Darrin hooked up with me today along with his brother Mark and their friend Dave, hoping for some of those monster smallmouth. We launched shortly after 8:00 and began looking for some bigguns! With a tremendous rain forecasted for today I really didn’t know what to expect, but we set out anyway. The winds were out of the N/E at around 10 knots causing a next to impossible drift in the current. Overcast skies also made it difficult to locate some of the areas I wanted to and if it weren’t for the aid of GPS, I wouldn’t have been able to fish them at all. Our water temps had also fallen with the overnight monsoon we had received and were now around 58 to 59 degrees. Fortunately, the air temps were slightly higher at 58 and expected to climb into the low 60’s sometime this afternoon. We spent several hours in the morning fishing some of the best areas and all we had for our efforts were a few sightings of these giants. Although they were in the 5 to 6 plus range, there weren’t many and they weren’t active. Darrin managed to get one smaller bass around 3.5 pounds and we missed several hits before I decided to throw in the towel for this lake and jump ship again. Off we went to another place that at least held some active fish and Darrin hooked up on a nice one within a couple of casts. Now the games were officially on! Everywhere we stopped, someone caught bass and most areas put out fish for everyone. Dave managed to take the big fish of the day at just under 5 pounds but Darrin had several in the low to mid fours and that’s all that mattered after a rather slow morning bite. We fished in the shallows as well as in deeper water and caught fish in all depths. After an unsuccessful Simcoe trip for Mark & Dave recently, it was surely nice for them to land some quality bass. By the time it was all said & done late in the afternoon, they all had plenty of hookups and caught numerous smallies. The fish were biting light today and there were also plenty of them that came unpinned before we could get a sighting. The last couple of days out have been like this and I hope that it changes real soon as the 50/50 ratio really sucks! Another tough morning turned into a great afternoon as a slight adjustment changed the outcome from dismal to enlightening. All in all, it was a great end to the high & dry day. Oh yeah, the weatherman was wrong again with the forecast of heavy rains and sunshine was upon us pretty much all afternoon. Go figure!!

Once again, Norm & I headed out in pursuit of that elusive 6 pound smallie just hoping to lock him up earlier than last years search for the five. What we didn’t realize was what was awaiting us at the ramp! Due to the sunny day forecasted and the miserable weekend weather predicted, I think everyone took the day off from work. The word is out on the giant smallies! The best thing to come out of our morning was finding out that my scale has a discrepancy. Apparently it weighs light and when I put a 15 pound anchor to the test, it only weighed 13.83 pounds. A five pound weight also only went 4.46 pounds. Looks like some of Norm’s fish this season were actually over 6 pounds and now we will have to do some math to determine just how much more they were. I really wasn’t too excited about seeing all the boats around so I decided to search out new water quite some distance away and try to find new areas to play. With the bright sunshine and cool morning air we blasted off and away from the others. Air temps were around 45 degrees and the water was anywhere from 54 degrees up to 59 degrees depending on where we were. Although there was only a 5 to 10 knot wind from the S/W we were fishing in 2 footers at best. After several hours with nay a fish, I decided to bite the bullet and head back to where I wanted to begin. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I arrived; it was like there was a tournament going on! Boats everywhere, all looking for the holy grail of smallmouth! I decided right there that we were going to switch lakes and immediately put the boat back on the trailer and bolted. This was definitely the best choice as we were into a crap load of fish for the remainder of the day. The best thing about this was that we never really saw another boat in the area and that was just fine with me! These fish were acting a little stranger than I would have liked them to, but we did play with plenty of them in the time we were there. I definitely think most of them were not really feeding, because we dropped as many as we caught. A few of them were even hooked from the outside of the mouth and that’s a sure sign that they were just bumping the baits. We landed fish from 2 pounds all the way to over 5, along with a nice little muskie of 38 inches. Who could ask for more! By the time we were ready to pack it in, we were both relieved that we didn’t have to put up with that flotilla of boats. There must have been 20 or more trailers in the parking lot when I left and that’s just insane. Thankfully I have alternate bodies of water and places to fish to get away from days like these. A tough start, but an incredible end to a not so perfect day!!

