I was back on the lake this morning with Ed & Ted looking for a few walleye for them to take home and eat. Along with the walleye, we were hoping for a bunch of smallies and some pike, which would be released of course! Ted had driven close to 10 hours through the night just to join us on this spectacular waterway. Ed had fished with me before and informed him of just how good the fishing was and both were looking forward to getting into fish. We got a later than usual start, were fishing before 9:30 A.M. and locked up just minutes later. The first fish was a smallie of almost 4 pounds and Ted was the fortunate one to battle this acrobatic beauty. A quick pick and right back she went! The weather started out with a nice chop from the 10 knot west winds but layed down by mid day. Air temps were in the 80’s and the water temps reached 67 degrees in most areas. We spent several hours trolling up pike, walleye and of course smallies and put a few walleye in the boat for their dinner tonight before we opted for casting for smallies. A quick run to another region of the lake and we began catching bass, but not the size I was looking for and I relocated once again. This time the first couple of fish to come into the boat were also walleye and not the bass we were looking for again. Another couple of moves with more action from bass, pike and even walleye and we were calling it a day. Oh yeah, even the Muskie got into the mix as Ed managed to land his first ever lunge. By 5:30 we were feeling the heat and decided to call it a day. It was another multi species one, full of action from just about everything that swam and we took full advantage of the full moon bite!!

A road trip for the bass opener today and I met my guests on a distant lake to try & tackle some feisty smallies. It was to be a two day stint and I was sure we would fend well. Air temps began in the 60’s but climbed well into the 80’s in the afternoon. Winds were out of the S/W at 10 to 20 knots causing quite a chop on the lake, but nothing the Ranger couldn’t handle! Curt had fished with me last weekend locally for pike & walleye and had a blast. This trip he had brought Eric who had accompanied him last season at the same time and they were pumped after their first visit. Unfortunately, last year the spawn was a little later and the fishing was real simple for everyone. This time it was to prove to be a real challenge as the fish were in a post spawn mode and reluctant to aggressively bite. We fished our butts off covering just about every possible alley and never really got into the biggest ones of the lake. Although we did manage many bass, the largest ones would have only made the 4 pound range and that wasn’t good enough for me. Plenty of northern pike were taken today along with the bass but the lake left me with an empty feeling and I wasn’t happy. I’m not sure if the water visibility made a difference today but it was probably the dirtiest I had ever seen on the lake and all the floating grass & debris didn’t help either. We made a decision to regroup and change tactics for tomorrow and called it a day around five. Day two saw us back at the crack of 6:30 A.M. ready to put a beating on them just like they did to us yesterday. I thought we would try & see if we might find an active brown or rainbow lurking high in the water column and tried fly rod trolling for the first hour of the day. Unfortunately it didn’t pan out and after 45 minutes we threw in the towel. Bass was the target species and we wanted revenge! I decided to hit the secondary drops in hopes of finding some of the post spawn fish recovering and hopefully feeding. Both Curt & Eric threw spinnerbaits and I tried swimming a spider jig in the deeper water to try & entice something into eating. After almost 90 minutes of washing baits and frustration, I switched locations and began throwing to the outside edges of new weeds and this is where Eric had a huge follower closer to what we were searching for. It was definitely over 5 but we’ll never know as the fish refused to eat and disappeared to where she came from immediately. By switching it up we were able to get into some decent fish all over but I still couldn’t lock onto the mother load. I even tried some deeper cliff points and ledges hoping for suspended fish without success. Eric did however have either a small salmon or rainbow chase down his lure and a really huge northern in the 15 to 20 pound class that left him looking like a deer in the headlights. As a last resort I headed shallow looking for weed beds and this is where we remained for the afternoon. It was also where we saw the most action with both northerns and really nice smallies. Just like the big northern, Eric had a giant of a smallie follow his spinnerbait back to the boat leaving him all messed up for quite a while. Although I didn’t see the fish he claimed that this was the biggest smallie he had ever seen and looked to be in the 7 pound class. We decided right then and there that we would not be leaving this area for the remainder of the day! We had found a small patch of weeds next to deep water and it was loaded with baitfish. They would bust the surface constantly when a predator was around showing us where to cast. This was also to be the most productive location with numbers of bass & pike being caught. A couple of smallies were over 4 pounds from spinnerbaits and even top water. With the strong winds present, they were busting bait and we were monopolizing on the feeding activity. This one area salvaged the entire trip and I was surely glad to have finally located some active fish. We fished till about 5:30 and called it a day when the winds had layed down and the skies threatened heavy rains. Good thing too as I drove away from the ramp just when it let loose! Overall it was a decent trip thanks to the one particular area at the end of day two. All I can say is “Never Give Up”!!!

Full boat today with Tom & his two sons, Patrick & Danny & a very interesting day! We began at the crack of ten and fished through the extreme heat of the day until about 3:30 P.M. all the while picking at them. It was nice to finally have a spread with 4 rods and I really saw the difference while trolling the lake. The weather started a little damp early this morning with rain falling, causing us to wait it out as late as we did. By the time we hit the water we were in only cloud & sun with a wind of 10 to 15 knots from the north. Air temps reached well into the 80’s and in the afternoon, the lake layed down flat bringing out those elusive “dog pecker knats” to torment us while fishing. Water temps were around 65 degrees and floating weeds and debris made the trolling a little more difficult, but we managed. The first rod to fire came next to Patrick and he was soon battling what we thought was a decent walleye. To our amazement, it turned out to be a 38 inch Muskie and after a quick pic, returned unharmed. One day shy of the season opener, not that it would have a difference! Pike and many walleye were caught in the next several hours along with several smallies that were roaming the same areas as well. Also one day shy of the opener too! It seemed that we were in a mixed array of fish species today and we even threw in a few perch just for good measures. Overall it was a productive one with plenty of action throughout and lots of memories for them to take away. All days should be this easy!!

