I met up with Richard and Mark today at the boat ramp and began fishing before 8:00. Mark wanted to take a few walleye home today so I thought I would get a quick start and try early. We were going to have another heat wave, so fishing for walleye early was a better choice! Within an hour, we had managed to land about a half dozen and kept a few of the smaller eaters for him. Richard was happy to be done as he never really enjoyed trolling let alone walleye. Ironically, he wanted to try his hand at a muskie and we went trolling for them. I guess we tried for another hour without any luck before we pulled the lines and relocated again. This time he wanted to try casting for them instead so I re rigged the rods and had them casting weeds for these creatures. Another hour with only one follow and we were once more relocating and changing species! Smallies were the target this time and now I was in my element! We immediately headed to a flat loaded with bass and the game was on. Senkos were thrown and bass were being caught by both and all was good. This went on for over an hour or so before it slowed and we relocated again. More smallies but slower than usual had us staying for only a short period here and now we were contemplating a largemouth move. After re rigging a few of the rods we were casting deep in the weeds in pursuit for old bucket head! The winds were blowing pretty hard, but we were somewhat sheltered where we were as I demonstrated the technique needed for these bass. Mark had been thrown to the lions today. As a novice, he had only fished a couple of times in his life. It seemed that as soon as he became comfortable with one technique, we pulled the plug and gave him a new challenge. This time, it would be no different! I made one or two casts through the weeds with a soft plastic and was immediately locked up on a high four. Now they were pumped and really got into it! Richard was throwing a frog and Mark took over the rod I had and we went to work on the entire area hoping for a few more bites. Well, it was a tough go as there was only one more bass around 3.5 pounds and a beaver fish caught in the two hours we spent here. The day was getting on and I thought if they wanted to catch a few more fish, I was going to have to change up again and take them for smallies. Off we went to another area and they started throwing tubes for these brownies. In the last 45 minutes or so, they managed to get a handful of bass each and all was good. At least until some idiot cut between us & the shore and drove right over the rocks we were fishing, full throttle. If I was closer, I would have hit him in the head with the jig! After this, all went south and the fish just shut down causing us to leave. Some people!! Despite all the changes and moving around, we had a pretty good day. It was filled with plenty of action and variety, both technique and species. Talk about a crash course in fishing!

Eric & Stephanie accompanied me today on the water and it was a turkey shoot! We started the day in light winds trolling for walleye and they were on fire. From 8:30 till shortly after 10:00 we had constant action as one after the other came aboard. I think that there were over 15 good fish landed and several others lost in the process. With the sun now getting high and the winds practically gone, we relocated to another area and a different species. Bass were now the target and tubes were the weapons of choice. Eric was looking forward to getting into some smallmouth action and it didn’t take long. We were in an area that had been consistently producing some large fish, but today they were all small to medium. Stephanie was even getting into the game despite her fear of fish and contributing to the numbers of fish being landed. Compared to the start of the day, she had made tremendous strides and was now actually fishing herself! We relocated a few times and caught everywhere we went but not the size I was expecting. By 3:00 we called it a day and headed back to take out. I was going to have to clean several fish for them and needed some time to get it done. Despite the slow bass fishing, the walleye bite was a huge accomplishment and that’s why they were here. They wanted to eat some walleye and were able to take a few home for the table. Although a shorter day than usual, a productive one!!

I had managed to hold off on bookings this week so that Christiane could have several days on the water during her week off and just fish. We were on the water almost every day for at least some time but the high heat & humidity had us cutting most days rather short. Temps were consistently in the 80’s and winds were light to non existent throughout. Dog pecker knats were everywhere and we died out there in the scorching heat. Despite all of this, the fishing still remained good and she caught plenty of bass & walleye daily. Most of the fish were average in size and didn’t require any picks but there were a few that that did. A couple of smallies in the high fours and some 24 to 26 inch walleye that were returned to grow were shot but not all made it to the report. It was a great week to be on vacation!

