Alicia joined me today for what I expected to be a repeat of yesterday’s terrific day. Unfortunately it wasn’t to happen as we struggled throughout the entire day, in search of the elusive salmon. I tried water with temps as low as 41.5 all the way up to 56 degrees in others. All I could come up with was bass and they were in all depths. From fly rods to down riggers to side planers, nothing seemed to put the trout & salmon in the boat. They did however seem to manage to find the smallies! Some came over 100 plus feet of water all the way to less than 10. Suspended baits produced giant perch as well as we just kept moving, in search of silver. It didn’t seem to matter though as this day was what you always pray for as far as the weather goes. Light winds from the N/E at less than 5 knots, sunshine and air temps that must have reached 70 degrees by the afternoon had us just chilling. So much so that we both lost track of time and kept at it until about 5:30 before we decided to throw in the towel and head back to the ramp. Although we didn’t manage to accomplish what we had wanted, I wasn’t ready to slow right down and fish for lakers on the bottom. Salmon was what I was after and maybe tomorrow will bring better results. I think I will go in a different direction this time in hopes of finding gold, or in this case, silver!!

Jean joined me today, once again looking for some trout & salmon action on the fly. This time however, I headed in a different direction on the lake, hoping for better results. Heavy cloud cover was upon us when we launched and the air temps were in the 30’s. The water temps were barely 42 degrees as we set the lines and began our troll. I thought that I would try something completely opposite of what I had been doing lately and concentrated on cliffs and deep water points. An hour into the day and still nothing had me reconsidering this adjustment! I relocated to a deep gravel drop off on an island and decided to switch the troll for a drift & drag. With minnow jigs attached, we were almost immediately hooked up! Twenty five feet down and up came a brown image but not a trout. A four pound smallmouth had taken the bait and came in like a walleye! Absolutely no fight at all and frozen to death with an ice cube like body. No wonder it didn’t fight! A quick release and we continued to drift the deep edge just hoping for a better bite. Within five minutes we were locked again and this time I could tell by the way it was fighting that this was the real deal. A beauty of a lake trout had fallen victim to the smelt like jig and this 24 incher went right into the livewell. Unfortunately, this was all she wrote for the trout and shortly after, we relocated once more. The next area had us adjusting again and this time we went shallower in 45 degree water, to a rock pile. Within five minutes, we were battling a silver maniac. This thing just kept jumping and actually bounced off the railing of the boat on one of its leaps, before she finally came to net. Instead of the salmon that we had thought, it turned out to be an 18 inch rainbow trout. This was a real treat and second in a possible grand slam for the day. We covered plenty of water after this and unfortunately only had a bunch of perch and a few bass for our troubles so I decided to go back to the troll again. I ran to an area that I had hoped had warmed up from the all too late arrival of the sun. To my surprise, it was reading 48 degrees and as I made the first pass, it continued to rise. The deep line was the first to fire and then it went silent. We were over 85 feet of water and our first drive bye! A little while later the high line went off and this time it stayed pinned all the way to the net. A feisty little salmon of 16.5 inches barely made the cut and completed the “Grand Slam” for the day. The rest of the day had us washing baits, just covering what seemed like the entire lake. Nay a touch after the salmon and a real surprise as the water had actually risen to almost 51 degrees in one area. Tomorrow I will make another adjustment and try some real deep water with the aid of the riggers to see if some of those arches are actually lakers. Let’s see what this will bring!!

While the N/E winds continue to plague me, I hit the lake again today for another shot at redemption. This time however, Norm & his faithful companion Buddha were to join me and hopefully our luck would change. I thought I would try a different section of the lake and see if we could get something started. Air temps were a balmy 38 degrees at the start but at least the sunshine made it feel less painful. The winds however were a different story as they were blowing from the N/E at 15 to 25 knots. Although it was suppose to reach 60 plus degrees, we weren’t there yet as we began our troll. Fly rods and deep sinking lines were set and the waiting game began. Tons of baitfish were present, along with plenty of fish arches but nothing seemed to be moving. I swapped one deep line for a high line and tried again but with the same results. Another change to lead core and planer boards for a while with only a couple of bass to show and I went to the downriggers and controlled depth fishing. The lures were running straight through the fish but still nada. Lure changes from small stick baits to spoons and finally a line released. Unfortunately the lake trout fell a little short at 19 inches and was immediately sent back to where he came from. This was to be the story of the day as it seemed like every fish that came aboard was either too short or just the wrong species all together. The only thing good about this was that at least we were catching fish! Sometime in the afternoon we decided to try slower jigging with minnow baits and hit the sand drops and edges hoping to change our luck. Well, it didn’t work as the same thing was happening all over again. To make matters worse, the winds were at their strongest and boat control was a real treat. Shortly after 4:30 P.M. we decided to call it a day and just packed it in. We had covered all kinds of water, seen all kinds of bait & fish arches and tried several methods all in vane. Tomorrow I will try a different section of the lake once more and hopefully this time, hit the mother load. Maybe this time I can find water temps better than the 43 degrees that these cold winds are creating and hit some silver in the process!!

