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Neil was once again out with me today but due to the giant winds, we had to relocate. The waters I have been concentrating on lately were just too big to even think about going on! Winds were blowing from the W/SW at over 25 knots at times and it just wasn’t safe. It would be my first road trip this season!

It was a little earlier than I usually fish the area but I was sure I could get Neil into some good bass. We started out in the shallows with blades and unfortunately Neil only came up with one small one. Out to deeper water we went and a few more small fish were landed as well. We were on the hunt for bigger and better and covered all kinds of water, trying to find them! It wasn’t easy in the wind but somehow we managed!

Our morning had been less than productive but there were high hopes for the afternoon. I had many strikes on all kinds of baits but for some reason they weren’t getting pinned well. Eventually a couple of them stayed on and were brought to the boat though and things were starting to look up. Or so I thought!

We had fished from shallow to mid to deep and never really got into any sort of concentration. All I could do is keep rotating areas and hope for the best.

Towards the latter part of the day, Neil managed to catch a few real quality smallies and we thought they had finally turned on. Unfortunately the remainder of the day saw little evidence of this as we continued to just pick a fish here & there. After one last stop and one more good fish we were done!

I had made a judgment call and gone to another lake due to the weather and salvaged the day. It looks like we were a bit early in the season to get into the high numbers that I am use to seeing, but at least we fished somewhere on this beautiful sunny day. Hopefully the weather will change for tomorrow and I can resume fishing locally once again. Either way I know I will get into a bunch of decent fish!

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What do you do on your day off? Well, go fishing of course! Christiane & I headed out today for several hours to scout a few new areas. I haven’t had much time this summer to do any looking but today I would, hoping for the best.

First on the list was an area for sturgeon that I had been wanting to fish. I knew it held some but had never given it a try. Unfortunately after idling around and finding all kinds of great marks, we were still unable to hook up. I was a little disappointed but will be back some other time to give it another try!

I also had wanted to try a little trolling and dropped the lines in to see what I could locate. What I found was plenty of bait and even more floating weeds. This definitely made trolling a real pain! I was constantly cleaning the rods and after a short while just gave up!

Our next attempt at fishing was to be casting big weed patches for smallies and this at least gave us a few quality bites. It may not have been lots but they were big!

Our final area to check was a deep spot, once again for bass and it was here that we would end the day. It was definitely holding some quality as we landed some real giants!

Although we didn’t spend much time fishing today, it was still productive. I was finally able to see a few new spots and some of them were definitely worth the check. I will be back out on a few of them with clients in the coming weeks, hoping to get into those fish again! Who knows, maybe they’ll be holding even more!

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Scott & Chris were with me today, hoping to tangle with a few big fish. The winds wouldn’t be making it easy as they were blowing big from the NW and waves up to 3 feet were present. Regardless, were going to give it a try!

The run to the area was a little bumpy but once we arrived, it actually looked doable! I idled around looking for the fish, but after several minutes, found myself settling on only a few marks. This was to be a similar procedure as multiple attempts at locating fish had the same results. After trying for almost 3 hours, it just wasn’t happening and I decided to pull the plug! I wasn’t going to spend the entire day in hopes of one hookup!

We headed to another spot for smallmouth and covered plenty of water for the bites we had. No concentrations were found but at least they picked at fish along the way. A combination of blades and soft plastics were used to entice them into hitting. After covering the areas thoroughly, we attempted another move nearby but it proved to be unsuccessful. Time to fight the wind & waves and relocate again!

I had gone across the open water and seen just how bad the water was before stopping in an area to fish. We were officially in 3 footers, hoping to get bit! As bad luck would have it, several good ones were seen and missed before I made an adjustment on Chris’s line. Although he missed another one, It came back and just crushed him! Too bad this was all she wrote for here but at least he had managed to land a quality smallie before we left.

I once again stayed in open water and tried drop shotting some deeper flats. There was quite a concentration of fish showing on the screen as we drifted over the schools of perch & walleye. Both Chris & Scott managed to catch a few including another bass in the time we were here. When the fish flat out refused our offerings, we were forced to make a move again.

