After a weather cancellation/postponement yesterday, I was back on the lake this afternoon with Val & his wife Julie. We hit the water a bit earlier trying to beat the heavy rains and barely managed to get set up before the skies let lose.

First order was the roof and I set it up as soon as we reached out destination. With lines in, we began our troll in a light drizzle and big west winds. I guess the cover wasn’t going to be 100% waterproof today!

I don’t think we were trolling for even 3 minutes before the first reel screamed and Julie was into a nice northern. Not having done much fishing before, I instructed her on how to fight the fish and soon after, it was in the net. She would be having plenty more practice in the rest of the day!

The action really picked up just prior to the storm and pike after pike were reeled in by both Val & his wife. When the winds grew, the heaviest downpour also happened and I was forced to turn the boat and troll downwind so as not to have as much of the horizontal rain enter the boat.

With all this happening, one of the reels howled and Val fought a really heavy fish. When it stayed down, I knew exactly what he was into and soon netted his catch. It was a giant walleye and definitely his personal best! After a few pics in the miserable pouring rain, she was released to grow again. Yes, fish do bite in the rain!

We fought through the worst of the weather, all the while catching fish. In fact, they were even able to put a few keeper walleye in the boat that were destined for their dinner table tonight.

Just like most weather systems, the post frontal conditions saw an increase in the winds and the lake grew even bigger. I stuck it out with the troll for a little longer than I had wanted, knowing that it would be worse elsewhere.

After landing many more fish of both species and not much time remaining in their trip, I shifted gears and went somewhere to cast. Val had hoped to catch bass and I brought him somewhere that was holding plenty. Too bad the winds were worse here and the waves weren’t making it any easier. Just feeling the baits while fishing was next to impossible, but Val did manage to land one nice bass from this area. Julie was still working on her casting skills after I instructed her and was fending quite well, despite the big blow.

After realizing that this casting in 3 footers wasn’t working out, I pulled the plug and headed back towards the boat ramp. The run was exactly as I had expected and I took it easy along the way. Threes soon became fours in some areas and I tried to remain in the troughs & crests instead of going with the rollers.

With time remaining, I thought I’d stop in the open water and try a little drop shotting. It may not have been easy with all the floating weeds but we somehow made it work. Val missed a couple of bites and Julie landed a nice keeper walleye before we were done.

Today may not have been the nicest for fishing, but at least we were alone everywhere we went. The fishing was pretty good and that’s all that counts! Julie & Van enjoyed another great day of catching and even managed to take a few fish home too!

We had an earlier than usual start of 6:00 today, due to the forecasted temps for the afternoon. Rob joined James and bass were the targeted species. We would be spending the entire day in search of the old bronzeback!

Our first spot wasn’t what I had expected as only a couple of fish even showed up! James unfortunately missed both of them and despite our efforts, we were forced to move to another area. I was hoping it wouldn’t be the same!

The second stop saw Rob getting on the board quickly and James still struggling. It wasn’t for a lack of trying as they both had missed chances! The fish weren’t really feeding by the looks of their follows and I tried several different baits with similar results.

Another move was made to a different location and I was beginning to see a pattern. Rob had the only fish here and we covered the area entirely! Even the seagulls were sleeping on the rocks! Definitely not a good sign!

A couple more moves were made with plenty of other chances, but most were failed attempts at landing the bass. It wasn’t until I ventured offshore to a reef that things started to change! On Rob’s first cast, he connected with a quality smallie and it had plenty of friends!

I had switched locations so much that I was about to go deep when we hit a place that seemed loaded with good fish. To my surprise, some of them actually wanted to eat! For almost 2 hours, we had action and despite many, many missed strikes, they still managed to land a good number of our targeted species. The action was just insane as there were fish competing for their baits!

With less than a couple of hours remaining in their day and still no wind, we made a long run in search of something different. I had found an area absolutely loaded with sturgeon a couple of days back and brought all the necessary tackle to fish for them today. Hopes of raising the roof and dropping the lines in for a final kick at the can were soon destroyed however, as the fish were gone. I ran all over looking for them but could only mark one fish here and there. Not worth anchoring on!

In the end, we were forced to drop shot another area for bass & walleye. Although it wasn’t great under these conditions, they still managed to get into a few smallies and a bunch of small eyes. Ironically with about 30 minutes remaining, the winds started to blow from the SE and they picked up pretty good. Too bad they were from the wrong direction, creating a two foot chop on the water and making boat control harder. After a couple more drifts, we packed it up and headed back.

Although we got an early start, it really didn’t matter as we were in the heat all day. It may not have been the best fishing, but despite the struggle they managed to catch a bunch of nice bass. The bonus walleye at the end were all released as nobody wanted to take any of the keepers home, including myself. Overall, a tough but rewarding day!

