After another successful day of bass fishing yesterday with Norm & Buddha, I was back with Glen & his wife Odile for a multi species day. We started around 8:00 and in an east wind set the lines for another troll. Although it was only blowing about 10 knots, the waves were at least two footers with the opposite direction to the current. It would prove to make the troll somewhat difficult as I was about to find out! In less than 5 minutes the board line went off and Glenn was landing his first walleye, ever. At just over 20 inches it would weigh in at 3.5 pounds and barely make the slot. In the 2 hours of fishing this area they managed to land 6 walleye, 8 pike, several bass and a crap load of quality sized perch. I thought I would try something different and headed to another area, trolling once again. Many more pike and a couple of walleye were taken in the next few hours and things were looking up. At one point, we couldn’t keep the lines in the water without the reels firing off. Definitely high numbers of pike were taken before I thought we would try something completely different and they agreed. I took them to a few areas holding big smallies and they casted a combination of lures to entice the fish. Odile managed to get a couple of the larger smallies above the 4.5 pound mark and definitely her personal best. Glen caught several of his own and a couple were also his personal best as well. When the bite slowed slightly I decided to throw senko’s and the fish began to bite once more. Both of them landed a few more decent bass on the soft plastics before we called it a day. It was the first time they had seen so many good fish in one outing and were surprised that our waters were so bountiful. To top things off, they were taking a few of the smaller walleye home with them for dinner! Overall a very successful outing indeed!!

Michel & Christiane were fishing with me today on another scorcher of a day, hoping for some great action. Water temps began the day at 67 degrees and went above 70 before we were done, in the areas we fished. Walleye were the target today and they definitely hammered them! The troll was the ticket with specific baits in only certain areas. If you ventured away, you didn’t get bit. It was that simple! We had a light chop in the morning that flattened out completely after noon, almost shutting the bite down totally. Besides all the walleye, there was also a number of larger pike that fell victim to the same lures. These were some of the larger pike of the season so far and definitely feeding quite well as their bellies showed the thickness. With the wind dying completely, out came the dog pecker knats and the torture began. We stuck it out until just after 3:00 and decided to get off the water. It had been almost 30 minutes since the last quality fish came aboard and all we had to show for our time were perch. Despite the afternoon lull they still managed to catch at least 30 walleye and a large number of big pike as well. If we were keeping all the perch they landed, there would have been enough for a huge perch fry too! All in all a great day for the walleye!!

After several successful days this week of walleye fishing, I was finally able to get after the smallmouth bass. Steph, Matt & Hassan were with me, one day after the official opener and we hoped for a high numbers day. We started shortly after 8:00 and were fishing within 30 minutes in a bay that had produced for me year after year. I was surprised to see a flotilla of cruisers that must have moored there overnight, but began none the less. Smaller profile baits were thrown and it didn’t take long before they were hooking up on the baits. Although crankbaits were working, it was the 1/8 oz. jig & grub that was the winner. Eventually two of the guys were fishing this tiny bait and only one remained on the crankbait for the more active bass. With the water over 70 degrees in the bay I knew that most of the fish had already moved away from the shallows, leaving just the smaller males to guard the newly hatched fry. Flat calm waters, high sunshine and scorching heat of over 80 degrees were beginning to take a toll on us so I decided to make a run to another area and to cool off. It was an open water shoal that had fish coming in on about every cast here and the jigs were just hammering everything. Water temps were slightly cooler at 65 degrees but the visibility remained the same at less than a couple of inches. Pollen fluff was everywhere collecting on the lines as they reeled in and eventually we shifted once more. It took a while before we were on the fish again but eventually we found them. It was apparent that there were numbers when they tripled at the same time. Although the largest may have gone three pounds, it was still a triple! I had figured that off shore was working better than the shoreline and focused my attention on similar areas for the remainder of the afternoon. To my surprise though, a strong wind from the W/NW had began and 15 to 25 knots were rolling three footers at us now. Fish were still being caught but boat control was a little more difficult for them to fish in and I had to relocate once again. This time I headed into the wind and fished a flat with a little more protection. First cast Hassan was locked up and the games began all over. By now they were all throwing the jig and everyone was once again catching. By 2:30 they had decided to call it a day and we packed it in and headed back to the ramp. Overall it was an alright day with about 65 or 70 fish being caught, just not the size I had expected. I can’t wait till the fish go summer pattern soon!!

