Sylvie & Gilles treated their grandson, Olivier to a birthday fishing day on the water and boy did he have fun! We met up just before 11:30 for their afternoon of fishing. He wanted some pike so we headed to an area and trolled him up some good ones. I had also hoped for a walleye and we were rewarded by a really nice over as well. Things were going as planned but now he wanted to change spots and catch something else. Off we went for some smallies!

After a long run to an area, we fished it for the remainder of the day. Here he got to boat several smaller bass and a few pretty good sized sturgeon. It wasn’t fast & furious but the fish were around. We could see all kinds of bass just cruising but the lake was flat and the sky was bright. Add to that the lack of current and there was barely any movement at all. They just didn’t want to bite!

Despite the short half day, we were able to give the little guy a birthday present that he will remember for quite some time. He managed to catch 4 different species of fish and never lost interest. I think he could have gone the entire day and still had power to spare! All I know is that this was one of the best presents he could have received from anyone. You have to love grandparents as they get to spoil their grandchildren, anyway they can! I have a feeling that I just may see them again!

August 14^th 2019

Dave and his children enjoyed an interesting morning on the water today, catching a bunch of fish. They were also joined by their grandfather, making for a real family trip! Too bad Mother Nature didn’t want to cooperate though!

We headed out in a pretty good NE wind, ruling out any possible drop shotting. Wind against current doesn’t work when you’re four fishing! Although I did give trolling the area a shot, the amount of floating weeds made it almost impossible to keep the rods & lures clean. One bass in the first 30 seconds and nothing for the next 20 minutes had me making a drastic, long run. We were off to another area to try & catch some pike!

After a roller coaster of a ride, I finally set up and began covering the water in hopes of getting them some fish. It didn’t take long to see that this was the right move as several decent northerns were landed by all. Unfortunately it was cut short while untangling a little mess, when I shifted the small engine too quickly into neutral, to avoid a prop & line mishap. With the linkage popped out, I figured I would just fix it later when I was off the water. We were heading to cast for bass in another area quite far from this one now in hopes of catching some smallies!

The lake was still rolling and I had to take it slower than I would have liked, so as not beat everyone up in the process. Once we arrived, I gave a demonstration of what to do and realized I needed to start from scratch too! Little to no experience had them learning how to cast, but they caught on quickly. In no time they were hooking up and a good number of bass were landed. Zach was the last to set into a fish and it turned out to be the largest of the morning. He was casting like a champ and it was only a matter of time until he caught one. This was his reward for doing everything right and I soon netted his prize!

The morning had passed by quickly and I headed back to take out. Of course the wind had layed down considerably now and we were running in much calmer waters. Although it was still from the NE, it was definitely easier and a whole lot less bumpy!

Dave & his family enjoyed catching fish this morning but I think they really loved casting for the bass. I know Zach did because he was like a sponge, learning how to cast! Hopefully he will continue to pursue fishing and learn even more on his own, now that he understands the basics. Another good morning for fishing!

Adam & his son Zach were with me today and new to fishing. I decided to start by drop shotting an area in hopes of teaching them what to look for. About 15 seconds into the demonstration, I reeled down on a good 18 inch walleye and my demonstration was complete!

We spend almost 2 hours drifting various lines in big waves and a light rain before trying something new. They had caught a bunch of bass & walleye and lost even more on the strikes. It’s normal for more fish to be lost than landed when you’re new to the sport!

Our next area had them casting soft plastics for the cruising smallies and Zach was on fire. He slammed the hooks to a bunch of fish and had a blast catching them. With a little coaching he became quite good at detecting the subtle bites and caught more fish than his dad. Adam still managed to land a few of his own but seemed to lose more than he was catching. Not having fished much before, it was expected! Regardless he still was having fun and enjoyed seeing Zach hammering on the fish!

I had decided to go back to drop shotting for the last hour or so in the day, hoping to get them a few more walleye to bring home. Unfortunately the winds had died off completely and the bite was tough. Despite struggling with the walleye, they did however manage to land several more bass. Unfortunately they missed about as many as they boated! The bites were absolutely terrible with the lack of current and there was almost no movement at all. We were almost done, when Adam brought to net the last bass of the day! Always nice to end on a high!

Plenty of fish were caught today with even more, either lost or just missed altogether. The weather didn’t help either as it started out cool and lightly raining in big waves and was followed by sunshine, heat and flat calm conditions. Both Adam & Zach experienced all different types of fishing today and caught throughout it all. Being relatively new to the sport, I think they did quite well. Overall it was a very successful outing and I look forward to fishing with them again, sometime in the near future!

Brahm & Sam were with me for the morning trip and due to the big winds, I didn’t run too far! We focussed our entire time drop shotting flats for both walleye & smallmouth. Between the two of them, they managed to bring 4 nice keeper eyes home as well as land many more fish. Several nice bass were also boated and as always, plenty of fish were lost or entirely missed!

The afternoon saw Dan & Ken out with me as the winds intensified. We made a pretty long run to get started and they managed to land some nice bass on our first spot.

I tried to fish another place off the main current after, but soon found out that it was next to impossible. It was like being in a washing machine! Waves from two directions along with a heavy current made for some difficult fishing and we opted to just give up here.

We were forced to make another long run further away from the start in hopes that we could fish there. I set up on a shallow flat and we bounced around in two & three footers the entire time! Fortunately there were fish here and they caught as many as they could keep pinned before adjusting our location once more.

Our final area had plenty of fish as we soon found out and at one point it was almost every cast. Although not huge, they were quite aggressive and it made for a great finish to the day. Dan did however hook into two of the biggest ones, but unfortunately equipment failure caused them to get off!

The run back to the ramp was a little longer than usual with big waves causing me to slow down for the ride. We ran back in 3’s and 4’s most of the time and with the waves too!

Between the morning trip and the afternoon one, many fish were caught and lost making this a pretty good day all around. I wasn’t sure last night if I would even be able to get out today, but Mother Nature allowed me to and we got the job done. Another great day of fishing!

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!