Lance and his son Chandler were back again today for more action. We started out running in 3 footers hoping to get away from the wind and found the rest of the lake pretty much the same. First spot produced a good bass, on the first cast and unfortunately that was all she wrote!

I was fishing in big waves and they were having a hard time feeling anything, so we changed it up and headed trolling. This proved to be somewhat more comfortable but the fish weren’t cooperating here either. Five on and five off! We just couldn’t seem to keep them pinned and pulled the plug in frustration.

With the winds building I decided to try an area completely exposed to the blow before it got too bad. Here they managed to land several smallies and Chandler even caught his first northern. Go figure, I troll for them and they all get off! He also managed to get into a few bass here as well.

Once the bite slowed and the winds grew more, I moved again to what turned out to be our last spot. The water was very stained from all the wind, making it even more difficult to get bit. Although they had a few strikes, they only managed to land one of the bass from the area. I would have stuck it out longer and tried a few other spots, but they had enough for the day and we packed it in.

The run back was a real roller coaster with 4’s & 5’s in some areas. It definitely was the worst I’ve seen so far this season! I literally had to ride it like a sailboat, tacking a few times along the way. By running in the troughs & crests, we were able to stay dry and not swamp the boat. Sure nice to have power in the main engine again!

Although we never really got into a great bite these last two days, the fishing was still good enough to catch a few firsts. Lance & Chandler got to experience fish that they had never caught before and some new techniques as well. With the winds as bad as they were, I was unable to fish most of the places that I had wanted and had to settle for secondary areas. Add to that the unbelievable amount of floating weeds and drifting over deeper flats, were completely out of the question too! I’m just glad that they enjoyed themselves by catching fish that they hadn’t before. Overall, it was a successful couple of days of fishing!

Don had to fill in for me this morning as I spent a few hours at the Raisin River Marine, having my main engine looked at. Loss of power yesterday had me idling back on the kicker and fearing the worst! Fortunately Rod found the problem quickly and fixed it, allowing me to pick up my clients by 10:30. Now that’s service!

Lance and his son Chandler made their way back to the dock where they transferred boats for the balance of their outing. Don had helped me out again and decided to head back out himself as he was already on the water anyway!

I ran to the first area, loving the power of the motor once again! Lance was first to hook up and it was a beauty. His son had caught all the fish earlier with Don and it was time for a little payback! He not only landed the first but the second one as well. Eventually Chandler got into a few of his own and now they were both catching smallies.

I had Chandler throwing a top water bait and although he only managed to hook one of the bass, he did have several other blow ups. Soft plastics were soon exchanged for the surface lure and results were much better!

With the wind picking up considerably we headed to another place and a little drop shotting. They would be casting the rigs and although only a few fish were landed, there were a couple of walleye in the mix. Neither of them had ever caught a walleye and a few pics were taken to preserve the memory.

The winds were now blowing even harder, so I decided to head to open water and drift a few other areas. I was hoping for some better bass & walleye and wasn’t disappointed! I was however surprised to see that the floating angel hair like weeds had returned and frustrated fishing in them again. It was tough keeping the baits clean, but we still managed to get into several more fish in the process. Probably the best one was the walleye that Chandler boated as it was way over the slot! It was definitely a nice fish and worthy of several pics!

Plenty more drifts were made in big waves, but the lines were getting weeded up so much that I kept moving, searching for pockets of clean water. After a few more bites were missed, they decided to call it a little early and we surfed back to the dock to take out. They had more plans for this evening and hoped to return in time to get everything done.

What a roller coaster ride back! I was happy to have the power to be able to speed up again in the waves, when needed. We took our time and arrived dry in the Ranger! I was sure glad to have been able to transfer them into my boat as I’m sure it wouldn’t have been as dry if they were still out with Don. He wouldn’t have been too happy either!

Today was a great day all around with the best being the motor! I’ll be back out tomorrow with these guys again and hope to get them into plenty more quality fish. Who knows, maybe they’ll even get a few more firsts too! One can only hope!

James was back again today and this time he brought Rob along for the ride. We began the day drop shotting open flats once again and fortunately I didn’t have to contend with the damn floating angel hair like weeds! Definitely a bonus there!

They both landed some nice smallies and we also got into a bunch of small walleye, as we were about to leave. I was heading to pick up his wife and kids and fish with them for a few hours. Full boat indeed!

