After hearing the thunder storms all night, there was no rush this morning to get on the water. The rain was still falling when I awoke and we waited until there was a clearing before heading out. I guess it was somewhere around 8:30 or so that we finally dropped the boat in the water and hit the first location. Air temps were quite nice at 55 degrees but the humidity made it feel a whole lot warmer. Absolutely no wind at all had the fog hanging in earlier and by now it had finally lifted making the run less dangerous. With all the high water lately, there has been plenty of debris floating and navigation has been a little tricky. In fact, there is so much crap on the surface that trolling with flies is becoming more difficult each time out! Without the aid of some wind, the debris & pollen just remains heavy all over & keeping the flies clean is a real chore. Regardless, we still managed to drop the lines in the water and troll an area that had produced a few days earlier in hopes of a hookup. After having no success an hour later, we were forced to try somewhere else and opted for an area closer to the main lake. It was here that I was marking plenty of good sized hooks and giant balls of bait that I encountered something for the first time. Out of nowhere, a beautiful salmon of 5 or 6 pounds decided to come out of the water like a dolphin about five feet in front of the boat. It was so damn close that I think I could count the spots on her side! These fish are so well fed that catching them has become more difficult than ever this year. They just cruise around eating everything in site. Where’s mine? Needless to say, we never saw her again or any other family member for that matter. The next location had one of the reels firing, but it soon went silent and that was all she wrote. I tried several other places with the same success and only managed to come up with a few perch and an occasional bass. The afternoon hours had us running boards and down riggers once again through all kinds of deep water without a single release. Although I did see several good sized hooks, we just couldn’t seem to make them go. Water temps remain anywhere between 51 degrees all the way to above 60, depending where you are. At least the weather was nice though as we were in sunshine and above 70 degrees for most of the afternoon. Somewhere around 4:30 we decided to call it a day and headed back to take out. Although we had caught plenty of fish, they weren’t what we were looking for and it left me feeling a little empty. I think tomorrow I might bite the bullet and try for lakers right off with the riggers. There won’t be much of a fight but at least we should get into a few more trout this way. Hopefully there won’t be too much boat traffic with this being a long weekend or I’ll have to resort to other methods once again!!

This was the first day of our long weekend & Christiane was with me to celebrate our anniversary once again. Traditionally, this has proved to be a great 3 days of fishing and I hoped this year would be no different. She arrived shortly after 8:00 A.M. and we were on the water about an hour later. With no wind, the black flies were insane at the ramp and you couldn’t just stand still. We prepped the boat and hit the water as quickly as possible just to get away from them! Pollen was all over the lake and really thick in certain places so we tried to find cleaner water in order to troll the flies. Open water with temps around 60 degrees were our starting point and anywhere from 8 feet to 30 feet were where we had our lines. As we approached the high spot on the shoal, both lines started a blazing and the first hookup was a double. The fish however weren’t what we were looking for as both were smallies. One of them was close to 4 pounds and had both of us wondering during the fight if it wasn’t a lake trout. It never took to the air and just stayed down throughout the entire battle. We covered a lot of water marking both baitfish schools as well as some really big hooks all the while only coming up with the brownies. I decided to switch up the presentations a bit and changed locations as well. Planer boards and lead core lines with spoons went out in hopes of better success. With many more marks showing we trolled the lines through the fish for what seemed like forever. After about 90 minutes of washing lures without a single hit, I pulled the plug and relocated again. This time however, I decided to rip jerk baits where the lake trout had been taken yesterday and not long after, we had several hookups. To my amazement, they were jumbo perch and an occasional bass. One of the perch was so big that I actually went for the net to ensure that it wasn’t lost. Weighed in, it went almost 1.5 pounds. Now that’s a real jumbino! We decided to keep a few of them for a dinner and put 4 of the largest ones into the livewell. I continued looking for some active trout or salmon but never really found anything, anywhere. Although we did catch many a fish, we still didn’t have the hookups that we were looking for. Somewhere around 4:00 we called it quits and headed back to the ramp. We’ll try to get an earlier start tomorrow and hit a different area of the lake in pursuit of the silver. With any luck, we’ll be having fish for dinner!!

