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I had a busy one today with two groups. The morning consisted of Martin, JP, Yves & Francois and in the afternoon I had Val & his wife, Julie. I hoped for good fishing for everyone as I made my way out onto the water.

With the conditions looking great for just about everything, I decided to drop shot right away in these perfect SW winds. After a quick orientation, lines were all in!

It was on the first drift that both JP & Yves hooked up and one small walleye & a bass were boated. Both were returned as they were really small!

With each drift, fish were being caught by some & lost or missed by others and a couple of walleye even made the cut. JP & Francois were doing the best, both with multiple fish landed. Pretty much every pass yielded something and there were many, many drifts made!

As the morning went by, I focused my attention on hitting as many spots as I could, monopolizing on all the active fish in the area. Every drift was in a slightly different section of the flats and it definitely paid off. Each time we hit a new area, someone got bit. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we were nearing that time. The morning was just about over and we made our final pass before returning to the ramp.

The action wasn’t fast & furious but they definitely had their chances at plenty of fish. I only hoped that the afternoon would be equally as productive as I exchanged one group for the other.

Val & Julie weren’t as lucky this afternoon, but they still landed a bunch of fish. Too bad they were mostly on the small side and not worth taking pics.

We hit several areas and casted all over looking for some bigger bites but were always in the “Day Care”! Julie went on a run of little guys, boating a couple of bass and several walleye from one spot. Thoughts of going trolling were crossing my mind, but that would only be a last resort!

The winds had changed direction and intensified during the afternoon, making several spots unfishable. They were now blowing W/NW and at a pretty good clip! After attempting to fish a big fish spot unsuccessfully, I made a long run to try some drop shotting. We would be ending our day there!

The last hour or so saw only a handful of fish brought into the boat with a few others completely missed. I’m not sure if they were hitting lightly or if the timing was just off on their hook sets, but the results weren’t great. After several disappointing drifts, we were officially done!

This may not have been a banner day, but at least everyone had caught fish. Both groups had experienced rather slow fishing and I wondered if the area I was concentrating on had something to do with it. There had been a major hatch of mayflies earlier and empty shucks were everywhere. Quite possibly the fish had gorged themselves and just weren’t hungry. Either way, it was still a great day for fishing with absolutely perfect weather. Even the boat traffic was light!

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Nick & his son Dominic were with me today for a very interesting one, to say the least! Mother Nature showed her fury as we dodged some really nasty weather, multiple times. Good job the fishing was better than the conditions!

We headed out in a real good chop that had me rethinking my original plan to troll. I also wanted to drift & drop shot the deeper water as the wind direction would have made it perfect for the areas I fish. In the end though, we bypassed the spots and decided to troll!

With the lines in, it didn’t take long to get the first hookup. One of the outside rods had a good bend and I knew it wasn’t just from the troll. I passed the rod to Dominic and he fought what was his biggest walleye, ever! Not a bad starter fish! A few pics later she was released to fight another day and we were right back at it, looking for more.

Our next fish was also a silent striker as this one never made a sound. Fortunately the rod bent enough to show them that there was something on the line. This too was another walleye and in the slot, so Into the livewell it went, with anticipation of more!

We fished all over this area, picking a fish here & there but I was determined to find more active fish, somewhere. Several pike and walleye were landed in the hours we trolled with a couple of walleye added to the box. More overs were released too!

I had decided to switch it up a bit and pulled out a couple of the spinning rods. Our next location would have them throwing soft plastics for smallies and I was sure they would be able to get a few.

Once set up, I instructed both Nick & his son on how to fish the area and it was game on. Nick had brought a couple of rods with him that he wanted to try and I rigged one of his with the same lure. I also had my rod ready so that he could do a comparison test between the two. His both had mono and I knew he would prefer the braid! Several casts later and a few nasty tangles with the mono, I handed him my rod and he was sold, after just one cast!

Although we weren’t here long, Dominic did manage to hook into a nice fish that gave him quite the battle. It was a quality smallie and fought all the way to the boat, before I slid the net under his catch. A couple of quick pics and back she went!

I had noticed that the weather wasn’t looking too good and prepped the roof for the rain. Along with the precipitation, there would also be thunder & lightning and I decided to make a run to safety when I heard the first rumble. We stopped in a sheltered area close to shore where it would be safe and raised the roof. For a change, I did all of this before it got too bad and we remained dry. I usually end up doing it too late and get wet in the process, but not this time!

After waiting it out for a while, I decided to relocate and try some drop shotting. Most of the system had passed and it wasn’t long before we were in sunshine!

