Today was a day of pleasure fishing as my wife Christiane joined Alyssa and her dad Donny for a day on the water. The 4 of us hit the lake at the crack of 10:30 and began a troll. The weather was once again blazing with air temps hovering around 80 degrees when we began and topped out closer to 90 degrees when we ended. The winds had slowed down slightly though and were less than 20 knots for most of the time. Even the boat traffic was at a minimum and that was a surprise! Water temps had been climbing the last few days and were now above 73 degrees when we set the lines. I thought we were going to just crush them with all these things in our favor but soon found out differently. Only one drive bye and a small smallmouth landed in the first couple of hours with plenty of water being covered. Time to go casting! We switched locations and began throwing lures at an area holding plenty of smallmouth bass. Christiane had the first two smallies on but unfortunately they both came unpinned from the jerkbait. I was working with Alyssa as this was her birthday present and she managed to smack 3 or 4 in the first hour. A few others were missed or lost all together before I thought we would give the troll another go. Apparently the right move as Alyssa landed a nice walleye of around 3 pounds in the first 15 minutes. She also got into a couple of bass and a northern before another walleye ate the bait. It was a little chaotic as the lines were crossing in the winds while we tried to get the fish to the net. We did manage but not without several crossed lines though and spent a few minutes untangling the mess. This fish was all worth it though as she weighed at least 5 pounds. A few quick picks and the walleye was free to swim again. We trolled for a little longer but the winds had gotten even worse and the waves were rolling pretty good when another reel screamed. It was also a walleye and a decent one once again as Alyssa landed what was to be her last fish of the day. I tried a little longer in the shallower water and after 10 minutes started to bring in the lines. One by one I reeled them in and before I could get to the last rod the reel fired and went silent. Those damn drive byes! We almost had another fish but it just wasn’t meant to be. Although there weren’t a ton of fish landed today, we all had a good time. It was a number of years since Alyssa and her dad had been fishing so this was a perfect birthday present for her to receive. Great company, sunshine and even a few fish! Who could ask for more!!

Scott joined me for a couple of days of bass fishing before he was to fish Muskie with someone else on Sunday. We hit the water Friday morning around 7:00 and went trolling immediately. The weather looked like a winner with light winds from the N/W and air temps in the 70’s. This would all change however as the conditions were about to get worse. The winds would switch full west and intensify upwards of 25 knots. We didn’t have much luck with the troll so I decided that casting might work out better and switched locations. As luck would have it, I was right! Within minutes Scott was into several big fish but every time one got on, it just kept getting off. A couple of them were real giants too! As the weather got even worse, I decided to relocate and try for a less windy area further up the lake. Although it was blowing pretty good, it wasn’t as bad and we hung there for a few hours longer. It seemed the same wherever we went as each fish that Scott hooked into came unpinned before it could reach the boat. Bad luck I guess! Eventually he did manage to land some decent ones though and they all came on a violently fished jerkbait. We tried one last shot at trolling for walleye and were ripped off by just drive byes. We called it a day and headed out to eat instead. Tomorrow I would switch bodies of water and hopefully the luck as well! Saturday started out with a bang as the first spot produced many hits and several landed bass in a couple of hours. The winds were even worse than yesterday, blowing 20 to 30 knots from the west but at least we were somewhat sheltered where we were. Bluebird skies had all kinds of boat traffic on the water and it looked more like the vacation period rather than a Saturday. Between the boogey boarders and jet-skis it was total chaos. Add hundreds of cruisers and plenty more fishing boats and it became a total zoo. I had some deep water areas that were holding good fish but had a hard time fishing it due to boats passing from every direction. They just didn’t care which side they went by us and obviously speed wasn’t an issue either, because we rocked and rolled like we were in a washing machine. We obviously didn’t stay here for long as it was almost impossible to even stand! We tried other areas and had similar results with a few more fish and many more boats. Too bad it wasn’t the other way around! Later in the afternoon we switched to a few back channel areas and managed to get out of most of the traffic. Unfortunately we only got into smaller fish by doing this and decided to call it a day once again. The boat ramp was a real zoo also as there were people all over the place blocking the docks and drinking. Ironically the police boat signaled us out and pulled us over for a routine inspection as well. I couldn’t believe that they were that blind but obliged them with everything they needed and more. By the time we were actually out of the water and on the trailer it was close to an hour later. What a zoo! It took us all of 2 minutes to do what we needed to do before we were finally on our way. What a crazy day on the water!!

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!!