Norm & I hit the water early this morning, hoping to monopolize on every minute of daylight. Today was going to be a winner and we didn’t want to miss it! As with most trips, his faithful companion Buddha tagged along as well. I don’t think Norm would have made it out of his house alone, when the dog saw him carrying his rods. Buddha has grown to love the boat and really doesn’t like it when Norm travels solo, making it impossible for him to sneak out undetected. The sun was just starting to rise above the overnight clouds when we launched and the water was flat calm. Forecasts called for sun, no wind and temps in the upper 50’s. Who could ask for more! The first area began producing almost immediately as Norm locked up on one of many of the 3.5 pound clones we would encounter throughout the day. A slow presentation was the ticket with the 43 degree water we were faced with and the bites were subtle. So subtle that some of the fish were dropping the baits even before we had a chance to set the hook. It would take a few hours with the sun up to activate them and I knew we would have to fish slowly before the aggression set in. This was one of those days that everyone was also taking advantage of as there were plenty of boats on the water. I guess a lot of people called in sick today! As with most days out, I have to be cautious when fishing around other boats as they seem to like the same areas, apparently! We continued to hit several current breaks and with the fallen water from the last couple of days, fish positioning had changed. If you could read the water correctly, you would succeed. If not, there would be less fish caught as they had repositioned into the softer water once again. We really never went long between bites and had plenty of action throughout the day. Enough action that is to keep the “Buddha Bear” alert and on his feet all day! I’d love to have a video of him when someone hooks up as he gets just as excited. Let’s just say that he sleeps well after a day on the water! The action finally picked up shortly after mid day and for a while it seemed like every fish was willing to eat our offerings. Many quality sized bass were coming aboard and Buddha loved the release. We had to toss them a little further each time as he wanted to kiss every one! Several times we found him just licking the net after! Late in the afternoon, on this incredible November day, we decided to call it quits. We had milked every minute of daylight and the sun was starting to set when we packed it in and headed back to the ramp. I’d have to say that today was probably the nicest one by far this fall and I pray for many more just like it. What a perfect end to an equally perfect day!!

Well, after yesterday’s incredible winds I knew I would have to adjust today with pretty much the same conditions forecasted. Scott, Mike & Chris joined me but this time we fished a smaller lake hoping not to get crushed again. We arrived around 8:30 under much cooler temps of 52 degrees and overcast skies but the winds were a lot less in strength. They never really got any stronger than about 10 to 15 knots and the cooler air only topped out at 55 degrees. Within a few minutes of arrival we were fishing and Scott wasted no time locating the first bass on a jerkbait. A smaller fish of about 2.5 pounds came to the boat and he was on the board! Both Chris & Mike were throwing jigs in anticipation of one of their own as we covered water still searching for bigger & better. Scott managed to get hold of a second fish slightly over 3 pounds on the jerkbait once more along the bank we were covering and I knew it was just a matter of time before the others would be into some of their own. We shifted areas and I decided to hit a deeper water hump off shore and on Chris’s first cast with the jig, he was locked! This was definitely a better fish and the net came out to ensure its arrival into the livewell. A four pounder was now swimming in the tank as Mike almost added to the board one of his as well. Unfortunately, it came unpinned but Chris recovered for him with another of similar size and I knew there were more. It bounced back & forth between both Scott & Chris but Mike still needed to land one of his in order to fully eliminate the skunk he was carrying. As the person with the least experience of the three, I had mentioned that by days end he would have the largest fish of the group. It always happens that way! Mike finally hooked up on the next spot and ironically, he got the only three fish from there too. From that point on, it was one here and one there with a few bite offs from the Musky. Throughout the day we picked at them and eventually decided to try trolling for Musky for a little while. Unfortunately, the area I wanted to fish had a water ski course set up right in the zone where the fish live. Although it was a little difficult, I somehow managed to keep clear of their ropes and floats and actually had a 4 foot rip on one of the rods almost immediately. Damn drive-byes, I hate them! I decided to try casting the area instead and followed the bank carefully, looking for another fish as Scott casted the big plug in anticipation. Unfortunately, it was not to happen and after 15 minutes of throwing the chunk of lumber, he was done. I figured we would complete the pass before trying trolling once more and hooked up on about the tenth cast. Although the musky wasn’t a giant, they at least got to see what they looked like on this lake. The 30 incher was released immediately! Idiots come in all shapes and forms and we were about to see a new style as a ski boat decided to remove the markers that were blocking our trolling pass. Unfortunately, they just cut the balloons from the ropes and left the lines in the water. Imagine that! Well, we had the biggest rip I have ever had while trolling after and I wasn’t surprised to see it was a rope line. What a bunch of morons! I had a hard time retrieving the lure from the line and once I did, we were out of there. With the day closing in on an end I decided to try one of the areas we had hit earlier in the day and was glad we did. Chris locked up with a nice fish almost immediately when we found the deep rocks. After that one, Mike & I doubled and both were on the large size. I had Scott net Mikes and immediately after, mine. The net bowl looked awesome as two over 5 pounds were laying side by side in the rubber mesh. Right down to the wire and Mike had finally come through with the largest bass of the day. It was also his personal best and deserved a couple of good pics for the memory. We decided to call it a day after the next spot and hooking into nothing. All the fish were in the livewell and were released after a quick photo shoot before we were on our way. This move away from the city and hurricane like winds was obviously the right choice as we managed to scratch out some real beauties on the remote northern lake. I think everyone will remember this day and especially Mike as he remains on the top at least until their next outing!!