Well, Norm was back again today to see if he could become a member of that elusive six pound club. Would today be the day? Last year at this time he was struggling to try and beat the five pound mark but now he was shooting for a greater target. We began in beautiful bright conditions with sun and cloud cover and a very light breeze from the west. Air temps were around 43 degrees and expected to climb to about 55 by days end. Even the water had risen slightly and was now almost fifty! It didn’t take long before he was locked up and bringing in a nice starter fish of around 4.5 pounds. In the next few hours there were plenty of bass caught but he was still unable to match the first fish of the day and I moved on. I wanted him to get the big one almost as much as he did and tried all kinds of things to try and locate his trophy fish. We fished deep and we fished shallow just to give a fair shake to all the zones that were producing daily. As with before, we still concentrated mostly on the current brakes in this river and had most of our luck within this type of water. By mid afternoon we still hadn’t been able to locate anything that would come close to his trophy and made a long run to an isolated spot that I hadn’t fished in quite some time to see if there might be some sort of activity there. After about 45 minutes of washing lures without a strike, we opted for the long run back and hopefully « Moby Dick ». Well, he did hook up on a biggun on his first cast and we both knew it was a heavy fish by the way it was staying down, but as it neared the boat we realized that it was a walleye. It may have been over 5 pounds but it was still an eye and not what we were looking for! With about an hour of light left in the day, we stuck it out and just pounded fish on every other cast. Unfortunately, they were at best four and a half pounds and the six pounder was not to be today. Big fish are never easy to come by and although sometimes they bite great, they never really bite on command. This day had plenty of action throughout but not the trophy we were looking for and we had to settle for the numbers instead of the size. With only a few weeks left in this season before « Mother Nature » freezes us out, he will have to get back out to beat the six pound target at least once more. Somehow I don’t think that will be a problem as he has demonstrated in the past. Norm’s never been one to just give up and the bass just make him more determined to succeed. I know he will be back and sooner or later he will become a member of that elusive six pound club. I can’t wait too!!

Christian & John were finally able to coordinate their schedule and were with me today for some smallmouth action. We were going to have a great day with well above average air temps that could reach 70 degrees! Is this actually November? Sunshine started the day but soon gave way to clouds and the winds became insane. They weren’t supposed to be that bad but who can figure out the weather forecasts! At one point they were blowing 15 to 25 knots with heavier gusts over 30 from the south. Although it may have been incredibly strong, it was also unbelievably warm. The first fish of the day was from Christian and it proved to be his personal best at over 4 pounds. I thought this was great and told him that he would be breaking that record a few more times throughout the day too. He managed to get the first 4 or 5 fish in the boat before John finally locked up. It was taking him a little longer to slow the presentations down but once he did he was on his way to many more. I don’t want to say that these guys were competitive but they were counting each & every fish, keeping score. Christian was always slightly in the lead but John was not too far behind him and it seemed like someone was always locked up. They had several doubles during the day and were having a blast with these 2 to 3 pound smallies but I was looking for bigger & better. Although Christian had broken his personal best 3 or 4 times now and was officially at 4.54 pounds, I knew he could still do better. Somewhere late in the afternoon he finally hit one that I was pretty sure would top all the rest and once on the scale he saw that it went slightly above the five pound mark. I think we could have gone home after that one as his day was made! A few quick pics and back she went to join all the others from this day. We fished until somewhere around 4:15 and with darkness approaching quicker each day, decided to call it a day. Ironically with all the fish landed they ended in a tie. Both John and Christian had the winning fish on many times but broke even in the end. No bragging rights for anyone today as they would have to settle for the same amount of fish, but that’s not a bad thing. They had caught plenty of bass and had a great time doing it too. I love the fact that both of them are going home with sore thumbs and a little less skin on the fingers too. Now they know how I feel each and every day. What a great day to be fishing!!