With a light precipitation happening, I decided to raise the roof for them before we returned. No sense in getting too wet! His two kids, Sophia and Giulio were eager to get started o I set up on the spot I had found the walleye. Although they did land several, the fish had shut down considerably and I had to move again.

We drop shotted another area and managed to land more bass & walleye. His wife Patricia hooked several nice bass and so did everyone else. In fact, the kids even hooked and landed fish on their own! After a few hours, we dropped them off at the boat ramp and headed out again. I wanted to get James & Rob into some bass by casting now and knew exactly where I wanted to be.

For the next couple of hours the action was nonstop with the smallies. Rob was getting them on top water and James landed several nice ones on soft plastics. We even had an encounter with mister toothy when he decided to make a three pound smallie his dinner. James had hooked into a nice bass and while fighting it, the line went off the reel like he had loosened the drag. We saw the beast just before she let go and James managed to land the bass. A bit scarred up, but lucky to have escaped the jaws of death! Moments before this incident, Rob had a similar encounter with the top water when a bass missed his bait and there was a giant boil immediately after. I think the fish had tried to get his too!

Today was a great day as James and his family had spent quality time together, if only for a few hours. The fishing was a whole lot better than last week when we were out, with the lack of floating weeds. The fish even cooperated more and he actually got to take home 5 walleye for a nice dinner tonight. It was great having his wife and kids on board and I hope that we can do it again sometime soon. They all had a good time but I think Sophia wished she could have stayed with us for the end of the day. Oh well, hopefully next time I guess!

Patricia and her son Vincent were my guests this morning and hoping to get into some big fish. This trip was for Vincent as he had a passion for fishing and he loved every second of the time on the water. I knew exactly what I had to do!

Our first stop was an area that held pike & walleye and I was looking for both. Although reels fired, the bite wasn’t great at first and many were short strikes. He did however get into many nice northerns, but the walleye just didn’t want to show. After a couple of hours and many pike later, we tried somewhere else hoping for a few eyes.

I showed both of them how to cast with a drop shot rig and they managed to land some bass & walleye from this area. One of the walleye was even good enough for them to take home, so into the livewell it went! Shortly after the bite slowed, we relocated once again.

Our nest spot held plenty of smallies and Vincent managed to land his personal best He also caught a couple of small sturgeon, which to him were quite large. With limited time remaining in the morning, I focussed on the bass and they both had plenty of chances.

This morning was a great learning experience for Vincent and I hope he continues his love of the sport. I know he fishes from areas along the shore and another lake up north, so today should help him out. With the few techniques he learned, he should be able to land more fish, no matter where he goes. It was great to see someone with so much enthusiasm. It sort of reminded me of when I was his age!

Larry & Dylan were back with me this afternoon, for a few hours of fishing. Conditions weren’t great but I was going to try & put them on fish! Big waves and tons of floating mossy like weeds would make it impossible to troll, forcing us to cast. Even at that, just standing in the boat with all the waves wasn’t easy!

First cast Larry got to reel in a decent smallie but it’s never good to catch on your first cast, as we would soon see. Dylan on the other hand managed to bring a couple of keeper eyes into the boat that they would be sampling at dinner tonight! He also missed several other bites, indicating that the fish were here. After about 30 minutes or more, I had to pull the plug on the area due to how difficult it was to fish. Between boat traffic and the wind, it was a roller coaster out there!

We fished a couple of other areas casting soft plastics, but had only missed fish from one of them. Time to return to the floating weeds and give it another try!

We spent the remainder of our time drop shotting the open water shoals and it was tough. Just keeping the lines in the water proved to be the hardest as there were so many weeds drifting in the water columns, that it was almost impossible to keep the baits clean.

Christiane was also with us and thankfully she managed to put a third walleye in the livewell for them this evening. In the end, we stumbled onto an area that had everyone hooking up, but most of the fish were small and had to be released. The last 30 minutes were the most productive and it was a shame to have to leave! They had multiple chances and were able to get about 50% of their bites.

The last few trips have been a challenge to say the least but with any luck the lake will clean up some in the coming days. Plenty of fish are around if only I could keep the lines clean! I may just have to jump lakes soon if things don’t change or start hitting new water, searching for other places to fish.

Having Larry & his grandson Dylan out again this year was great but the few hours that they were able to fish were way too short! Hopefully the next time we will have better conditions and a longer time to pound on the fish like so many times before. Either way, it was still great to fish with them again and I look forward to having him back, soon! Hopefully when the sturgeon bite is going strong!