Today, I had the pleasure of fishing with Mike and his father Steve on a local lake. The last time Mike was with me, it was with his son Ryan and he thought it would be nice to have his dad experience some of the same action. As it turned out, this was to be an unbelievable samllmouth bass day! Unlike the last time, today was a day with sunshine and occasional cloud cover. No Rain Gear! The air temps hit the mid 60’s and the water temps were around 59 degrees in most areas. We began by dragging tubes and spider grubs in some deeper water and it wasn’t long before Steve was into his first smallmouth, ever. The start of a good day is when it takes less than 30 seconds to hook up! Mike had a rough time just hanging onto the bass as many were lost before his first one came aboard. The fish were biting a little light and letting go shortly after they were hooked. Eventually, we made the necessary adjustments and they were into plenty of fish on each and every drift we made. The winds were almost non existent making for a pleasant day on the water. Smallies averaging 2.5 pounds were being caught regularly and an occasional 3.5 to 4 pounder as well. By mid day, the sunshine had been out long enough to warm the shallower water and I thought we would give it a try for a while. It was definitely the right decision as Steve & Mike had multiple hook-ups, mostly on tubes. A few of the larger fish were taking senko’s too! From deep to shallow to mid depth, they had action all day long. If all the fish were to be landed, the total would have exceeded 75 bass, but they had to settle for about 60 percent of the hook-ups instead. All in all a great day for both size and numbers.

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Hugues & his son Olivier as well as a Gilbert, a business associate of Hugues. We headed to the St-Lawrence River & dragged tubes & spider grubs all day long. With this many people on board, safety comes first. No treble hook lures rigged! The weather held out for us all day with overcast skies and cool N winds until afternoon. Fortunately they were light and not too cold! The air temps were in the mid 60’s and the water temps were 59 degrees. The biggest problem we were going to have to face was the water clarity. It looked like coffee with two cream! I had a hard time finding areas that the fish would actually be able to see our presentations. The action wasn’t fast & furious like I had anticipated as we picked a couple here & there in pretty much every spot we fished. Olivier definitely had the hot hand in the morning as he surpassed everyone on board. Gilbert managed to land the biggest with one over 5 pounds and another topping the 4 pound mark. Hugues also had a bruiser on for a short while until she decided to go airborne and threw the hook. In the afternoon, we finally got to an area that began to produce steady action for a while. Both father & son hooked up and landed a couple of smallies at the same time. Finally, a double! Gilbert stood his ground as well with a couple of bass and a nice walleye to his credit. All the usual areas had some fish, but the visibility definitely played a role in the numbers today. We hit a couple more areas and they all landed a few more fish before we called it a day and headed to the ramp. It was definitely a challenge today as 25 or so smallies up to & over 5 pounds came to the net. There were plenty of others lost and missed as well. All in all a pretty decent day just drifting & dragging!

After a long and disappointing tournament on Lake Champlain recently, I was back on the water today with Joe for more smallie action. He hadn’t caught too many of these bronze beasts before and was in for a real treat! We were blessed with beautiful weather & sunny skies almost all day long. Air temps went into the low 70’s and the water temps were around 61 degrees, depending on where we were. Light winds from the S/E turned to heavier winds from the N at the end of the day, but the fishing was great. We mixed it up a little with deep water being the best areas we were to encounter. The shallower water produced some big fish, but the majority of them were rather spooky in the sunshine. Tubes, spider grubs and senko’s were about all we needed to use today as Joe learned several new techniques. The 20 to 30 foot range proved to give up more of the bigger fish in the 4 to 5+ size, so we concentrated mostly there. By the end of the day, there had to be between 40 & 50 smallies landed and plenty more missed or just lost. Overall, a great day on the water!!

I had the pleasure of fishing with Jeff once again, for the past three days. To say the fishing was good would have been an understatement! Day one saw beautiful sunny skies and temps that went into the 80’s by afternoon. Light winds from the S/E caused only a ripple and the water temps were around 64 degrees. Jeff started the day out with his first hook-up in under a minute when a 3 pounder inhaled his tube in 25 feet of water. This was the kind of day that was to continue as fish after fish fell victim to our offerings on each & every drift we made. There had to be at least 35 fish landed up to 5 pounds by the time we called it quits. Day 2 proved to be quite similar as Jeff managed a 5 pounder immediately on the first drift once again. The weather was somewhat different though as we had light drizzle that eventually turned to rain. Our air temps fell overnight & we were only in the mid 60’s by afternoon. Fortunately, the rain was here & there and most of it was spent in the clouds. Water temps remained the same as we fished deep as well as shallow. A few good fish over 4 pounds were caught on senko’s in the shallows but it was the deep water & tubes that consistently produced for us. We ended the day on a high note as Jeff landed another 4.5 pound smallie on our last drift. What a day once more! The total count must have been equal to yesterday as neither of us could remember by the time we headed out. Day 3 was to prove to be somewhat different as we opted for another body of water. With sunshine and clouds expected to move in later in the afternoon with winds of 25 knots, we opted for a body of water that provided some shelter. Water temps were around 65 to 66 degrees and the air temps remained about the same as we began. It took a little longer before we were able to hook-up & the first 3 pounder came from deeper water once more. It seems that everywhere I fish lately, the better fish are at least 20 feet deep! Once we began, several others were caught as well before we relocated. Almost each & every spot we fished produced at least one fish and a few areas had multiple hook-ups. Unfortunately, Jeff lost his best fish of the day when she went airborne & threw the spinnerbait. Overall a tougher day with around 20 fish seen up & over 5 pounds once more. The fall fishing has definitely not began quite yet as the fish are still remaining deep! It will only get better in the weeks to come!!

I fished with Jack today on a local lake for smallies and had quite an interesting day. The weather was a spectacular sunny day with air temps reaching into the 70’s and no wind. Water temps were around the 63 degree range in most areas and the bass were deep. The bulk of the fish came from between 20 & 30 feet of water on tubes & spider grubs. He did manage to get a few fish out of the shallower water on senko’s and jigs as well, but it was really slow there. Being from the southern states, he hadn’t really experienced smallmouth fishing much before and left with sore arms from all the smallies he battled through the day. Fish over 5 pounds were landed and most of the 40 bass were over 3 pounds. There was also a bonus fish that he battled for several minutes on light line and a spider jig that amazed both of us. With a little luck and great difficulty, we actually boated a Muskie that must have weighed at least 30 pounds or more. This fish was really old looking and had several healed over scars on her back. It wasn’t the prettiest thing to look at, but it was impressive! This was Jack’s first ever sighting of a big Muskie and battle as well. After about a 10 minute reviving, she finally went on her way back to the depths where she belonged. Overall, I would have to rank this day on the water as one of the most entertaining ones this season. The bass were great as usual, but the Muskie was a real treat, for both!