Quebec Fishing Reports
A Challenging Dayaoût 17, 2024
Steve had 3 of his nephews with him today, hoping to get into fish. Nathan, Dylan and Dan, all joined him and were immediately hooked up on our first spot. Two of the three bass were landed but a major tangle had them out of the game right after. It’s always tricky drifting with 4 lines in the water!
After the reset, everyone resumed fishing and with each drift we made, more fish were landed. Pike, walleye and bass were being caught and everyone was catching fish. Once it slowed, I decided to try something else and headed somewhere to troll.
With lines in, I began to cover water and was surprised to see that the first fish took so long to fire the reel. The second one was a bit quicker and before we knew it, pike were being landed by all. By covering water, I was able to get them into more fish and even added a second walleye to the livewell for them tonight. When this area died off, I decided to fish near where we had started the day and almost immediately, they had a double header. This lasted for several passes until the wind died and the drifts were practically motionless. Getting bit was tougher now, despite seeing the fish on the screen. One more move to another spot also proved tough but Steve managed to catch a red horse sucker on a dropshot. I knew this was a sign and packed everything up for the day!
Despite the lack of wind today, we managed to make it work. Drifting was tough, but plenty of chances were had by everyone and fish were caught. Mostly bass and pike were landed, but in the end, they were able to take 3 good walleye back with them for a dinner tonight. Overall, a difficult but rewarding day!!
Another Busy Dayaoût 15, 2024
Another day with a double booking saw me taking Matt and his wife Jane out in the morning and Mark Iin the afternoon. The first group started on bass & walleye and managed to boat several good fish right away. After about 90 minutes of dropshotting an area, with plenty of fish, they requested to try trolling for pike. Who was I to say different! We packed up and made the run!
After setting everything up and changing rods, we began the troll and it didn’t take long to fire the first reel. Jane brought a good northern to the net and it wasn’t the last. For the next couple of hours, they both reeled in several more pike and Jane even managed to get her first walleye as well. I guess the move was the right decision!
They had landed plenty of fish in a short period of time and decided to call it a bit early. We packed up and headed back to the dock, ending their morning trip. It was chock full of quality fish including bass, pike and walleye and they were happy. Who could ask for anything more!
Mark arrived right on time for the second half of the day and I ran out close to where I had fished this morning. I needed to teach him how to drift a dropshot and began on a rocky flat. It took a little fine tuning but he eventually got the hang of it and I moved him to where the fish were. We made drifts over several good marks on the sonar. He finally got a bite and landed a nice smallie. He had officially graduated!
We spent most of the time making different drifts over this flat and he continued to hook up multiple times. I too fished a bit and added to our catch, showing him a few more tricks to finesse the fish into taking. Although there weren’t many pics taken, it didn’t matter. He had finally caught fish today after several unsuccessful attempts on his own this season. I only hope that this is the end to his fishless days alone!
Today was another great day of fishing with both outings leaving fulfilled. They had landed plenty of fish and learnt a few new tricks along the way. Mother nature could have been a little more cooperative, but I’m used to her now and adjust accordingly! Hopefully soon, she will calm down, after the big blow that has been upon us since last Friday’s monsoon. Great times were had by all!!
Covering Wateraoût 14, 2024
Gaetan & Michel were with me today and hoping for a sturgeon or two. I wasn’t sure how it would be, due to the big winds from the west, once again. We travelled a long way to almost set up, before the winds got even bigger. It wasn’t going to happen today!
Plan B was to fish for bass and walleye and I headed to some deeper places to give it a try. The shallow areas are all still too dirty from the rain last week and the daily winds definitely weren’t helping either. At least deeper, we would have a chance!
Several places were fished but only small fish were caught before we moved to a different area on the lake. Although I was marking all kinds of fish, most of them refused our offerings. Both Gaetan and Michel had chances, but not many fish were caught!
It wasn’t until mid afternoon when they started catching better fish and this lasted right until the end. Bass, walleye and even a good-sized pike were landed before we were done. They decided to call the day one hour earlier in hopes of avoiding some of the traffic heading home.
Today wasn’t what I had hoped for but despite all that mother nature threw at us, they still managed to get into a bunch of good fish. In the end, it all worked out. They even got to take a few of their catch home to be eaten tonight!!
The Day Afteraoût 13, 2024
After cancelling the last 3 days due to winds and heavy rains, I was finally back out with John & Kim. They were going to have to work for the fish today as the winds were still big! The water was also very high and stained and I wasn’t sure how this would affect the fishing. Only time would tell!
Our first spot only produced a few bass and they were on the small side. After 3 drifts, I decided to make a move and try another area nearby, in hopes of better results. This place was also slower than I had expected, but at least the fish were bigger. Both John & Kim landed some really good bass, giving me hope. Although I was marking many fish, only some of them wanted to move to eat.
I changed areas frequently and they managed fish from each place we stopped. As the afternoon passed, I decided to try a couple of the places I was at this morning and amazingly enough, they were on fire now. I’m not sure if we just hit a feeding window or if the water was cleaning up, but they were eating. We ended the day dodging storms all around us, but all the while catching fish.
Today was an interesting one filled with many challenges. Thankfully the fishing picked up in the afternoon and many fish were landed, again! Both walleye and smallies were fought today in this high, dirty water. I only hope that in the next couple of days, it clears up allowing for higher numbers again. Better days ahead!!
Double Group Day Againaoût 9, 2024
I had the pleasure of fishing with two different families today. Kelvin, Susan & their son, Nathan were with me in the morning and Craig & his son, Dominic in the afternoon. Both groups managed to catch plenty of fish and had a blast. Kelvin hoped to get into smallies and he did just that. Along with the bass, they also managed to fight a few nice walleye too!
The afternoon saw more wind than I hoped for and the direction wasn’t great! We had spent the morning dropshotting, but now the wind direction saw me making a long run to try trolling. In the end it all worked out because they managed to catch some really nice walleye and pike. They ended their trip by dropshotting in 3 footers, from a ridiculous direction. I had to angle the boat just to stay on the area, but they caught several more fish including some big ones again!
It’s always a challenge to have two groups, especially when the conditions change during the day. I adjusted a few times and managed to keep everyone on fish and that’s all that counts. Great fishing by everyone today!!