Bobby & Chico were with me today on what had the makings of a beautiful, sunny, fish catching day. They arrived around 8:30 and we headed right to the honey hole for some silver bullets. Although the air was cool for the run, the sunshine was nice to see again. Unfortunately the clouds seemed to be over powering the sky and the N/E winds that began at less than 5 knots were increasing as we trolled the area. Water temps were 41 degrees in some areas all the way to 47 in others, but the fish were not active. All the bait was pressed to the bottom and no signs of life were present. Oh there were plenty of fish showing but they too were deep and nothing we did seemed to make them eat. Time to move and off we went to another area in search of activity. The water was a bit warmer here with 47.5 degrees being pretty stable all over but the water was a whole lot dirtier. Debris was floating everywhere with a brown, grayish tint as well. Once more it wasn’t working out here so off we went once more to an off shore location when the first reel actually fired. We were fishing a deep drop along a rock pile and were hooked up with a bass. Go figure! This little two pound ice cube hit the minnow bait and just crushed it in two foot rollers. The winds had picked up and now they were blowing at 15 to 20 knots from the N/E or straight north depending on the mountains. Although I usually get lake trout in this section, it looked like the bass were in as the next reel that fired also had a smallie attached to the lure. Along with the lure was another line with the fly in his mouth too. What a pig! Off we went again and another deep area also held bass causing us to relocate further up the lake to our original spot hoping that the salmon had gotten hungry. We encountered three foot rollers on our run and some areas had even larger waves making me thankful we were in the Ranger. I passed an aluminum boat along the way that was just taking a pounding in the waves and I’m sure he wished that he could change boats. The winds were strong where we were now and blowing on the shore but after an hour of trolling with nada, we decided to pull the plug. Water temps had changed and the north winds had blown all the warm water out and apparently the fish too. Not much to show for our efforts today other than some brown fish and that was a surprise. I guess tomorrow I will have to try something different in order to change the outcome. High water is definitely making it more difficult this season as I should be averaging at least a dozen or so niche by now. Better days ahead!

Norm & I hit the water today for our final boat voyage of the year. Just like last season, December 3rd and still on the water catching smallies! We launched around 9 o’clock in overcast skies and air temps around 31 degrees. A light snow fall was present as we raced to our first stop of the day. Water temps were right around 42 degrees and thankfully the wind was barely present. I figured that if we could manage 15 bites today we would have had a good day but never anticipated what was about to come. Slow was how we would have to fish and there was no room for day dreaming as the bites were incredibly subtle. Just detecting something at the other end was difficult and as with the last outing, you definitely had to have patience. Strike too soon and they’re gone! We managed to get into a bunch of decent bass in the first hour or so but missed plenty more as they seemed to be dropping the baits more than retaining them. Location change and fresh fish to harass, so we moved again! By covering some water we managed several more good fish and then decided to try something different. Time for walleye and oh boy, were they there! Norm’s first fish was a big one and they just kept coming after that. Plenty of big fish were caught in the next few hours before we decided to hit the bass once again. It wasn’t fast & furious but we did pick at them pretty good on this cold, damp day. That is until the blizzard hit and we were in a total whiteout! This freak snow squall lasted almost a half hour and blanketed the entire boat with Styrofoam beads of snow. I told Norm to be careful as the deck was about to become real dangerous for the rest of the day. Fortunately, the fishing picked up and we were back to catching plenty more fish afterwards. I’m not really sure what the final count was but it definitely surpassed our expectations in spades. Seeing as we were able to stretch our time on the water this year into December, who could ask for anything more! By 3:30, we called it a day and headed back to the boat ramp on this final day of our open water fishing season. Despite the bitter cold chill in the air today and lack of sunshine, I think we finished with a bang. Only 4 more months until the boat is back on the water and it starts all over for another season. I can’t wait!!