewhere along the shoreline. As I crossed over, one of the lines started bouncing and Alain quickly responded, releasing the rod. The fish was on right up until he handed it to his son and then the line went slack. Wow, first fish lost on the rigger in three days! We continued trolling for a couple of hours and managed to land 4 lakers but all slightly too short for the legal limit and decided to switch it up. Off to the sheer bluff walls and 60 feet of water we went, tossing lures for roaming trout. With the low light I knew it would be difficult to see any followers, but we tried it anyway. I had been having success with browns and a few follows from lake trout previously but today we just washed lures. We headed back to Alain’s place somewhere around noon for lunch and his other son Julienne joined us for the afternoon. Back on the water, we went to a nearby point and started trolling slowly with these minnow baits in shallower water. I was using the electric motor to move the boat slower and it didn’t take long for Julienne to have a bend in his rod. He was surprised, but not as much as the other two as he rarely fishes at all. I was pretty sure it was a laker and once alongside the boat it was confirmed. As with most lake trout, it just had to go into its alligator death roll and wrap the line all around its body. We decided to throw this fish into the livewell for some pics later knowing that eventually we would be releasing it back to the lake anyway. With the exception of a few pike & several northerns, there were to be no more trout seen afterwards. I thought we would try a little more trolling with the riggers & boards and headed offshore to the deeper water where I set the lines. Although it wasn’t fast & furious, we did manage to land 4 more but they were all slightly too short and released immediately. Later in the afternoon the clouds thinned out a bit and actually showed periodic sunny moments making the run back seem a little more comfortable. Total for the day was 9 lake trout and a bunch of other trash fish as I call them. Although it was actually “Mother’s Day”, it seemed a whole lot more like father’s day with Alain spending some quality time with both of his sons. I’m sure they had memories of past years fishing from when they were all much younger. This day was a great one after all!!