Curt & Peter joined me today on a local lake hoping to catch some northern pike and oh how they did just that! We rolled out just after 7:30 A.M. in a light drizzle that dissipated rather quickly after we arrived at our first location. Winds were out of the north but real light and it was overcast as I set the rods out, searching for our first biter. Air temps were in the 60’s and expected to go into the mid 70’s and the water temps were hovering around 63.5 degrees once again. Our first rip was a drive bye and I wasn’t too pleased, but we soon locked up minutes later and Curt was into his first of many northerns for the day. Several more fish came aboard and then Peter grabbed the rod to find a beautiful walleye over 24 inched in length attached to the lure. It was starting off pretty good this morning and I anticipated that it was only going to get better! About ten minutes and several northerns later, Peter picked up another rod with an even bigger walleye locked on the lure and couldn’t believe its size. At around 26 inches is was rather thin from the recent spawn and should have weighed in at somewhere closer to 7 pounds. Not wanting to be left out, Curt picked up one of his own a little smaller and now we had three in the livewell for later pics. The morning was filled with fish every few minutes for a while and then it just shut down completely. I had to do some searching but soon was back into them once more and Peter was landing big northerns this time. I think the largest one of the day had to go to Curt at just over 34 inches in length. These fish too were a little on the light side from the previous spawn and feeding to bulk up after. With the cold water temps they were a little more lethargic than I would have liked and I had to change locations and presentations several times throughout the day in order to keep the rods bent. I kept with the program and it really paid off for Peter when another rod fired in the afternoon and he was landing the largest walleye of his life. This one should have been closer to 10 pounds but like all the others, a little thin from the spawn. It was over 28 inches and a real beauty of a fish none the less! Several quick pics and right back to the lake she went unharmed. For the remainder of the day we continued to catch many, many more northerns and even a couple more walleye. At one point they had a double header and Peter reeled in another big walleye over 25 inches and Curt landed a pike over 32 inches. They were tight to the same area, obviously! The winds picked up later in the afternoon and were blowing from the east at around 10 knots causing me to change tactics once more in order to continue getting the bites I wanted. Apparently, I was doing something right because the fish just kept coming and these guys just kept reeling in one after another, all day long! By 4:30 P.M. we decided to call it a day as Curt reeled in the last northern. I really don’t know how many fish came aboard today but it was more than enough to keep everyone happy. Their first Canadian trolling experience was a great success and they will both be taking home knowledge for future outings along with the memories from this spectacular day. Oh Canada!!

Although I had only been on the water once this week, it was a successful 5 hours of fishing. Today I was back out again with Norm and his faithful companion, Buddha. We launched just after 7:00 A.M. and were on our way to an unbelievable fishing day. We would be trolling for pike & walleye once again and hopefully catching more walleye than pike. The weather was overcast, though we were suppose to have mostly sunshine and the air had a cold chill to it too. The temps were only 60 degrees at best and the water was pretty much the same as we began our troll. I was surprised to see that the water had cooled off almost 10 degrees in just a week and wasn’t sure how the fish were going to react. As always, the first reel to go had a small northern attached to the lure but that’s alright, the skunk was gone. We managed to only catch pike throughout the early part of the morning, but did have a guest appearance from a big largemouth bass. It hit the same presentation where I had been catching pike & walleye and was quite the surprise! Not until some time after 10:30 did we encounter the elusive walleye! Lately they were above average in size and this one wasn’t any different! At around 24 inches in length it was a solid 4.5 pounds with the full belly it was sporting. Not long after, doubles and a mixed bag was taken. Both fish were decent size with the northern running above 6 pounds and the walleye in the 5 pound class once again. We landed a couple more walleye in the next half hour along with many, many more northerns and decided to move to newer water in search of more fish. This was to prove to be a slower than expected ordeal as we didn’t have too much success other than more pike. We managed to make our way back to the zones we were doing so well in when the long line began screaming once more. To both our surprise, it wasn’t anything either of us had expected and just peeling line from the reel, nonstop. I was thinking Muskie when this beast took to the air and I realized it was a huge sturgeon. Norm hadn’t seen the leap but it was quite spectacular! First thoughts were that we had snagged it with the lure, but it actually had the hooks in the mouth. I knew I was going to have to stay on top of this dinosaur and dropped the electric motor to be able to follow it around. The battle lasted for about 35 minutes before I was able to grab her by the tail with both hands. Man, are these things strong! We lifted it up for a couple of quick picks and released her back to where she belonged. Back to trolling we went, both hoping that this wouldn’t happen again! For the remainder of the afternoon, we managed to get into plenty more northerns but weren’t able to find any more walleye. We did however catch several of their cousins the perch and they were rather large too. Somewhere after 4:00 P.M. we decided to call it a day and head back. Of course the sun had finally come out, just in time for us to leave. Gotta love the weather forecasters! Overall it was quite an impressive day with a few surprises thrown into the mix. We had managed to get into plenty of fish and the prehistoric beast was the icing on the cake!!