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What should have been the second day of the season turned out to be the first!

Yesterday’s no show at the dock had me rethinking the payment plan for future clients!

Today saw Michael & Isabelle on the water for a slower than expected bite. A mix of pike & walleye were boated but only the pike were photographed. The water really needs to warm up and soon!

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It’s been a few years since I was able to fish into December, but today I broke that bad luck. Val and I headed on the water around 9:00 in hopes of getting into a good walleye bite. If the past couple of outings were an indication of how things would go, we were going to have a great day!

The winds were almost non-existent but forecasted to blow big from the SE later in the day. I only hoped that they would hold out long enough to allow us to fish thoroughly.

We started out with a dropshot rig and although the bite was slow, Val did manage to land a good one. His starter fish proved to be way over the slot and made for a good pic! Val was hoping to take a few fish home with him and despite the first eye, I was pretty sure he would get his wish.

We fished slowly with the bite being the same and managed several more big fish as well as a few high end keepers. He would be enjoying fresh fish tonight!

Conditions were constantly changing this morning with early sunshine giving way to heavy clouds, followed by thick fog. We were now fishing the area and couldn’t see anything! Add to this a wind from the SW and it was easy to get turned around! Thankfully I was in the anchor mode on the electric and with the aid of the GPS, knew exactly where to cast. This fog lasted quite a while and despite the inconvenience, we still managed to boat several more fish.

I had wanted to cover more water and decided to try a little trolling in this heavy fog. Once positioned, it didn’t take long before we were doubled up. From this point on, fish after fish came aboard! Some were released but a few others went into the tank for Val’s limit. Just to add to the conditions, Mother Nature decided to throw in a little rain for our fishing pleasure. It didn’t matter though, as we were catching walleye! Bring it on biotch!

We continued trolling the area for a while and managed to get into several more fish before going back to the drop shot. Things had slowed down considerably and the bite had as well. By working a different depth we were able to keep catching more fish and cull up a couple of Val’s smaller eyes in the well. He would be going home with a great limit today!

I hoped to be able to fish most of the day and amazingly we had. The big SE winds that were predicted never really arrived! We ended the day shortly after 3:00 on a last cast catch by Val. He managed to land one of the largest walleye of the day and one more pic was taken. We had skipped over so many good fish throughout the day due to the rain, but this one deserved the Kodak moment! We definitely ended on a high!

At this time of the year, you never know if it’s the last day or not for fishing. Mother Nature has a way of shutting you down anytime she feels like. If this was the last day out, so be it! We ended on a high and Val fished later than he had ever done before. I on the other hand would love to get back out again, knowing how the fishing can be. Hopefully there’s at least one more outing in the calendar year for me before the hard water arrives. Crossing my fingers and maybe even my toes that it will happen!

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Darren & I headed out this morning in search of the big eyes. Not the tuna kind but rather the walters that inhabit all of our local waters. These golden slabs have been abundant lately and we were hoping to get into some good ones today!

We began with a troll and although our first bite didn’t come quickly, it wasn’t really long before we were locked up. A nice 22 incher made its way into the net only to be released soon after. Not a bad starter fish! I wasn’t marking much but had the confidence to follow the breakline, knowing that we would see more.

The second walleye hit quicker that the first and it was even bigger! We were covering water and apparently finding only the large ones by using this technique. After a few quick pics, this one was also returned to fight another day!

The area we were trying to fish had another boat and I decided to move away so as not to educate them. We continued our troll much further away, hoping that they would get fed up and leave soon. Right on cue, the winds began and they packed it up and left! I quickly moved back to where I needed to be but this time we switched to a drop shot set up instead. By spot locking I was able to keep Darren on the fish and he put a beating on them! We remained in the area for a couple of hours and plenty more fish came aboard. Both high end keepers as well as the big ones!

Sometime around midday we encountered a slow period and I decided to try the trolling once again. I used the side scan and realized quickly that we were near fish. Our first sign was a double header consisting of a good walleye and a nice smallie! After this, I began to refine the area and one fish after the other came aboard. We kept at this for as long as it lasted and boated many more quality eyes!