I had wanted to try an area that I hadn’t fished this season and apparently it proved to be a good choice. Dominic lost a fish on his very first drop and his father managed to land a couple of keeper walleye from here as well. Unfortunately we had little to no wind and the drifts were almost like being anchored. Time to hit another spot!

Our next place was working out alright and a few more walleye made it into the box when I saw more lightning nearby. We packed it up and raced back to the dock to seek refuge in our vehicles. The radar showed that it would pass and I wanted to get back out to complete the day.

Once the heavy rain was over, we attempted a return to where we had last fished. Within minutes I realized it wasn’t a good choice as the winds switched and the heavy rain returned. We raced back to the ramp once again and this time we were done!

I pulled the boat out in a downpour and minutes later we were in complete sunshine. Go figure! Despite all the issues from Mother Nature, they still had a great day with plenty of fish caught. I just wish we were able to fish a bit more as they were finally getting use to the drop shot technique and catching. Oh well, there will be other days ahead!

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Darren brought his whole family today and we ventured out in search of some fish. Grace and their children; Ethan, Jordan & Lilly were hoping for a great day and I didn’t want to disappoint. We were going trolling!

Once I reached our starting spot, I wasted no time getting the lines in, searching for our first bite. It took a little longer than I am use to before a fish was found and it never even made the reel go off. I had checked the lines and found the fish on. Go figure! Several more of the pike and walleye through the day would also be doing the same thing, requiring constant supervision!

Every one managed to get into fish and we even had a couple of doubles too. Once I located some active fish, I stayed in the area to get as many bites as I could.

This morning passed by quickly! Numbers of pike & walleye were landed by everyone and plenty of other fish missed as well. The bites weren’t great and being on my “A Game” was an absolute must. If I hadn’t checked the lines constantly, I don’t know if they would have landed as many fish as they did!

We were scheduled to fish until midday, but packed it up around 11:30. Grace had to be at work by 1:00 and we were changing this morning’s group for Darren’s brother Mark and his son Evan.

The afternoon saw us concentrating on drop shots and somewhat deeper water. Bass & walleye were the targeted species and drifting over rocks was the best way to go. We would be making many passes over the areas and hopefully the fish would bite!

It didn’t take long before lines were tight as Evan put the first bass in the boat. Soon after both Mark and Darren joined in but it was Darren’s walleye that was the most impressive. It went into the livewell for the 4^th keeper today! The morning gang had managed to put 3 nice fish in the box and he was on his way to a limit!

I knew this morning that the boat traffic would increase and we were definitely seeing it now! Every type of boat was out, but who could blame them! These days don’t come around too often and especially on the weekend!

I made plenty of drifts over each area and most of them produced fish. When it slowed, I’d move over a bit and do it again. By making these adjustments I was able to pick at the fish, keeping them hooked up. Evan was the least experienced and apparently that played in his favor. He boated the largest bass a few times as well as a couple of big walleye. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good!

We never really went too far this afternoon and they managed to catch plenty of good bass & walleye. By drop shotting deeper rocks in the midday sun, they were able to take advantage of the inactive period, boating many quality fish.

All good things must come to an end and this day was about to be over. With just a few minutes remaining, I decided to hold on an area that was showing a bunch of walleye and immediately, Evan had another one. Although on the small side, he did put it in the boat. In fact, in the last 5 minutes he managed to land 3 more walleye before we were done.

Today was filled with plenty of action from trolling right into drop shotting. By utilizing these techniques I was able to accommodate everyone in the boat. It actually felt like I did two half day trips with everything that was done! Oh well, this was just another day at the office, for me!

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Today’s trip saw John flying solo and up for just about anything. I planned on fishing a variety of species in several areas and hopefully they would all work out!

With very little wind present, we began on an open water spot in deep water for walleye. Once I marked them, all you had to do was drop down and get bit. In theory that is! John managed to catch several, including a couple of keepers, before the school shifted and I had to find them again.

We spent the first hour or more drop shotting these fish until another boat decided to just move in on us. He had idled by slowly to see what we were doing and set up above us to make a drift towards where we were fishing. I didn’t want to educate him so we just unlocked the anchor mode on the electric and drifted away.

I made a few passes over adjacent areas just to draw him out and apparently it worked. He caught nothing and decided to troll out of the area completely. Mission accomplished! Now we could resume our fishing comfortably!

When the bite slowed on the walleye, I decided to make a long run and see if I could get John into a few big smallies. After setting him up on the soft plastic, I showed him how to present the bait to the fish in the current and it didn’t take long. He was tight to a big bass that immediately took to the air with several spectacular leaps. This was the one I was hoping for as it was a true giant! I eventually netted his fish after a lengthy battle and took a few pics before the release. As it turned out, this was his personal best smallie too!