I spent only a few hours on the water this morning due to the heat and thunder storms in the afternoon. Christiane & I concentrated on bass and found some good ones in the process. By checking about a half dozen places, I now have more locations to be able to fish, with upcoming clients.

Not many pics today but still fun nonetheless!

 

Mohammad was back again this afternoon with his group of four. They were hoping for a repeat of their last trip but I knew it was going to be a grind. With any luck, they would catch enough fish to keep them happy.

The heat was intense and with the lack of any wind, I already had the roof up for the run. Without any clouds for cover, at least we wouldn’t fry under the midday sun!

With the lines in, I began trolling and a few minutes later, we had our first reel fire. As usual, a decent northern was boated and the skunk was officially out! I could tell by the lack of active fish that I was going to have a tough time getting, bit, but covered all the better areas hoping for more.

We spent about three hours fishing and landed a bunch of pike with a couple of keeper walleye as well. Several other fish were also lost reeling in, but this too was also something I had expected. The last hour of their trip was spent floating around the lake while they enjoyed their swim. After their previous dip in the lake, they decided that this time they wanted more. The fishing wasn’t great, so why not!

This afternoon wasn’t the best for fishing but at least they had several rotations on the rods. The highlight of their day was definitely the swim they took at the end. For some reason they just can’t get enough of the water. I wonder if they’ll feel that way in October when they are back for those dinosaurs. It might be a little on the chilly side then!

I had another double trip today with Leslie & Tom in the morning and Aerie & his family in the afternoon. With the winds blowing a really good chop on the water at the start, I knew it would play in our favour!

We trolled once again and it didn’t take long for Tom to land the first pike of their trip. It was also followed up by Leslie not long after and things were looking great for another high numbers day!

I covered water looking for some walleye and after about 10 pike, we finally locked up on a good one. Tom brought to net a nice over and several pics were taken before the release.

The fish were hitting really strange this morning as plenty of them were hooked from the outside of the mouth. Several short strikes were also seen telling me that they really weren’t hungry. It almost seemed like they were striking the lures with closed mouths! At least we were catching fish and that’s all that counted!

By covering water and focussing on the areas we had strikes I was able to bring the numbers up quickly. They even managed to get several more walleye and a few of them were keepers to bring home.

I was noticing that the fishing was slowing down a bit and realized that we were losing our wind. Fortunately we were drawing near to the departure and had monopolized on the early morning activity.

After a few more fish, I packed up and headed back to pick up the afternoon gang. This morning couldn’t have gone better as the action was practically nonstop the entire time we were out. Leslie & Tom experienced what I expect on every day of fishing. Plenty of fish were landed in the 4 hour period and a few of them would be eaten tonight!

A quick turnaround at the dock had me right back on the water with Aerie and his family. I was pretty sure that it wouldn’t be as good as this morning, but I knew they would be catching fish.

It didn’t take long after I set up before a reel fired and Christian was bringing in his first pike ever. Almost immediately after the release, Tyler got to do battle with one of his own and brought to net another fish. Unfortunately the next bite took a while longer before Ryan was able to get his turn at the rod. These flat calm conditions and bright sunshine weren’t the best to fish in and I had my work cut out for me!

We picked at the fish for the first couple of hours or so and managed to catch several more northerns before breaking for a swim. Two of the kids wanted to cool off in the water so I packed everything up and went to an area for them to get wet. Aerie also jumped in but his wife Jessica decided to remain on board. Ryan also stayed in the boat, under the comfort of the roof!

With limited time remaining in the day, I decided to fish a little deeper in hopes of picking up a few eyes. I trolled along and had a good hit from what seemed like a heavy fish with big head shakes. Unfortunately before I could pass the rod, the weight disappeared and I was left only with the wobble of the lure. What a disappointment!

We covered more water again looking for another hit and were rewarded with a nice walleye. Too bad it was an over and had to be released after a few pics. Not long after letting the fish go, another reel screamed and this fish was heavy! Aerie had to take the rod from Christian as he wasn’t able to bring it in. Turned out it was a big largemouth and a nice bonus fish for the day! Several more pics were taken before releasing her back to where she belonged!

The time had run out soon after the last fish and we packed it up and ran back to take out. Even with the lack of wind there were some big rollers on the water due to all the boat traffic. They were hitting us from almost every direction and I had to take it slow so as not to beat every one up.

Double trip days are always more difficult as I am limited to the time I have to produce. Today was no exception as the conditions changed significantly for the second half. At least we were able to land a decent number of fish, with a bonus largie and everyone had a great time on the water today!