Norm & I were on another lake today in pursuit of those violent striking smallmouth. We hit the water a little later than usual around 8:00 and were quickly searching for a 6 pounder under not so perfect conditions. A light rain was falling along with a strong westerly wind of 15 to 20 knots making the 43 degree weather feel more like 32. Norm’s faithful companion Buddha was with us again and he didn’t like the cold, wet, windy weather either! We began by throwing blades & jerk-baits to try & locate some active fish but soon found out that they weren’t aggressive at all. We soon switched up to some slower moving jigs and unfortunately, missed a few strikes. I knew it was only a matter of time before we would make contact with one of these bruisers and stuck with the slower baits. With the water temps hovering around 60 degrees I really thought they would be more inclined to react to faster moving lures, but they just weren’t moving at all. In the first few hours we were only able to land three bass but the ranged from 4.5 to 5.5 pounds respectively. I knew I would have to make some drastic changes and decided to make a long run to another area in hopes of more active fish. This proved to be a better decision as the water was slightly warmer and we were now fishing in some current. The first several fish fell victim to a jerk-bait held on a long pause. By allowing the current to sweep the bait downstream, we were able to trigger some violent strikes that really didn’t require any hook-set at all. Most of them just ripped line from the reel upon contact! When this happened, I knew that a spinnerbait would most likely work as well and instructed Norm to chuck away. Almost on his first cast, he was locked! From this point on we just covered specific areas of the water and caught almost everywhere we stopped. Although most of the fish were a little smaller than we had hoped for, their attitudes were large. They all fought like champs once hooked and who could ask for more! From 2 pounds up to 4 pounds we just kept hooking up in both shallow and deep. By shifting locations on the lake we were able to turn a desperate search for big fish into a good day. Maybe we didn’t see a fish over 6 today, but we will be into those bruisers once again. There’s still plenty of days left in the season and fall is prime time for the real trophies. Oh well, we’ll just have to get two 6 pounders next time we’re on the water to compensate for our lack of one today!!

I was back on the water again today along with Hugues, his wife Carole and their sons, Etiene & Olivier looking for more big bass. Hugues had to postpone a fishing date this summer and had chosen this day many weeks in advance, hoping for good weather. It wasn’t looking too good as the forecast called for heavy rains in the afternoon, but we took our chances anyway. We wasted no time getting on the lake and began fishing almost immediately hoping to get a break in the predicted weather. The air temps were around 60 degrees and the water temps were almost 62 degrees where we began and it didn’t take long before Carole was into her first bass of the day. Although it wasn’t too big at 3 pounds, she was still the first to land a fish. Etiene was the next to get hit and unfortunately slack was the cause of his loss as a decent smallie never even got a chance to fight. He managed to miss a few others after as well and then he locked up on one that made it to the boat. She went just over 3 pounds and still not the size I was looking for so I moved on hoping for bigger bites. Carole landed another nice one over 3 pounds on the next drift and tension was building. It was ironic that Hugues & Olivier weren’t getting into fish but I knew it was just a matter of time before that would change. Several lost fish were had before Hugues hooked up with a real beauty and after many jumps, I netted this almost 5 pound beast. He was officially on the board and only Olivier was left to land one now so I relocated to another area nearby in hopes of getting him into a few of his own. It didn’t take long and Olivier brought to the boat a nice 3.5 pound smallie and all was good. He also caught the next fish of almost 5 pounds as well and we thought he was finally getting the hang of things. The weather had now moved in and rain was falling along with a S/E wind blowing 5 to 10 knots making boat control terrible. I had to switch to casting just to be able to get bit and I knew that wasn’t the best choice for these inactive fish. Although there were only a few more bass that came aboard, there was one that went in the 6 pound class and that was a real beauty. We had seen plenty of fish in the areas we had been fishing but most of them were reluctant to take our offerings and that was just frustrating. Somewhere around 3:30 they called it a day and we headed back to the dock. It was definitely not what I had expected today but there were some quality fish landed once more. Although it would have been nice to get into a few more fish the ones we did land were all of good size and everyone caught. Let’s hope the next time Hugues and his family decide to hook up with me that the weather cooperates, leaving them wanting more. Overall a tough day, but big fish all around!!

