I fished with Leonard & his grandson, Eron today on Lake St-Louis today for smallmouth bass. We were beginning to wonder if we had made the right choice in days as the weather looked like potential rain in the distance. Fortunately it was to change before noon & eventually become sunny. The winds were almost non-existent making our long run up the lake a smooth ride. It took a while before we were into the fish and Leonard was the first to hook up on a soft plastic jerk-bait. The water temps were almost 70 degrees but continue to lose temp every night with the cooling air. Eventually both Leonard and Eron were into fish and Eron seemed to be catching some of the largest ones of the day, up to 4 pounds on senko’s. He had a couple the measured 18.5 inches and would have been a solid contender in an ongoing tournament had he been of age to register. After catching many bass and missing many more, we decided to try another area further away. The lack of wind and high sunshine made locating these offshore shoals a simple task. Leonard hooked into the first fish of about 3 pounds on a tiny crankbait and I knew we were going to get into them. I had Eron throwing a jerk-bait across e flats and I saw several large fish following it back to the boat that may have committed if he was aware of their presence. I thought I would throw a tube along the outside in deeper water and came up with several bites in a short time with a couple of them going in the high 4 pound range that went airborne and just came off. Unfortunately this only lasted a short while until the winds went SE on us and sent the fish into a lockjaw mode. We stuck it out for a little longer and then called t a day. There was no sense pursuing this any longer as it was getting late and the fish just weren’t cooperating. By the end of the day the total count landed would have been around 20 bass with at least that many or more lost or missed. A good day that could have been a great one!!

Warren and his brother, Shawn were to fish with me today and I had to reconsider my lake options in the morning when the reports had 20 to 30 knot winds forecasted. I needed to have a lake with some sort of shelter and not so wide that the waves were unbearable. Water temps were 67 degrees and the waves were 2 to 3 footers on our first spot making boat control quite difficult. Unfortunately the winds intensified and the waves got worse, forcing us to leave the area completely and move closer to the shore. The smallies weren’t cooperating much with only a couple of fish caught, so I thought I would reconsider my options once again and try for largemouth in canals. Apparently it was a good choice as Warren landed one over 5 pounds in the first one we fished, on a senko. At least in here, we were able to fish without being blown all over the place! The second spot was to prove to be an area we stayed for the rest of the day. There were so many arms that we never needed to venture onto the lake until we were ready to leave and took advantage of our fortune. Shawn hooked into the first fish on a scumfrog and had to power out a big largie of over 5 pounds from all the vegetation. What a beauty she was and we quickly returned her to the water after a few pictures! Both Warren & Shawn continued to catch fish all afternoon as we just covered water in the series of canals. Senko’s and scumfrogs were the best choices in this jungle of vegetation and the fish were definitely on in the 75-degree water. By the time we were done, there were probably over 30 largemouth bass caught with a couple of them over 5 pounds. We really made the best of a miserable day with the protected largemouth inlets and were thankful for the results!

Sam, Stephan and Anthony were to fish with me today on a nearby lake for more bass action. We had a rather cold night of barely 50 degrees and I hoped this hadn’t affected the smallies too bad for where we were to fish. The water temps had dropped a few degrees and were now 66.5 with an air temp of mid 50’s. It felt more like the fall than summer! The skies were clear & bright sunshine helped, but the cool NW wind made it feel colder than it actually was. Several places were tried for smallmouth in the morning, but only a few large fish were seen and nothing big was caught. The only big fish hooked was Sam when Anthony buried a hook in his ear casting a tiny crankbait. This was the first time this season that I was forced to do surgery on someone and all went well as I removed his newly acquired earring. They all quickly realized how lucky he was and how much worse it could have been that close to the eye and were a little more careful when casting afterwards. Accidents happen, but everyone really needs to be aware while fishing with other people around them and be extremely cautious while casting! After fishing several of the better areas for smallies and coming up with only a few northern pike, I thought I would bring the guys shallow and try for largemouth instead. The sun had been up for a while and we were officially in a major with the water in this area above 73 degrees. I knew they would be on and it didn’t take long before everyone was hooking up with bass. Anthony managed to get the largest one when he locked up with a 4-pounder inches from the shore and had to muscle it out of the weeds to the boat. There were probably around 30 or more largemouth taken in the next few hours and the action was definitely better than the 1st half of the day. We hit a few more spots afterwards with minimal success and a few smallies and then called it a day. We had to make adjustments during the day, but made the best of a not so perfect situation with all the cold water we were dealt. Fortunately, the largemouth cooperated!!

