I had the day off so I decided to fish with an old friend of mine from Ottawa. Keith was about to experience one of the finest fall fishing days of his life as we targeted huge smaallmouth bass. The weather was a beautiful sunny cool one with air temps in the mid 40’s and no wind. The sunshine definitely makes a difference at this time of year for the warmth! Water temps were 53 degrees and cooling daily with the night temperatures nearing the freezing mark. Keith started his day off right with a smallie over four pounds within the first 5 minutes. Nice fish for a starter, but I knew the best was yet to come. Not wanting to let him lead for too long, I slammed into one even bigger shortly after and showed him what a five-pound smallmouth looks like. Several more fish were caught and a few others lost before Keith finally hooked into what I was searching for. This one came aboard and weighed 5 pounds 4 ounces. A personal best for him! The rest of the day was a little slow, as the fishing seemed to shut down after the big one was caught. We covered plenty more water and caught a few other fish, but nothing really over 4 pounds. I figured we’d take a few quick photos and fish for a little longer before we called it quits. With the sun going down and the temps getting cooler, a few more casts were about all that was left in this beautiful day. I landed one more 4 pounder on a tube and Keith should have topped that one if the hooks would have stayed in. A 4.5-pound smallie went airborne and I’m sure I saw it laughing at Keith as the hook went flying out. With this, I knew it was time to call it quits and headed for the boat ramp. It would have been a sin to have not been out there on this spectacular fall day!

I fished with Rod, Craig & Jack today on Lake Champlain (Mississquoi Bay) It was going to be a little crowded being all in one boat, so I got Benji once again to aid me on this day. It started out a little slow for Rod & Craig, but Benji had Jack into a 3.5-pound smallmouth in a few casts. We had to cover a lot of water before the first bass came aboard and were glad to see it. Casting spinnerbaits and crankbaits were only accounting for a few fish here & there so I decided that it was time for a change. With the wind blowing from the N/NE at 15 to 20 knots, I knew that a drift & drag with tubes & spider grubs would be productive. It wasn’t long before everyone was hooking up in deeper water! Doubles and even triples happened several times throughout the afternoon as all three guys started to see what the numbers thing was all about. Plenty of bass from 1 to 3.5 pounds were now being caught with regularity. With the sunshine showing for the first time in several days, the cool 45-degree air temperatures actually felt warm for a change. The water temps continue to drop with each and every passing day and today with this wind we were finding 51 to 53 degrees the norm. By mid afternoon, the winds were subsiding and the drift thing was going to become a casting thing. Without the aid of the wind to push us along we were forced to use the electric motor and this never seems to be as productive. Plenty of fish were still being caught, but the presentations weren’t the same. With this spectacular weather, we decided to hold out till about 5:30 or so and managed to see about 50 to 60 bass landed by days end. Many more were lost as well on this crisp, fall day! All in all, a great day on the water!

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with Scott & Manson from Ontario. We decided that big fish would be the choice over a numbers day and headed to lake St-Francis for smallmouth bass. Apparently, it was the right choice as both of them landed the largest smallies of their lives, several times over. With all the rain we had been having lately, the water levels had rose and discolored considerably. This was going to make the presentations more difficult! A heavy, misty rain and fog was what we began our day in and only a few periods in the afternoon had it subside to just a haze. To say the visibility wasn’t too good would have been an understatement! We had another day with very similar conditions to yesterday, no wind, but a bit warmer. The air temperatures were in the mid 60’s but very humid and the water temps were close to 60. Scott dominated the first half of the day, as every fish he landed seemed to be in the 4-pound or better class. His largest went a whopping 5.6 pounds! Manson seemed to redeem himself right at the end of the day as he scored several fish over four pounds in a very short time, just before we were ready to leave. They probably had opportunities at over ten fish in just the last hour that bumped up the numbers before days end! Fortunately, they landed more than they lost! All in all, I would estimate that there were close to 20 huge smallies landed and many others missed on this “Big Fish Day”.

Today was quite a day of fishing as an additional three boats aided me with the 8 clients from Colorado. Marc, Brian & Benji were really helpful as they provided a great day of fishing for all those willing to brave this miserable, misty outing. When this many fishermen get together you can rest assure that there will be some sort of side betting going on! The competition was for; first fish, most fish, largest bass and largest pike! I think that my boat with Kevin & Shawn got the first fish award as they landed a bass within their first three casts. Brian’s group, Dan & Bob managed to receive top honors in the pike category with one over 8 and another over 9 pounds. Marc’s guys, Rex & Doug picked up the other two with the most fish & largest bass awards. They landed about 30 bass and had a couple just under 4 pounds to their credit! Benji’s gang, Mike & Chad didn’t receive any of the glory, but still managed to catch around 20 bass. I would estimate that there was close to 100 bass caught on this cool, rainy day. All I can say is thank god for rain suits! With the air temps below 60 degrees and the water temperatures closer to 57, the bite was rather bizarre. Spinnerbaits didn’t seem to work as well in the morning as they did in the afternoon. Tubes and spider grubs definitely were a better choice, as most of these fish weren’t all that active in the earlier hours of the day. The flat calm conditions made for comfortable riding, but I would have liked a little wind for the fishing. All in all, a great day considering how miserable “Mother Nature” was to these 8 guys from the “Power Motive Corporation” in Denver, Colorado.

Today, I had the pleasure of fishing with a honeymoon couple from Maryland. Megan & Steven tied the knot this past weekend and joined me in Mississquoi Bay for smallmouth bass. Not since my own marriage had I ever come across a couple that loved to fish as much as we do. Congratulations are definitely in order for these newlyweds! The first half hour of the morning was a little slow as they threw spinnerbaits without any success. I slowed down the presentation with texas-rigged tubes and they began to hook up with regularity. The water conditions were poor with low levels and stained visibility. The temps were in the upper 50’s and the air wasn’t much warmer. Winds were once again from the N/NE at 10 to 20 knots and the skies were overcast, all day long. After several hours of battling the waves and the wind, the water became too dirty to fish effectively. I decided that relocation was in order and looked for cleaner water nearby. A slightly deeper flat provided us with the conditions I was searching for and it didn’t take long before the first bass came aboard. Steven had his work cut out for him, as his better half dominated the morning. Fortunately, there were plenty of bass throughout this area to provide action all around. If numbers were what they were looking for, they definitely had that! We lost count, but I am sure there were at least 50 or 60 bass caught & released up to about 4 pounds. Megan may have caught more, but the largest had to go to Steven as he redeemed himself during the second half of the day. They will have plenty of memories & stories to tell about how they spent their honeymoon in the years to come. I wish them all the best in their marriage and hope that this passion never ends!