Val was back today for the afternoon but on a different puddle. We were hoping to repeat what had happened last Friday and decided to get an earlier start. We would be fishing from 10:00 till almost 4:00, looking for those golden fish. The question was, would they cooperate again?

Right out of the gate on probably the first or second cast, we had a bite. Unfortunately it didn’t get hooked up and it took several casts again before the next bite. This fish also got off on a jump and I realized that it wasn’t really what we were after. It’s always nice to get the bonus bass bite, but we were after walleye!

In the first hour or so we didn’t have much action, but we were still able to put a couple of keeper eyes in the livewell for Val tonight. The opposing winds to the current flow had fish positioned differently and I needed to make some adjustments in order to get bit. Once I realized what they were doing, some larger fish started to bite. We both landed bigger eyes but it was the keepers we were after!

I moved around plenty, covering water in search of more fish and we had just that. Too bad most of them were either missed strikes or just fish coming off. We even did a little trolling and Val managed to land one of the biggest walleye of the day. This was to be the only bite using this technique and we opted to return to casting once again. There was definitely more action this way!

For the remainder of the day, we stuck with casting and several more big walleye were caught. Along with them, there were a couple of other high end keepers, but the missed fish were just insane. I don’t remember ever losing so many fish with this technique! Most of them were just coming off after 5 to 10 seconds, on the way to the boat. Right up until the last cast, they kept falling off! I was actually glad when the day ended as I don’t know how much more of this torture I could have taken!

Although the fishing wasn’t what we had expected, it was still pretty good. Plenty of action, just not as many fish landed as we had hoped! All I know is the next time I get back out I will want a little redemption! Look out fish, I’ll be back soon!

Scott, John & Chris joined me today for another fun day on the water. What started out as a rainy one soon turned into just overcast skies for the duration. The strong winds would be a different story however as they forecasted gusts over 30 knots for the afternoon. I would have to move around and find sheltered areas to fish!

They began tossing baits on current breaks and Scott hooked up on his very first cast. His fish was a real good one and a great starter fish. Generally it’s bad luck to catch a fish on the first cast, but this area had plenty. He was soon into another one slightly smaller a few casts later and things were about to get ugly. John also began catching bass and within the first hour they landed a bunch. It was just Chris that hadn’t brought one to the boat yet and he wasn’t about to either. We decided to make a move for unforeseen reasons and were heading somewhere to fish walleye instead!

I set them all up with drop shot rods and made a demo cast on what to do. Within 30 seconds I was tight and the first of many walleye was landed! For the next several hours, fish after fish came aboard, but they were mostly small to medium sized keepers. I wanted something bigger and made a few moves looking for the larger fish. One spot produced a huge northern for me as I was also spot casting new areas. It had to be the largest pike I had seen in a while and even worthy of a pic. They got into many more walleye from here as well, with most of them being larger than the previous spot we had fished.

It was looking like the forecasts were right for winds as they began to blow big in the early afternoon. We were fishing an area now that was in the open and could feel the strength of the blow! It wasn’t easy to fish in these gusts and I decided to move back to slightly sheltered water, in order to feel the subtle bites. We would just have to remain here until some of the gusts subsided, before hitting another area nearby.

The afternoon was now closing in on our departure and I decided to hit another place before we had to go. Despite the winds still being big, I thought we’d give it a try. Well I guess it was the right decision as Chris managed to hook up on a giant smallie soon after we had arrived. It was a nice change from all the walleye he had previously caught and a beast of a bass. In fact, I believe it was his personal best smallie too! Scott also hooked into one of his own at the same time and I really thought we were into an area that was loaded. After landing both of them and taking several pics, they were looking for more. Unfortunately all they could come up with were several walleye before we were done.

This day was filled with plenty of fish regardless of the big winds and by seeking somewhat sheltered areas to fish, we were able to fish comfortably. There may not have been tons of bass caught, but the ones they did manage to land were good ones. Chris’s monster was just the icing on the cake after all the walleye they reeled in. Today’s action was practically nonstop throughout the day with very little slow times and they were even taking a few of the smaller eyes home to eat tonight! Just another great day for fishing!

Val was back again today but this time he was with me for the entire day. Although we started later than I am use to we were still going to be fishing longer than usual. Hopefully he would have a great time catching both bass and walleye!

We headed to the first area in hopes of a quick hook up and that we did. On a demonstration cast, I was tight to a good one and immediately handed him the rod to fight the bass. It wasn’t long after bringing in the fish that he began to hook up on his own and numbers of smallmouth were landed. A few of them were really good ones too!

