David & his son Ethan were my guests today on a local lake for smallies & walleye. We began around 7:30 under almost flat calm conditions and slightly overcast skies. Air temps were 65 degrees and the water temps once again fell to 71.5 when we set the lines. I thought that under these conditions, we were just going to crush them but after an hour of trolling and only one drive by, I realized I was wrong. It didn’t take long to decide that we should be casting for smallies and we did exactly that! David was locked up almost on his first cast as he battled a scrappy 2.5 pound bass to the net and the skunk was officially out! Ethan was dragging a jig along the bottom with my help and missed a couple of strikes when they just let go. David on the other hand was getting the hang of it and managed to get another fish pretty quickly after his first one but this time it wasn’t a bass. To all our surprise, it turned out to be a nice walleye of around 5 pounds. A few quick picks and back she went as we continued casting for the bass. There were a couple of smaller ones landed but the big bruisers just didn’t want to cooperate in this area so we moved. I had David throw a jerk-bait when we arrived there and Ethan & I worked the jig once again hoping for a big bite. As with the first location, David was into a fish pretty quickly and so began the catching once more! This 3 pounder brought a school back to the boat and I instructed him to keep the fish close to the boat as I pitched the jig in looking for a double. Although I did have a couple of shots at fish, they both came unpinned and we were forced to land just one bass instead. Not long after, Ethan and I hooked into what seemed to be a real big bass and the fight was on! This little guy fought it like a real champ, with a little help, as she jumped and ripped line off the reel in an attempt to get free. After plenty of runs & aerials, David was able to slip the net under the beast and I was thrilled to see just how large she actually was. I didn’t want to stress the fish out even more and decided not to put her on the scale, but she may have gone near 6 pounds. I know it was at least in the high fives but we’ll never know for sure what the actual weight was. I decided to put her in the livewell and make sure she revived alright with plenty of oxygen being pumped in for her survival. As we continued to fish for bass the winds started to pick up and pretty soon we were in 1 to 2 foot chop. It was still manageable until I snapped one of the steering cables on the electric motor and was forced to use the kicker to position the boat instead. This wasn’t the best way to have control, but we made it work! Several more smallies came aboard in the next couple of hours until a storm began moving towards us. I decided to take a few pics of the big bass and head back to the ramp to wait it out in the truck. By now the winds had also intensified and the lake was rolling 2 to 3 foot waves, but the heavier winds managed to push the system slightly south of us allowing a return to the lake. I immediately went back to trolling due to the electric motor issue and began looking for walleye. We managed to get a few in the 3 pound range before the winds grew once again making our upstream direction troll almost impossible. After several of the rollers wetting the front deck I realized that we were going to have to troll downstream instead. We had to run up and troll down with the wind in order to have control and stay dry for the remainder of the afternoon. A few more walleye, a couple of double headers and some disappointing drive byes later we called it a day. Another front was once again pushing our way and with the 20 plus knot winds from the west, it wouldn’t take long to arrive. We packed it in and headed back to the dock running through the edge of the system as we rolled along. We may have been sent scurrying off the water twice today but we definitely made out well under these conditions. Plenty of bass and walleye were caught before “Mother Nature” showed her powers. They definitely caught a bunch of fish and some quality ones as well making this a great day all around!!