Welcome to Friday the 13th! I’m usually not a superstitious person, but today was the kind of day that might convert someone. I was to fish with Gino again, but on a different lake for smallies once more. It began with my cat staring down at a skunk in the back yard while I had my morning coffee and got worse! While I was loading the boat I realized that the solar lights on my front lawn decorating the trim of the house were mostly gone. It seemed that someone liked them better than my wife did and decided to swipe 7 out of 10 from the grass. I’m sure that they would have taken all of them if it hadn’t been for the neighbor’s son scaring them off sometime in the early morning hours. Now to the fishing report! It began with our drive to the lake in heavy rain somewhere along the way. While I was gassing up, about 100 seagulls flew from the roof of a building and straight over my head. Let’s just say that I am thankful that there was a roof to duck under because I think they all let loose at the same time! Once on the water, we began by throwing senko’s to rocky flats and boulder strewn areas looking for big bites. The first place only produced one fish as Gino was battling a 4 pounder to the net. On the next shoal, we managed to get 4 big bites, landed 3 bass all over 4 pounds and broke one fish off on the hookset that was probably the same size as well. After this, we were forced to take shelter under a bridge nearby when “Mother Nature” decided to light up the sky with an incredible thunderstorm that kept us hiding for almost an hour. As soon as it was safe to venture back out we did and Gino locked up with a big fish almost instantly. This time however, it was a largemouth and well over 5 pounds. I’m sure if I had a scale, it would have gone closer to 6 pounds. The rest of the afternoon saw fish here & there, but all big with an average greater than 4 pounds each. With another storm approaching in the distance, we fished one last area before we made a dash back to the ramp. I was glad we stuck it out as long as we did because both Gino & I managed to get one more fish apiece that were also over 4 pounds each before we left. They say in life that timing is everything and boy are they right! We managed to get the boat on the trailer and unload it before the skies let loose once again. All in all, it was a great day with only big fish to show for our efforts. If this were a tournament, there would have been a stringer of 21 pounds or better to weigh in.

Gino & I fished on Lake St-Louis today and tried trolling a bit for Walleye & Pike. This wasn’t very productive and eventually we opted for the smallies once again. This was definitely the right choice as both of us were soon to find out. This was going to be a half-day of fishing and we began around midday. High sunshine, warm temps of 80 plus degrees and a wind from the W at 10 to 15 knots were what we were greeted with on our run up the lake. The water temps went above 70 degrees, finally and began an upward trend that should begin to activate some of these lethargic fish. We got into several smallies in the 4-pound range with the largest going 19.5 inches in length. Tubes and soft plastic jerk-baits accounted for these fish before we moved off to try another area later in the afternoon. The winds had begun to kick up a little stronger and were now blowing at 15 to 20 knots with stronger gusts from the W making the boat ride a little splashy. I thought I would try an area closer to the ramp that I hadn’t yet fished this year, just in case the winds became stronger. Well, they did and trying to control the boat became a real chore when the edge of the shoal looked more like a rip tide than the lake we were on. A few more smallies were caught with some other larger followers before we were forced to get out of there. Too bad too, because I thin we could have really gotten into them given he opportunity. In the first three casts, two smallies were hooked and another shortly afterwards on a spider jig in deeper water. All in all a decent afternoon regardless of the strong winds we were forced to endure.