Darren & Jack joined me today on another scorcher, looking for some smallmouth action. Temps were to reach into the mid 80’s and without any wind, almost unbearable. Water temps were still around 75 degrees when we started and it didn’t take long! We were drop shotting an area that was producing and today would be no different. Within a couple of hours we had landed a bunch of small to medium smallies, a few walleye and dropped a couple of real bruisers. When you’re directly on top of these footballs, it’s hard to keep some of them pinned. Both bass took to the air immediately like a rocket and came unpinned instantly. I estimated one to be in the mid fours and the other considerably larger! When the bite died, we switched locations and tactics and started hitting them on slowly moved senko’s. It felt like there was no current and the baits had to be almost dead-sticked in order to get bit. Here it was Jack that fended better and he managed to land several good smallies. Darren was having a tough go but still caught a few as well. I knew with these conditions that I was going to have to move around plenty and just kept covering water looking for the more aggressive biters. Throughout the afternoon, we had several fish on and landed a good part of them. This went on everywhere we stopped and I could tell that the fish were really lethargic by the way they bit. Although we did manage to get a bunch of decent fish throughout the day, it was a tough bite. We really had to slow down in order to monopolize on the areas we fished. These tough conditions always make for slower fishing but by giving the fish what they want at the speed they need, we were able to turn a slow day into a good one and come out on top!!

Day 2 saw the opposite as winds were practically non existent when we started and sunshine & cloud were upon us instead of storms. It took no time to get the lines in the water and not much longer to hook up. Christiane was battling one of many king salmon and loving every minute of it! Spoons, cut bait, flashers, dodgers, wire, lead core, planers, flies & more were in the water and the fish were given an entire buffet to eat from. Some worked better than the others, but eventually all did just fine. Greg had the program dialed in and we were on fish! We decided that today we would take a few fish home and harvested some of the smaller ones for friends and consumption. It wasn’t difficult to fill the order as the fish were really cooperating this morning! Just about every 15 minutes or so after one battle, another rod would go off and it was game on once again. Christiane never really complained about the battles until one fish decided to take her from 220 to almost 800 on the line counter. We thought we had Moby! We actually had to clear all the other lines and make a turn just to get back some of the line. Although this fish wasn’t small, it wasn’t what we had thought it might have been when I slid the net under her. It only weighed 26 pounds but had the power of a 30 plus for sure. Pure silver and full of piss & vinegar! Back to business and all the lines returned to the spread for another hookup. Eventually, the lead core & board went off and it was like watching a float go under while steelhead fishing. Three hundred feet of lead and still going! It’s always amazing that the fish can pull so hard with all the drag from the line in the water. The battle lasted quite a while before I was able to remove the board and let her finish the fight. This had to be a 20 minute battle for sure! Once in the net, Greg passed her another rod as it had also just fired and she was back to battling another bruiser once more. No rest for the wicked! After the last fight, this 15 pounder was no match and came in much quicker. Plenty of pics were taken from the day and the conditions changed throughout all the photos. Winds had started to blow from the west and we were fighting a strange current along with a west 15 to 20. Some areas were almost flat calm and others had 2 to 3 footers rolling. Despite all the weirdness in the water, we only had a couple of messes with the lines and no hardware was lost. That’s always a good thing because this can become quite costly! We hung in here until around 4:00 and then decided to head back to the dock. We had seen our fair share of fish and they had slowed down the bite, so it was time to pull the plug. In the two days combined there had been close to 40 fish landed and plenty of others lost in the battles and that was nothing to complain about. Having been out with other guides before on the lake for salmon, I can honestly say that there’s none better. Greg not only puts 100% into the game, but he loves every minute of it as well. I feel the same when I’m out with clients and that’s what separates us from the rest. You have to love what you’re doing and not make it feel like work to be able to perform at your max. Greg is just one of those that loves what he does and wants everyone to have a great time. It never seems to matter how tough the fishing may be, he always comes through in spades! We headed home completely satisfied in the two days, regardless of what “Mother Nature” had to say. If anyone reading this wants to contact Greg for an unbelievable day of salmon action on Lake Ontario, he can be reached at http://www.fishing4tails.com I can guarantee that you won’t be disappointed! Tight lines to all!!