Will & his girlfriend Kristin accompanied me on the lake today for an absolutely fantastic day of fishing. It started out rather cool as the air temps were in the upper 50’s due to the overnight lows but eventually warmed up into the 70’s. Winds were still from the NW but less than 10 knots as we set the lines looking for a quick bite. Even the water temps had dropped and were now barely above 72 degrees. I believe it was Will that managed the first rod when the reel let out that beautiful screaming sound and was soon into a northern of around 4 pounds. Kristin had the next rod and she was rewarded with a nice 3 pound walleye that made its way into the livewell, for a possible dinner that night. For a little over an hour or so we scoured one particular area, catching a few more northerns and walleye before we shifted to casting for smallies instead. This was obviously the right choice as Will was locked up immediately. Ripping a jerkbait, he managed to nail a 3.5 pound smallie that looked like her entire family wanted a piece of the lure as well. Once released he was tight to another fish slightly smaller as soon as the bait touched down and this time it arrived alone. Kristin was throwing a spinnerbait and too had a shot at a nice fish but it came unpinned on the jump. I immediately switched her up to a jig and like clock work; she was tight to another one right away. This went on for almost an hour before we picked up and went to another area looking for bigger & better. Although we did see several huge smallies in this location, they just weren’t cooperating. Will did however manage to land a real long walleye in the deeper water on a jig and that made the stop definitely worth while. Another shift in location was needed and this was where we really hit them good. Will was just pounding the smallies on soft plastics for several hours while Kristin took the sun & relaxed. We did this for quite a while and then relocated to another area nearby where Kristin decided to fish as well. Here they were both into many more smallies in the next hour or so until we finally relocated to the trolling areas once more. We were trying to pick up another walleye for dinner and had a hard time accomplishing the task. After 4 drive byes and partially hooked fish we finally got another Walter in the size class I was searching for and called it a day. Kristin had never eaten what she had caught before and was anxiously awaiting dinner when we headed off the lake. Blackened, Cajun walleye was on the menu and we were going to be dining on them real soon! Today was a real treat for them and not just the fishing. The weather was spectacular with sunshine and light winds and finally a dinner fit for a king. We all had a great meal fit for a king and walleye was just the icing on the cake. To say they left satisfied would be an understatement. It’s always nice to meet new people and Will & Kristin were great company both on the water and at dinner. Days like these just make it all worthwhile and I look forward to seeing them again, hopefully in the near future!!

I was joined by Leslie and his friend Elliot today for a half day of smallmouth bass fishing. We hooked up at 8:00 A.M. and were scheduled to fish until around 1:00 P.M. in almost perfect conditions. Winds were light, sunshine was out and it wasn’t a scorcher. Air temps were around 65 degrees at the beginning and expected to climb to about 80 by days end. Leslie drew the first bass as a rather small one of 2 pounds hammered the jerkbait halfway back to the boat. When it neared, I saw that he was being followed by one considerably larger and attempted to get a jig in beside. Too bad the fish came unpinned and both were soon a memory! Leslie wasn’t aware of the follower and really didn’t know what I was attempting to do but assured me that he would be ready for the next one. A few more bass were hooked into on the jerkbait but they were all loners and we never really got a chance to double by the boat during their fight. They were all of quality size with the largest going in the 4 pound range! Elliot wasn’t doing as well but could have had a much bigger one when it hit right along side the boat, jumped and disappeared back into the lake. It was definitely in the 5 pound class and instantly gone! They had a few more fish in the next hour as we just covered water looking for a bigger school of smallies and Elliot once again had another big one on only to lose it again when she went to the air. Leslie was getting into fish but not the caliber that Elliot was seeing. He was landing most of them though so he stuck to the jerkbait instead of the spinnerbait Elliot was tossing. We decided to try a couple of other areas seeing as how it was going to be a short day and made the run. This turned out to be our last stop as there were plenty of fish to be caught here and some of them were actually cooperating! In the next couple of hours both of them got into fish but Leslie definitely had the hot hand as he managed to land more and larger bass on soft plastics. Somewhere around 1:30 P.M. we decided to pack it in and call it a day. Elliot would have stayed out longer, but Leslie had work to do and needed to get back. Half days go so fast and it’s too bad we had to go because the fish seemed like they were just starting to come alive in the afternoon. Oh well, I guess they will just have to get back out again, real soon. All in all a good but short day on the lake with plenty of action had by all!!

