Darren, Mark & Dave joined me once again today for their annual fishing challenge. Competition was high as they all had a side bet for the best bass of the day. The weather was a little on the cool side but the sunshine made it feel a little warmer as we began fishing. Although the air temps were to reach into the low 50’s it wasn’t close at 38 when we arrived at our first location. Water temps were also cooling and were now holding just over 51 degrees in the high, murky water. Darren started out the feud as a chunky 3 pounder came aboard and all the others could do was look on in awe. Eventually after a couple more from Darren, the others started with several of their own and everybody was on the board. I found the fish to be a little on the small side and eventually made a move from this area in hopes of bigger & better. With the water really off color and the wind blowing NW it wasn’t getting any better the further we ventured downstream. Eventually I decided to try areas that held big fish in the past and one of them was holding! Mark managed to hit one that went over 4 pounds and Darren was officially bumped! Although they were all getting into smallies, the overall size wasn’t the greatest. We did have several in the 3.5 pound range and a couple over 4 but most were below 3 pounds and really lethargic. By mid afternoon the drift & drag became something that everyone could handle when the wind layed up enough for me to angle the boat properly. All were into many rocks and some fish but Mark took top honors with another big smallie over 4 pounds and an exotic species award for the walleye. Several drifts and plenty of fish later they decided to call it a day with Mark taking the win for this outing. I’m actually surprised that they haven’t had a trophy made yet so that one of them could gloat for the entire year. Probably next time they get together they will and I’ll have to be their referee! All in all a pretty good outing with lots of laughs, many doubles and even a couple of triple headers to remember from today’s competition! Can’t wait for next year!!

Mike was with me today but this time his son Ryan wasn’t with him. Instead, he brought along his daughter Chloe for the first time. I was looking forward to having her experience what Ryan had on his first trip and was sure she would have a great time. The weather was definitely better than the previous day without the rainfall but we still had plenty of wind. In fact it was blowing from the NW and although the intensity was less it was still terrible for a drift. I had both throwing spinnerbaits right away due to the wind and Mike wasted no time boating several smaller ones up to 3 pounds. Chloe was not having as much luck but I was sure she too would soon experience the power of the smallie! Although it was a challenge in the morning wind, the fish were somewhat active and Mike was picking at them regularly. Finally it was Chloe’s turn and I could tell by her yell that she had a mean one on the end of her line. At 10 years old anything larger than a perch seems like a giant but the raw power of a smallmouth for a little girl is like reeling in a whale. She eventually managed to bring the fish to net and had her first ever 3 pound bronzeback. This was just the start for her as she managed to land a few more soon after, now that I had her casting with the wind from the back of the boat. One of them was probably the largest bass of the day at over 4 pounds and it really beat her up good. With all the hollering I could tell that she was having a blast! By mid afternoon, the wind had layed down some and I was finally able to drift & drag making their feel of the bottom much better. Until now, they were only able to cast blades but had pretty good action never the less. This time however, they were in contact with the bottom and there were fish down there by the hooks on the sonar. For the next couple of hours, there were multiple hookups and a mix of bass & walleye were coming aboard on each drift. Chloe was thrilled to have caught one of the walleye as they were bringing home two for dinner. Ryan had done the same thing several years ago and it was a big hit in their family too. By the time it was all over they both had landed plenty of bass and a couple of bonus fish that I’m sure would have the dinner table talking about with each mouthful taken. I think Mike’s going to have a tough time fishing again without Chloe tagging along as she had more fun today than her video fishing game. Good luck Mike!!