For almost an hour, we remained in the same area, but John only managed to get into a couple more bass. Time to relocate once again!

The next few places weren’t as good to us and we scrambled just to get a bite. I thought we’d try a little trolling after and ran to an area to set up. With no wind and high sunny conditions, I wasn’t sure how we would make out, but we were going to try.

After the lines were in the water I raised the roof to give us a little comfort from the scorching heat. If we weren’t catching, at least we would be comfortable!

I had spent about an hour trolling and all we had to show for it were a couple of northerns. I’m sure that if I had of started here today that the results would have been different! Time to make another move!

Thoughts of trying for sturgeon again were on my mind so I decided to do a little searching for these beasts. I headed to an area to search for them and spent about a half hour just scanning the bottom with the sonar. Without any real concentrations anywhere, I soon realized that this wasn’t going to happen, at least here!

Another long run to open water with less boat traffic and I was once again searching for more sturgeon. At least there was life here, both on the bottom as well as a few fish breaching. I decided to give it a try and set the rods up to fish.

The floating grass like weeds were a real pain with the lines and we had to clean them often. Less time spent in the water meant less chance at a hook up! We were constantly moving as well, when we stopped marking fish and it wasn’t looking very promising anymore. Time to try something else!

With only about an hour remaining in the day, I move off the sturgeon and decided to try for a few more walleye again. By drop shotting, I hoped for better action and a couple more fish for him to take home.

We made as many passes as we could and held in the areas that showed concentrations on the sonar. It may not have been the action I wanted, but some fish were caught and a couple more walleye made their way into the livewell before we were done.

With all the nice weather we’ve had lately, I wasn’t surprised to see heavy boat traffic on the water today. I am not looking forward to the weekend as I’m sure it will only get worse! Add to that the fact that we are in the construction holidays and it’s going to be a zoo! I guess today was as good as it gets!

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Dave & his son Mathieu were with me this afternoon for a very interesting trip. We began in deep water where I had found a school of walleye the day before, just hoping to get a limit. Mission accomplished!

We saw overcast skies and a light east wind and I had no trouble holding on the tiny spot. With the aid of the anchor mode on the electric, I was able to park right on top of the fish after marking them. Dropping down to the walleye in the current required a heavy weight and patience, but getting bit wasn’t an issue. In the first 15 minutes there were almost as many walleye caught. Unfortunately only one of them was in the slot though and I knew that they would have to filter through a few more in order to have their 6.

A few smallies were hooked into from the same area making for a nice mix of fish. The walleye however were now being a little finicky and required more patience than I thought they would. Add to that the floating grass like weeds and it was becoming just frustrating. Thoughts of changing locations were tossed around but I knew that if we focussed, we could get the job done.

Dave hooked into a fish right after it showed up on the sonar and I was sure it wasn’t a walleye. I had seen a big mark and was sure that it was a sturgeon. Sure enough, this was her! Let the battle begin!

I was pretty sure this wouldn’t end well but did my best to follow it with the electric motor. Dave was enjoying the fight and actually thought he had a chance. About 4 minutes into the battle the hook pulled free and he was left with an empty line. It’s never easy to land one of these dinosaurs on a tiny hook from a drop shot rig! We headed back to the walleye and fished a little longer, trying for their limit.

Although it took more time than I had expected, a limit was finally brought into the boat by Dave & Mathieu and things were officially done from here. Mathieu even landed the largest one and let everyone know!

I had brought along the big sticks today to make an attempt at sturgeon fishing. I had to run around a lot looking for a concentration, but eventually just settled in an area that showed some life. It would be the first time this season fishing for them but I knew we at least had a shot!

With lines in we waited for our first bite and when it finally came, I thought it was the right species. Disappointment was had when Dave brought the fish to the boat and we saw that it was an eel. I hate snakes and this thing was just that! I unhooked the hideous creature and went right back to fishing.

The next bite came about 15 minutes later and it too turned out to be an eel. I was definitely in the wrong area! We relocated slightly when I saw better marks and re anchored, just hoping for another shot at a sturgeon. Unfortunately when the next bite came and I set into the fish, I knew it was small. I immediately gave the rod to Mathieu to fight. He had a bass on the line and landed it shortly after. We were officially done!

Although we didn’t catch any sturgeon today, the fishing was still great. A good number of walleye were seen and a limit of keepers were taken in the half day outing. I could have done without the eels, but they did make it very interesting! Hopefully the next time I decided to anchor up, the results will be different. It’s only a matter of time before the first dinosaur makes its way into the boat, starting the big fish season for me. In the mean time I’ll just have to remain on the pike, bass & walleye. Tough job but someone’s gotta do it!