I fished with Max & Denis today on the Ottawa River for Largemouth Bass. The first time out there is always the hardest, but this time was an exception. Temperatures were in the upper 70’s to low 80’s, and the water temps never exceeded 70. The water was quite low for this time of the season and it was also very stained from the rains & winds. We also had a very strong W/SW wind with gusts up to 25 or more knots. This time we were glad for the wind, as the deer flies were absolutely insane. Without it, there would be no way to fish! It took quite a while to get the first bass as we found out that they were already into the summer patterns. Grass lines and plastic worms accounted for the first few hook ups and slugs caught several more afterwards. We stayed on the same type of cover and caught many more in the afternoon on Scum Frogs & Slugs. The weather began to push a storm front into our area and sent us running for the boat ramp by 5:00. All in all, a good day with about a dozen bass and some pike caught. The largest bass went just under 5 pounds and would have been more if it wasn’t all spawned out.

I went to Lake Memphremagog & fished a bass tournament today. Unfortunately, the weather was the best it has been in days and that made for lots of small fish for everyone. We managed to finish 8th out of 58 boats with a weight of just under 14 pounds for the five best smallmouth. The winner had just over 15 pounds. To say it was close would be an understatement. The day started with blue bird skis and cooler temperatures of 55 degrees. Eventually it warmed up to over 70 degrees and the winds were from the E/NE at 10 to 15 knots. The water temperatures had also dropped about 10 degrees since the middle of the week before. Water clarity was like coffee with 2 creams from all the rain we have received lately. All our better fish managed to come from open water shoals in 10 to 20 feet of water by slowly dragging tubes. Other fish were taken on jerk-baits and a few on top-water as well. Lots of fish, but not the quality I am use to on Lake Memphremagog. Oh well, there’s always tomorrow!

I fished with Nathan, his son Devin & his friend Jacob today on Lake of Two Mountains for smallmouth bass. The day started off with high winds from the N/NW at 15 to 25 knots and two to three footers greeting us in the face. I had to shoot across the bay to an island where I was able to find some shelter from this crap. Within the first couple of minutes, Jacob caught the first bass. After about an hour, he had the only 5. We changed locations a few times and everyone caught fish. Devin managed to get the largest fish, once again as he landed a 3.5-pound post spawner. The water was really cold for this time of year at 64 degrees and the air didn’t seem any warmer. Crankbaits were the only lures able to catch fish as the water looked like coffee with three creams. To say the visibility was bad would have been an understatement. Within the first two inches of the surface, a bright lure disappeared! Between the cold water and lack of visibility, we were fortunate to catch the 15 or so bass that we did. Overall, a good day!

Opening day for bass in Quebec and off to Lake St-Louis I went. I had the pleasure of fishing with Andre & his friend from Paris, Christian. Unfortunately the weather was not very nice as we had rain & heavy rain, all day. There was a small window in the afternoon for about an hour when it stopped and the fishing improved dramatically. The air temps never reached 60 degrees and he winds were from the N/NW at 15 to 20 MPH with stronger gusts at times. Basically, the weather was terrible! Even the water temps were below average at 65 degrees. Both smallmouth & largemouth were caught today using a variety of lure presentations. Shallower water slugs were used in the weeds to take the largemouth and a few were taken on a scum frog as well. The smallmouth were caught on spinnerbaits and tubes off rocky points and shoals. Amazingly, we endured all that Mother Nature had to offer, right down to the miserable windy, rainy ride back to the boat ramp in three-foot waves. What an opening day to remember!

Another day alone on Memphremagog and fortunately no one else had to endure this miserable rainy one. I stayed in the truck at the boat ramp waiting out the first heavy down pour for about a half hour before launching the boat in a clearing. Heavy mist stayed in the air for the most part of the day with occasional rain every half hour or so. By about 1:00 in the afternoon, the real heavy stuff came in and it was relentless. The air temps were in the low 70’s with high humidity and the water temps were once again in the low 70’s in most places. I began fishing the deeper water off open structures in about 15 to 20 feet of water hoping for a couple of bigger female smallmouth and about 5 minutes into the drift, hooked up. I thought I had a good one when I set the hook and knew it was a heavy fish! Unfortunately, it turned out to be a Chain Pickerel about 4 or 5 pounds. Not what I was looking for! I managed to catch about 3 more of the same size before I gave up on the deeper water and headed shallower. The 4 to 12 foot areas had better fish as I caught several in the 3 to 4 pound size by targeting other areas similar to these. Top-water was once again a great choice for numbers, but definitely smaller fish. Close to 75 bass were caught today using a variety of techniques!