Craig was back today but this time he brought his son in law Derek along for the ride. They had planned on fishing with me for the day and hitting Lake Champlain the following two days, from his boat for smallies. Derek had caught bass before but not the caliber he was about to see! His personal best was soon to be bumped several times over as a four pounder is nothing to beat here. We started the day in a light mist and then the fun began. It rained all day long! Obviously Derek’s not his favorite son in law! Throw in a serious NW wind of 25 to 30 knots with stronger gusts and you’ve got the perfect storm for a first timer. Well I wasn’t going to let a little weather ruin the day so I took the punishment head on. I was forced to point the bow directly into the wind just so they could make a cast. We tried drifting along the current breaks but I soon realized that this wasn’t going to work. I eventually had Derek throwing a spinnerbait and Craig worked a tube. It was definitely difficult to feel a bite on the jig but he did manage a few decent ones. Derek also had a bunch of big fish hammer the blades and it wasn’t long before his personal best was almost five pounds. The winds were so intense that the rain was moving horizontally and actually going down my neck. There was nowhere to hide and I was committed to having Derek bust the five mark. Well, sometime in the afternoon after several over four, he finally hit one that topped out at 5.25 pounds and was thrilled. Not to be taken out completely, Craig also added another over 5 pounds and somehow the weather just didn’t matter anymore. Big bass were eating and they were getting theirs! This lasted the entire day and as we were losing light towards 5 o’clock we called it a day. Fog was moving in and we didn’t want to stick it out any longer than we had to. Safety first and it was time to leave. We gathered the livewelled bass and shot a few quick pics before releasing all back to the water. Although Derek’s hands felt like an 80 year olds and crippled while holding the fish, he was thrilled. If he could stick it out through all this misery, he can endure pretty much anything. To make matters worse, his rain gear didn’t repel water all that great and back at the truck realized why he wasn’t dry. I guess the adrenaline got the best of his body and catching bigger & better became his mandate for the day. The drive back home was a welcomed blessing with the heat blasting and a quick stop at the closest Tim Horton’s for a hot coffee. I think he’ll be back after the day he had and with any luck, his personal best will get beat once again. Mother Nature is back!!

I had a full boat today with Bram, Neil & Aerie trying their hand at some jumbo smallmouth bass. We hit the water around 9:00 and they were locked up within the first few minutes. Aerie had the least amount of experience and I knew he would most likely land the best fish. He surely got the ball rolling as he was into the first couple of 3 to 4 pound smallies before Neil & Bram joined in with their own. The weather was just perfect with almost no wind, sunshine and temps that came close to 70 degrees by the afternoon. It was the perfect day to be out! Sometime in the morning Neil hooked into a bass less than three pounds and it soon turned into a giant. Just like a shark, the Muskie decided to take advantage of the helpless smallie and thought he would make a meal of it. We caught a good glimpse of the beast as he was able to lift it from the depths and I realized she was huge. Twice, he managed to bring the lunge up and both times it sounded back with the bass crossways in its grasp. I’m sure we were looking at a four foot fish and on the third attempt to raise her back to the boat she finally let go. Oh he did land the smallie but it looked like an attack from a Bengal Tiger! This poor thing had lacerations on both sides of the body and ironically it was still alive. When I released the tortured fish it actually swam away. I’m pretty sure it won’t make it but that’s all part of the food chain when you’re dealing with lunge of that proportion. For the remainder of the day they were catching bass from 2 pounds all the way to almost 5 pounds. Although they all had chances at the big ones it was Neil that finally had the best catch of the day. I believe that he had a couple that weren’t quite five, but definitely high in the four range. Regardless of the outcome, there were plenty of fish caught by all and a spectacular day was had thanks in part to Mother Nature. I can’t believe I’m saying this but she finally came through. Hopefully it’s not the last time either!!

I finally had a day off so I took advantage of it and went fishing! Mike & I took a road trip to another lake up north looking for the big bruisers. Due to the cold morning air we took our time and arrived somewhere around 10:30 with the sun up warming the chilly air. Temps were in the low 40’s but did climb into the 50’s as the day passed. Water temps were similar to lakes back home and hovering around 58 degrees in most areas of the lake. I took my time rigging my rods as Mike started casting the area we began in. It wasn’t long and he had one on but not the bass we were searching for. This lake also has a good population of Muskie and one had just eaten his tube! A quick unhooking and back it went, all of 37 inches and mean. When I finally was ready I don’t think I had casted more than a couple of times and I too was tight to a heavy fish. It dogged like a lunge and I was totally surprised to see that it wasn’t, but it was a giant smallie. This pumpkin wasn’t only fat but long as well and weighed over 6 pounds when we put it on the scale. Wow, my first 6 of the season and I had to do it on a remote lake up north! We live welled the fish for later pics and continued casting along the breakline when I nailed another heavy one soon after. This too was a smallie but only in the high four pound range! Offshore on a nice hump we managed to get into a couple more bruisers and these ones were above 5 pounds as well. What this lake lacks in volume it more than makes up for in size! As with before, we also hit a few Muskie on the bump and managed to land a couple of them too. We also got bit off by others and I knew there were more lunge than bass here & decided to move elsewhere. We pretty much covered all the better areas throughout the day and totaled out with 5 lunge and 4 smallies with more being lost too. The way the lunge were hitting I think we would have been able to have a 20 or 30 fish day had we chosen to solely fish for these creatures instead. All in all a very relaxing day full of entertainment as Mike filmed it from a new hat cam. I can’t wait to see this dog & pony show and relive the insanity that we provided for each other. Great day on the lake!!