Time was just about over for today but at least our last stop put a few more walleye in the boat before we were done. They had a long drive ahead of them and needed to get on the road. We had salvaged the day by fishing many different spots to get into fish. The action may have been slow at times but there were still enough fish seen today to keep everyone busy!

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What a difference a day makes! Breanne & Daniel were able to switch Sunday’s scheduled trip to Saturday when it opened up. I was a little worried about the forecasted weather and thought it was a better choice. It was definitely the right move!

We hit the water at 7 and soon after were anchored up, looking for the beasts! Daniel was hoping for something large and so was I as we awaited the first bite. Nibblers were all over and I was constantly re baiting the hooks as they destroyed the worms like piranhas! We had to make several moves just to get away from them but were finally rewarded. Breanne reeled in one of the smallest sturgeon I had ever seen, but at least it was the right species!

I relocated to another spot and after waiting for about 10 minutes, I set into a fish. Once again there wasn’t much fight and I knew it was small. Daniel soon landed his first ever drum! Although they thought it was a cool looking species, I wanted the beasts! We moved around plenty, giving 10 to 15 minutes on each spot. A few more fish were caught including perch, bass & another small sturgeon before we actually had our first real bite! This time I set into a little more weight!

Daniel was about to feel the power of what a sturgeon could actually do as it peeled line from the reel. I was pretty sure it wasn’t as big as I had been hoping for and a confirmation was had when it took to the air in a spectacular leap. Regardless, it gave him a great fight! Just when he thought it was about over another breach was made 5 feet from the boat. It peeled more line from the reel afterwards, heading right back to the bottom. A couple of minutes later, I was able to net his catch and it was done.

Although it was big by their standards, I was still a little disappointed. We had come looking for giants and settled on fish much smaller instead. Oh well, at least they were catching something they had never caught before!

We stuck it out for a little longer and made a few more moves without success before I decided to call it quits. The sturgeon hadn’t really come out to play today and now I was going to take them for bass.

I set up a couple of rods with blades and had them cover water at our first spot. With a little coaching on how to cast, I also had Breanne feeling more comfortable with her casts. She hadn’t done much fishing before and improved significantly in the time they fished!

It took a little longer than expected, but Daniel finally locked up on a good bass. Up until now he hadn’t caught anything larger than about a pound, so this was his personal best! Soon after the release, Breanne also hooked up and hers was significantly larger than his. Things were beginning to heat up and I hoped they would see more!

In the remaining time, they had many other chances and some quality smallies were even caught. Both Breanne and Daniel landed a few more big ones before we were done. Changing up from sturgeon to bass was definitely the right choice!

Today was much better than the last couple of outings, filled with a variety of fish. They had caught a couple of new species and increased their personal best smallies, considerably! I think we were all happy that their scheduled day was changed too! Tomorrow still isn’t looking good with the big SE winds and afternoon showers predicted. I’m sure glad I won’t be out!

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Today was quite the day for missed opportunities! Mike and his group definitely had a tough time getting into fish, right from the start. Between the almost nonexistent sturgeon and light biting bass & walleye, it wasn’t easy.

We began trying for sturgeon but despite marking many when we arrived, all we could come up with was an American Eel and one freshwater drum. Oh yeah, I did have one shot at a good sturgeon but it came unpinned seconds before passing the rod off. It definitely felt heavy!

After about 5 hours of changing areas multiple times, we decided to go for something else. The open water bass & walleye were our next stop and hopefully we would salvage this day!

Immediately after getting the lines in, our first fish came aboard. Although it was big it was only a perch and tossed right back. I was marking all kinds of walleye on the bottom and was sure they would get into them pretty good. After several drifts with only missed fish, I realized this wasn’t the case! We switched to another area a little further away and I think everyone had fish on but not one of them was landed. Some of them even had multiple bites but could never get one to stick for long!

I made a couple more moves in the remaining time and the results were almost the same. One more perch was landed but all the better fish were either missed or lost reeling in. We were officially done!

To say that today was a tough day would be an understatement! The opportunities may not have been numerous but there were still many. I’m not sure what was going on but was glad that it was over. This was the toughest day so far this season and the results were not great. Hopefully by tomorrow this will all be a memory that can be forgotten. With any luck, we will turn the tables and come back with a great day again. I’ll be crossing my fingers and toes this time!