After taking a few days off due to heavy rains, I was back on the water with Peter & Scott today. I wasn’t sure what to expect as the water levels had risen & gotten a little dirtier when we set the lines to troll. As with every day, anticipation for some salmon was high and it didn’t take too long before the first reel fired and Scott was tight to a silver bullet. Based on the amount of line it took out, I was pretty sure it wouldn’t make the cut. It fell short at 15 inches and was returned to the water immediately. The next fish hit shortly after while we were setting the line back out and it too fell a little short. I tried several more passes, only to find that these two were all we were to get here & relocated. Although the water temps were in the mid to upper 50’s, there didn’t seem to be many active fish in that area. I was hoping our next spot would prove a little different, but found that the only activity was to be from migrating bass. By trolling some of the deeper break lines, we encountered a few smallies and shifted locations once again. By now, the rain had started and I thought we would try something a little different over deeper water. I set two lead core lines on planer boards and another mono up high with a board as well. By doing this, I was able to cover depths all the way to about 15 feet below the surface. We were marking plenty of schools of baitfish and several fish marks, but nothing seemed to want to feed. By now I was ready to make a long run further down the lake and try a few offshore areas that historically held fish. First pass, all three reels go off simultaneously and a little chaos occurs! To my amazement, they are all smallies again and over 20 plus feet of water on the edge of the shoal. I worked the entire area thoroughly and never touched a trout in the process. We jumped around plenty in the afternoon and tried several other areas of the lake, all with the same results until one deep point. It was here that Scott managed to hook into a laker while ripping a jerkbait over 40 plus feet of water. I had seen a few boils from feeding trout and thought we might be able to entice one into eating. This fish was several inches over the legal size and made it into the livewell for Scott to enjoy at home. We even tried trolling this area again and although I marked plenty of decent fish in the area, none of them would eat. Most of these fish seemed to be on the hunt based on the way they appeared on the sonar and were pretty high up in the water column. I was sure we would hook into a few more but after 30 or so minutes of washing flies, we pulled the plug and moved once more. We went to another deep edged point and tossed jerkbaits in all directions, hooking several jumbo perch, a couple of bass, but no more lakers. Throughout the day we had seen many a dead smelt on the surface along with lots of them swimming just below the surface. I knew the fish were well fed and that just getting a few hits was a bonus. We left the lake somewhere around 5:30 in sunshine, no wind and air temps close to 80 degrees. The rain we had encountered earlier in the day hadn’t lasted for more than an hour or so and cloud & sunshine was what we were to have throughout the afternoon. This was truly the nicest day by far this season and we were all glad to have spent it on the lake. Although Peter & Scott didn’t hit the mother load, they still had a great day loaded with a variety of species and Scott got to take home a nice laker for dinner. Mother Nature didn’t win this time!!

Mike was with me today and this time he brought a couple of friends along as well. Mark & David would fill their trio and allow me to have the luxury to complete a spread of two high lines and two shorter deep lines. The fish wouldn’t stand a chance today! Although they drove to the lake in heavy to moderate rains, it was barely a drizzle here and I just hoped it would stay that way. The forecast wasn’t a good one and we knew what to expect as we set the lines and started the troll. I was seeing some activity up high and the bait had also risen off the bottom where we were, making it look good. After an hour of nada, we pulled the lines and headed elsewhere. I thought we would try a little deeper on the bottom and opted for a jigging technique that had also produced a laker earlier in the week. Without the aid of any wind, I was forced to use the electric motor to get us in motion. All three were fishing from the back as we slid along a 20 to 30 foot break line. Mark was the first to hook up and it looked heavy. When it went to the air I couldn’t believe my eyes as it was another smallie and almost 5 pounds. He had pulled this one out of 30 plus feet of water and right on my icon from the lake trout this week. A few minutes later, David had hooked up but managed to bring a perch up from the same depth. A couple more bass and perch after, I decided to pull the plug and go back to trolling. Cooler water temps of 44.5 degrees on another drop had the minnow & flies working like champs. I was running from as shallow as 7 feet to as deep as 60 feet on a steep ledge and wouldn’t you know it, another smallie. This fish hit over 50 plus feet down about 8 feet on the pins minnow. Another plump, pre spawn football, ice cube of a brownie was in the boat. What the #$@& was going on? These things were all over the lake and just about everywhere I was trolling. We pulled the lines after another one and went back to the bay that had produced the salmon just