I knew with this nice weather that we would be having company and tried to focus on one area as much as I could. Unfortunately it wasn’t long before the boats started coming and we were forced to relocate and change up the techniques we were using. I decided to move away from the others and try a little further offshore. After landing several more bass it became insane with boats and we had to pick a spot that I hadn’t really fished hard this year. Despite landing a few other smaller bass from this area, I wasn’t feeling the love! We were going to make another move and switch to another species. It’s always bad when a client says “let’s get out of here, it’s way too crowded”!

We made the long run to our next area and were both glad we had decided to move. At least here we would be alone and able to fish wherever we wanted!

I tried one place and didn’t stay too long when we weren’t able to hook anything. The second area however was loaded and for the next couple of hours, plenty of fish were landed. In fact, Val had no trouble getting a limit of eaters for him to take home! We were into them good now but weren’t able to land anything of size from here. It took right up until almost the last ten minutes before Val actually got into a quality eye. He could tell by the weight that it was better than all the others we had seen. This would be our first fish from here that was photo worthy!

Despite all the boats out today, we were still able to get into plenty of fish. I would have liked to stay fishing smallies a little longer, but the heavy traffic had us pulling the plug early. Thankfully I had a backup area that kept producing for the rest of the day. In the end, Val managed to catch plenty of fish and that’s all that counts. Another day without any wind with Val was also a great thing!

Darren was back again today for another shot at some big smallies. I knew he would get into them as the weekend traffic was over, leaving more water for us to fish. Hopefully not too many fish were relocated again!

Our first spot produced several decent fish for Darren, but nothing really big. It wasn’t until we were a few hundred yards away that he managed to get into a couple of nicer ones. When I realized what was going on, I switched techniques and for a while, the action was nonstop. Bass after bass came aboard and more of them were quality than not. As much as I would have liked to refine this area, I was forced to keep moving due to two other boats moving in. They had seen multiple fish come aboard and slid over to where we were. Time to move on as I wasn’t about to educate them!

We were completely off the spot now and covering water thoroughly for a while when I noticed the two boats leaving. They hadn’t caught a thing from what I had seen and got discouraged quickly. Once they were gone, I moved back to where we were getting the fish and it started all over again. We began catching more smallies of various sizes and I realized we had made the right decision to have left. Lately there has been so much pressure on these waters that I have to fish in a defensive mode almost all the time. A small price to pay for quality fish, I guess!

With the sun hitting the water all over now and temps rising nicely, I decided to give the shallower waters a try. In fact, I thought I’d make a few casts as well just to see if anything had moved in! Immediately I was tight to a good fish but didn’t realize just how big it was until it was right beside the boat. It was a giant! Now I wish that I hadn’t made that cast!

I had wanted to leave some time for Darren to catch a few walleye and around 1:00 we switched species and made the move. For the remainder of the day, he hammered walleye until we were done. They may not have been big but there were plenty. He finished up by catching 3 more, just while I was prepping the boat for the run back.

Today was a pleasant day on the water with light winds as well as boat traffic. It was finally nice to be fishing when it wasn’t a weekend of insanely summerlike weather. The past couple of days saw everyone taking advantage of the Indian summer we were presently in. I’m sure that after this heat wave I’ll be seeing much fewer boats out. Bring on the cooler weather please!

Alexandre & his son Thierry were joined by Alain & his son Jordan, hoping for a good day of walleye fishing. We were going to try and get in as much time as we could, before the scheduled winds arrived. Hopefully Mother Nature would be kind to us for a while!

Alexandre had seen the pics from just a few days back and was looking forward to possibly catching some big walleye of his own. He started off with a bang! On his second or third cast, he was into a nice one that definitely wouldn’t be a keeper! This was just the beginning of another insane day!

Once I had everyone oriented on presentations, it wasn’t long before they were all catching fish. I refined the areas and slowly moved around, searching for the fish. It seemed like every few minutes I was netting someone’s catch. They all managed to fight their fair share of big fish, along with a good number of keepers. In fact, getting a limit of walleye was not an issue!

Throughout the day we saw a mix of both walleye & bass but it was Alain that hooked into the monster of the day. He somehow managed to have a lunge eat his bait and eventually landed his first ever musky. We shot several pics and returned his catch quickly.

Although the winds did pick up at times, it never really got out of hand enough to end the day. I was worried this morning when I saw the reports and informed them that we would stay as long as we were able. In the end, we finished just about the same time as I would have done. The last hour was probably the slowest period of the entire day and they still managed to boat several good fish.

I don’t think anyone had imagined the fishing to be as good as it was today. Right from the start they began catching and they never looked back. It was one fish after the other for the entire day! The fall fishing is at its prime right now and although the weather remains nice for the moment, it definitely will change. I only hope that I can fish through this entire month once again as the last couple of years have shut me down much earlier than expected. Only time will tell!