This report should get everyone salivating and hopefully anxious to wet a line as the fishing has been unbelievable! This past week has seen me on the water pretty much every day and each one was equally as good as the others. With the high humidity, stable conditions had the water temps on the rise and the fish eating. I can’t remember how many walleye have been caught & released due to the new regulation slot limit, but there were plenty! I don’t even want to estimate how many pike were released either as it was insane. Although I was targeting walleye for everyone, there are always incidental hookups from other species and this week saw plenty of them too. The rarest one of them all had to be the shad hookup while trolling along a breakline. With their soft mouths, it never made it to the net for a pic and the hook just pulled out. Another muskie was also landed by my wife and there were a few bite offs too! Many walleye between 22 & 28 inches were put back, showing me the potential this lake has to offer. Loads of eater sized walleye were also landed and some of them harvested for meals. I just can’t believe how many walleye this lake actually has and how easy they are to catch when you fish for them. I might have another favorite fish to catch! Not likely though as the bass season is only a week away and I can’t wait. Apparently some others can’t either as I’ve seen plenty of boats already fishing for them! If anyone feels the need to get on the water and catch a pile of fish, now is definitely the time to take advantage of the activity, before the summer heat locks in. If it’s walleye & pike you’re interested in catching, there’s no better time to be fishing. Several openings are available in the coming weeks and I hope to fill them up and get everyone into some of the best action of their lives. I know I’ll be out there refining several other areas and catching many, many more fish once again in the process!!

I was back on the lake with Sheila this morning and once again in search of the elusive niche. After last nights many electrical storms, I was wondering what kind of impact it might have on the fish. The smaller creeks were now flowing like raging rivers, feeding into the lake a lovely shade of coffee. With two creams of course! Water temps were down almost 6 degrees when we dropped the flies in and began trolling. Along with the dirty water was the presence of much debris! It was difficult to be able to troll without fouling the lines from weeds, sticks and tree buds. We were however blessed with the conditions of the sky as both of us thought we would be fishing in rain all day. To our surprise, overcast and occasional sun, without the rain was what we were to see. Light north winds were also present and it looked like we had the lake to ourselves. I moved around plenty, dodging dirty water and floating crap, just trying to find fishable water. It seemed like wherever we went, we eventually hit one or the other. With the water temps mostly 54 to 55 degrees I thought we would get into them good but was only hooking up with the occasional small bass or perch. I was marking loads of baitfish and plenty of suspended fish in the upper 15 feet of water over 60 to 75 feet when the deep line went wild. It screamed off about 30 feet of line and then nothing. I knew that this time it had to be a salmon and by the amount of line it took out, it had to be a good one. When I reeled it in to check the fly I was shocked to see the how mangled it was. Besides wrapping all the material around the shank, the tandem wire was damaged beyond repair. I just couldn’t figure how the fish never got hooked! I replaced the fly and was back in the game when the high line ripped out another pile of line, just screaming again. As with the previous strike, it too was also gone and another mangled fly once more. I don’t know if it was the same fish or not but based on the number of arches I was seeing, I didn’t think so. We reset the line and made several more passes over the deep water without another touch. Eventually, I pulled the lines and relocated further up the lake in hopes of similar action. After another hour or so without anything to show for our efforts, I went back to where we had those two previous hits. I was surprised to see that there wasn’t any bait, or any hooks left in the area. It was like a ghost town, just barren wasteland! We tried nevertheless, but nada! I realized that I had missed possibly the only two good fish of the day, but wasn’t discouraged just yet. I headed down the lake hoping for a little warmer water and maybe more active fish. We managed to find 58 degrees in a couple of areas that had produced for me before but only came up with perch & bass once again. Although I did see a few good boils on the surface from either trout or salmon, we just couldn’t seem to get one to take. The entire afternoon was just like this morning and shortly after 4:30; we decided to call it a day. It may not have been the banner day that I had hoped for but at least we dodged the rain and caught a few fish. This will most likely be the last trip of the year for this lake, as I plan on heading back home in the morning. Local waters and close to home fishing sounds pretty good after a day like this!!