With time getting on I thought we’d finish the day off with a little more dropshotting. Apparently it proved to be the right decision as over a half dozen walleye made their way into the net, along with another decent smallie.

Today was a perfect example of what the fall walleye fishing should be like. We managed to stay on the fish all day and with minor adjustments, boated plenty of fish. Hopefully the mild weather will hold out a little longer so that I can get back on the fish again. Unfortunately with the high winds forecasted for this week, it may be difficult! With any luck the weather guys will be wrong and I will get one more kick at the can before the hard water season begins! Crossing my fingers for good conditions!

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Scott was back again today with Chris & Ian and hoping for a musky. We would be spending the entire day in pursuit of a big old toothy critter. The question was, would it work? Only time would tell!

I covered plenty of water throughout the morning and afternoon but we never had a touch. Bait changes as well as locations all proved to be ineffective. With about 30 minutes remaining in the day, they asked to fish for something other than musky and I obliged. We were close to an area that I was sure they would get bit!

Chris was tight to a fish on his first cast and brought a nice walleye to the net soon after. They were all dropshotting and had equal chances of hooking up. Ian was probably the newest at this technique and was soon into a fish of his own. As it turned out, this was a large walleye that turned out to be his personal best. At the same time, Chris was once again locked up and managed to bring a high end keeper into the boat for Ian. He was hoping to bring a couple of fish home for dinner and we needed another. I decided to take a few casts as well to see if I could help out and was immediately tight to a heavy fish. Although it wasn’t in the slot, it was a healthy, fat walleye and quickly released after the fight.

With only a few more minutes to go before we had to depart, Scott also hooked into a fish. His fight was a little different than all the others and once at the boat, I realized why. Instead of a walleye, it was a nice smallie and worthy of a pic before being returned to the water. Several casts later, Chris came through with the final fish of the day and added a second keeper to the box. We were officially done!

The musky fishing may not have been what we had hoped for but we did salvage the day! With very little time remaining, I somehow managed to put them on catchable fish. At least everyone had their turn at a bent rod and Ian would be having fresh fish for dinner tonight! I only wish we had of switched up sooner as there’s no telling how many fish they could have landed! Gotta love Musky!

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Well, back out again soon, just didn’t happen as quickly as I had hoped! After over 2 weeks of not being on the water due to the conditions, Val & I were finally able to give it another try. This time we were fishing in much warmer temps and little to no wind. Would the fish still bite?

We hit the water at 10:30 for Val’s half day trip and were fishing not long after. I had decided to try a little trolling to see what was going on and we were quickly into a good fish. Val managed to bring a fat walleye into the boat that was returned after a couple of pics. This was going to be a great day!

Well we trolled for quite a while before our next bite but it was worth the wait as Val brought another good over to the net once again. We may not have been seeing tons of action but the fish that were being caught were definitely good ones!

I eventually stopped on one of the waypoints I had to try a little drop shotting. We were in an area that held fish and I wanted to see if we could catch a few more by fishing slower. Right on cue, I had a heavy fish on the line but unfortunately it just came unhooked on the way to the boat. Val on the other hand managed to get bit and landed a good high end keeper that made its way into the well for dinner tonight.

We had spent most of our time with the dropshot technique today and it definitely paid off. Several more quality fish were landed and released in the time we remained. Unfortunately there was only one other walleye that was small enough to keep and it joined its friend in the tank as well. The remainder of the fish were all too big but really nice quality eyes! They were definitely feeding up for the winter with the bellies they had!

Today was an excellent weather day, but I only wish there was a little more action. Plenty of fish were landed despite all the missed strikes and light hits. Val even managed to catch a bonus smallie from the same area that we should have photographed. It was a pale bass but still a good one too! Overall a successful outing that proved to be a painless one with the great weather we received. Hopefully there’ll be a few more good days left in this season too!