My brother Mike had always wanted to fish a tournament with me, so we entered an event today and went in hard. Although it wasn’t anything major, there were still 21 boats registered and that was almost as many as the « Quebec Tournament Circuit « had all season. I had been out of this scene for a couple of years now and my bro even longer, so it was great to see some of the old faces at morning registration. What wasn’t too good though were the 34 degree air temps we were faced with when we arrived at the lake. Along with the cold air there was of course a heavy fog and this looked like a possible delay, or so I thought. Departure time was 8:00 and we actually left a bit earlier when everyone was in the water and ready. This never happens in the tournament world and it was real treat getting in an extra 15 minutes of fishing time. Running in the fog has never been a thrill of mine and I took it slow until we hit the open water where it was more broken up and safer to run. I knew by the 59 degree water temps in our first location that it was going to be a slow bite and started just that way. The first five fish came aboard by yours truly and if this had of been the old tournament days, it would have cost my bro a case of two four. To make matters worse, I even culled the first couple of fish as well before Mike actually woke up and got in the game. I knew by the size of these fish that every one of them would be culled throughout the day and wasn’t too excited about putting them in the livewell. Oh well, at least it’s a limit I thought! Once the sun rose and the air temps began to rise as well, I knew we would start to have better fishing with the bass. They would become active and the culling would begin! In the next few hours we were able to cull up to over 25 pounds with Mike putting three in the boat that all went over 5 pounds. We were switching up between deeper water and following the movement into the shallows as well. Some of the fish were being caught deep and some of them weren’t but we had the best of both worlds. By resting areas we were able to go back to them repeatedly and monopolize on some of the better biters. Eventually we were able to cull up to around 26 pounds or so and now we really needed a kicker to add to the bag in order to have a chance at the win. I was pretty sure it would take at least 28 pounds and never gave up the battle. I did have one come unpinned that would have definitely helped the cause late in the afternoon. We hit the deeper water again and when I hooked her, it really wasn’t any different that all the other high four pound fish we were screening through. Unfortunately when she took to the air near the boat, I realized that this fish was well over 6 pounds. One more leap and the hook and fish parted ways leaving me that empty gut feeling I had forgotten from years past. We had a bad run in this area late in the afternoon that saw about 6 or 7 lost bites and break offs. Who’s to say just how big some of them were, but it still sucked! We kept fishing, culling ounces until the bitter end when we stopped within minutes of the weigh in area and still managed to catch a couple more 4 pounders. These ones wouldn’t be helping us today and I packed it in to head to the ramp. We had caught plenty of fish but was it enough to take the win? We were soon to find out that it wasn’t as we weighed in after a bag that went 26.35 pounds. We had a solid 26.00 pounds for our 5 largest and probably could have improved it by a couple of pounds with some of the lost fish, but that’s fishing. There was another bag after us that went 27.65 pounds and that I thought was fantastic until the last team weighed in. The team of Charles & Nigel would be breaking the Canadian record for five bass with an unbelievable weight of 30.35 pounds. It was anchored with a 7.15 pound lunker that was also phenomenal. Hats off to them for doing what we all wanted to accomplish, weigh a 30 pound bag! By the time all the dust had settled, there were 5 teams with 25 pounds or better in this event. This is Lake Eerie fishing and we don’t have to drive 6 hours to get to it. We also don’t have to endure the ferocious winds and waves to catch bags like these and that’s the best part. This event will surely start people talking about just how good the Canadian smallmouth fishing actually is and create more than just a ripple. I’m thinking more like a Tsunami in the fishing world! Although we didn’t even cash a check for an average 5.20 fish in this event, it was great to be able to spend quality time with my bro and meet the old gang once again. Hopefully the next time one of these tournaments gets organized, we can do better. Better than 26 pounds isn’t something I’m use to saying and I can’t believe I’m disappointed with a weight like that. Man, are we spoiled!!!