I was back out again today with William & his son Sam, all the way from England for another multi species day. William had grown up in the Montreal region and moved way over to the other side of the pond later in life. He wanted his son to see his old stomping grounds and experience the fishing that he had done as a kid. We headed out shortly before 8:00 A.M. in cooler than usual conditions below 70 degrees and a good SW wind of over 10 knots. Overcast skies held for pretty much the entire day with just a hint of sunshine from time to time. Water temps had dropped almost 2 degrees since I was here last week and I wasn’t sure how the fish would react after all the stormy weather yesterday. We began with a troll and it was a little while before a reel went off, but Sam was soon landing his very first walleye. At just over 3 pounds it was a nice start and I had great hopes of bigger & better in store for him today! I had to make a slight adjustment soon after as it just wasn’t looking like the fish were cooperating. Although I was marking plenty of good hooks in the area, only a few of them were actually moving on the lures. Once I changed up baits, we were into fish almost immediately and both walleye and pike were being landed regularly. Sam was to have a few firsts today and now it was with a 4 pound northern. After trolling for a few hours I thought we would change it up and switch to casting for smallies in another section of the lake. I set up a few rods with soft plastics and let the games begin! We would stay on the bass for the remainder of the day and both of them would catch a bunch of good ones along with a few smaller ones thrown in for good measure. I think the largest one would have been a 4 pounder that Sam landed later in the day before we called it quits. They had caught plenty of fish today and Sam had three firsts to his credit with the bass being the largest smallie he had ever caught. It beat him up pretty good too! This will definitely be a memory for him to keep for at least a year as I think they may just be back again. With family still remaining in the city, they have no reason not to return for another visit. I hope they make it an annual thing as the fishing will only get better & better as Sam grows up!!

Well, Norm was back out again today just itching for some more smallie action and he found it. We hit the lake just after 7:00 A.M. and were casting into roaming pods of bass by 7:15. Water clarity was pretty good despite all the wind & rain we had lately and temps were still around 74 degrees. Slightly overcast conditions greeted us along with light winds and mid 70 degree air. It would be getting quite a bit warmer later on with the sunshine and high humidity but for now it was quite comfortable. I believe Norm’s first hookup was on a spinnerbait as it was the easiest locator bait to search for the smallies. Unfortunately it jumped off along side the boat and dashed away with all the other bigguns. It was definitely a four plus and a couple of the others looked to be topping the 5 pound bracket as well. We continued along our way after trying to relocate the pod without any success. Another group was located not too far away and once more Norm was tight to a spinnerbait bass. This time however, there were many others with her and we stayed on them afterwards catching a few more on different lures. Although there weren’t any real giants landed in this group, there were definitely a few with the potential. It’s ironic how fast they spook when you catch just a couple and only the smaller ones chose to bite afterwards. We made several more pit stops on specific areas and picked a few more along the way before I stumbled upon the mother load. It was finally here that the numbers started to climb. Although most were caught on soft plastics, there were several that fell victim to a spinnerbait and an occasional jerkbait too. As with all the other locations, the real bigguns just didn’t seem to want to bite and we had to settle for fish only up to 4 pounds. Tough job for anyone to accept! Norm had brought Buddha along with him once again today and seeing as it was getting pretty hot, we decided to let him out for a quick swim where we were. It wasn’t too difficult to convince him to jump in as the water was below 2 feet deep and solid enough for him to feel comfortable. This went on for about 15 minutes and before we knew it, Buddha was leaping back into the boat like a Gazelle. For a dog that weighs over 120 pounds, he’s pretty agile! Back to fishing and Norm wasted no time hooking up on a real good fish on top water but he thought it was a pike because of the length. Too bad it got off because it wasn’t! It was just an overly large smallie and smart enough to bury him in the weeds, escaping. Oh well, there’s always more! A bunch of other smaller ones were taken on a tube before we decided to try one of the other areas we had found a concentration of bigger ones earlier in the day. Norm locked up pretty much on the first cast when I pointed the area out and it was of better quality too. Another mishap occurred along side the boat when the spinnerbait broke off on one of the leaps. Luckily for the bass, the blades went one way and the smallie went the other. Talk about a slap in the face! He caught a few more smaller ones and we decided to call it quits. Back to the ramp with only an average day to show for our efforts but we did see plenty of fish to know we were in the right areas. They just didn’t seem to want to cooperate today but that’s alright, we’ll be back again soon as “Man Always Wins”, sometimes!!