Well day two was even better than the first with many bass and some big ones too! We began in the sun and never lost sight of it all day. Light wind from the SW allowed a beautiful drift whenever we chose to fish that way and he air temps were just incredible for a November day. I think it warmed up to over 50 degrees and even the water temps climbed slightly. You just know the day is going in the right direction when an almost 5 pounder gets landed on your first cast! Craig couldn’t believe his luck when he set the hook and nothing moved in the current. After a few quick pics she was free to go back to where she came from and we were pumped. Herm was having a difficult time this morning but Craig was on fire. He was just pounding them on almost every cast. Although they weren’t all big ones, they were still a thrill in the fast water. Along with this beautiful day there was also a lot of boat traffic and we had to pick & choose where we wanted to fish based on the availability. As with each day lately, we caught fish everywhere we stopped and some real good ones too. Craig had the lunker of the day when he boated a fish of 20 inches. This thing was also almost 17 inches in length and a real football. Several pics were taken before releasing her back as well and Craig was in his glory. Both of them were now into fish and many of them were over 3 pounds and fighting like champs with the aid of fast water. Although there were a few slow periods throughout the day, there were still a lot of active periods as well and we just couldn’t believe this weather. After having fished in hurricanes, heavy rains and freezing temps recently, this was a real treat. It almost felt like Florida! We fished till about 4:15 and decided to end the day on a high with a few more smallies. I’m not sure how many fish were caught today but the weather will be what everyone will remember most. It’s been at least 3 years since I’ve seen temperatures like this in the month of November and I can’t wait for more. I know it can switch overnight instantly, but I’m going to take advantage of it as long as I can. You might say that Herm & Craig hit this trip right on the head without the violent weather conditions they usually bring. I guess they aren’t that unlucky after all! I know they will be going home fully satiated after this one and remembering it for quite some time!!!!

Craig & Herm were back for the weekend, hoping for some more of those big smallies. It was looking like they finally made it without the hurricanes that they usually bring along! We were expecting a light 5 knot wind from the west but it stayed east all day. Sunshine was what was also forecasted but that only arrived mid afternoon after a morning of heavy cloud cover. Fortunately, the air temps were in the upper 40’s and that was really welcomed after yesterday’s arctic blast. The bite was a little slow at first as we drifted over all kinds of fish and very few actually ate our jigs. Some of the ones that were hitting were also not getting on as they were biting light. A number of fish in the 2 to 4 pound range were taken in the first few hours but nothing like we expected. Several walleye and a couple of northerns also made their way into the boat and were immediately released afterwards. We had covered plenty of water by now and there was still no sign of an honest 5 pound fish until the sun finally poked through the clouds. It was like clockwork as the fish started to bite and kept biting for the remainder of the day. Although Craig’s five pounder was the largest of the day there were still plenty of quality bass caught and by 4 o’clock we were ready to call it a day. We will be back out again tomorrow and hopefully bigger and better things will come. Overall it was still a great day on the water with amazing temperatures for the month of November and we even caught a few fish too!!!

After several emails, Jay just had to get back out and catch some of those big smallmouth that he had been hearing so much about. Unfortunately for him, this wasn’t going to be a very nice weather day! We began with air temps around 34 degrees and it really didn’t get any warmer. Go figure, the weathermen forecasted sun and occasional cloud! We on the other hand had clouds and heavy N/W winds that made it feel more like the lower 20’s. Any wind at this time of the year is not welcomed but a 10 to 20 knot wind from the cold north definitely will take the smile off your face. Water temps also fell and were now barely above the 48 degree mark slowing the fish down even more. Although Jay did manage to land a nice one around 3.5 pounds on the first spot, he was having a difficult time feeling the bottom with all the clothes he had on. The heavy gloves weren’t allowing him the luxury of being able to detect the subtle hits of the bass or even the loose weeds he was having on each retrieve. He did manage to catch several fish throughout the morning but never actually felt like he had gotten a handle on the technique until later in the afternoon. In his defense, I wasn’t having an easy time either with the cross winds affecting our boat control in the current and was missing strikes too. They had to be the lightest hits I had seen so far this fall and detecting them was next to impossible. If you were lucky enough to actually feel the take, they almost always dropped the bait immediately after. They just weren’t actively feeding! All morning and into the afternoon we picked at them and slowly brought up our numbers but not to the amount I was so use to lately. In the last 90 minutes of the day it seemed like Jay had finally gotten the hang of this and he started catching them on a regular basis. In each location we fished, he managed to land a handful of decent sized bass up to just over 4 pounds and the smile was back. By 4:00 we were just about done and after a few more casts it was official, back to the ramp. Along with the ramp there was of course the warm truck and that was the best part of the day. I realized just how cold the day was when I read that the outside air temps were only 33 degrees. I was right, they hadn’t gone up, just stayed the same! Maybe this wasn’t the best day to be on the water, but Jay was away from work and catching fish. When he finally thaws out from the cold I think he might appreciate it a little more. Until then, the only thing on his mind is a warm bowel of soup and maybe a roaring fire. Damn, it was cold!!!