yesterday. Unfortunately the water temps had fallen almost 6 degrees without the aid of sunshine and several passes yielded another zero. Across the lake to some of the other points and breaks we went and still the same thing. Lines would fire and everything would be brown. I saw a bunch of other guys trolling the same areas and never saw anyone hook up. Why were we so lucky to have all the action from all the wrong fish? By now I was getting desperate and decided to make a long run down the lake to slightly warmer, dirtier water in hopes of changing our results. First pass over a submerged rock pile in open water had all four lines firing off! Unbelievable, but not good! They were all bass and came from 8 to 28 feet of water on the steep break. I just couldn’t win today and to make matters worse, it was raining a whole lot harder now. I attempted to cover this whole area and reset the lines after the fire drill only to wash the baits for over 20 minutes. I thought I would swing by the side I began and see if maybe it was just a fluke but soon found out different as three of the fur lines fired off once again. Same %$#@ crap! Relocation was in order once more and we went to the tip of an island to try again. Several passes over an area that had given up many a salmon over the years had no results at all. Although it was only 30 feet deep at best and there was bait all over the place, the water color had me wondering if their visibility was allowing them to see our offerings. I dropped the deep lines even deeper to about 15 to 20 and one went off. Another smallie and another kick in the butt! It got to a point that I knew by the sound of the reels that they were bass until another reel screamed and didn’t stop. Salmon, I yelled and after struggling to get the rod from the holder, all went silent. There was no mistaking the difference between the two and I’m sure if he had put some pressure on the fish he would have locked it up. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be! With the rains falling even heavier now and the temps dropping I thought we would run back up the lake and see if we could scratch something up on one of the other points along the way. With the cold rain there was also a fog moving in and visibility wasn’t great. Add the cold rain and it was just miserable! Water temps were dropping and so did the bait as I wasn’t seeing anything along the break. It had all fallen to well over 100 feet of water and the entire area was like a desert. In the 15 minutes we fished the area I had also lost over a degree in water temp with the cold rains falling. We’re out of here! Plenty of action all over the lake today but not what I was expecting as the bass just took over. Unfortunately they wouldn’t be taking anything home with them today other than memories of all the action they had. The heated car was welcomed as most were either wet or really damp from this day of misery. Mother Nature strikes again!!

Friday the 13th and Michel was hooking up with me on the lake with high hopes of catching some fish. His track record would really be put to the test today as good luck had never been on his side. Fortunately, this one would prove to be the complete opposite for both of us! The weather would eventually reach around 80 degrees with little to no wind and complete sunshine. It felt more like a July day than one in May as we set the lines and began trolling for the elusive niche. The water temps were ranging between 45 degrees all the way to as much as 54 in some areas. An hour into the troll, I pulled the plug on this section and decided to make a move. We casted to a rock pile that had put the rainbow in the boat only a couple of days earlier and found that it was now holding another species instead. Off we went to a sand break in a large bay and trolled the drop, zigzagging the entire area. When the reel screamed, I was sure we were going to get lucky, but soon found out different when a brown fish took to the air. We released the bass and continued trolling and another long line fired. This time however, it kept going and I thought I saw a tint of silver when it splashed on the surface way behind the boat. Once boat side I realized that it was a salmon and slid the net under a beautiful 17 inch chrome beauty. Friday the 13th was beginning to look pretty good right about now! Michel would be having salmon for dinner and that’s what we wanted to accomplish today. We reset the lines and spent a little longer looking for another one but only managed a couple of drive byes and one other brown fish. Time to relocate once again and away we went to another long tapering point and back to fly trolling. This went untouched once again and it seemed that despite the beautiful weather and all that we just couldn’t score another. The remainder of the day was no different with only the occasional bass coming to our baits and nay a touch from the trout or salmon. This has surely been the toughest spring fishing bye far over the last 5 years for me. Most seasons would have seen at least 50 or 75 salmon boated by now. I just hope that it gets better by next week as there’s a whole lot of rain in the forecast. This will bring the water levels back up and dirty up the already stained waters that I have been fishing all week. Maybe it’ll bring the bait back up instead of pinning it to the floor of the lake. Despite the lack of silvers today, Michel still went home with dinner and had a great day on the water as well. Who could ask for more??