Refining The Bite

After yesterday’s insane half day on the water, Christiane was just dying to get out and have one of her own. I had clients scheduled for both weekend days, but unfortunately cancellations happened! It’s been a tough year for these and I hope it doesn’t continue throughout the season. Our intentions were to hit the water early but we had to change plans when the pool needed maintenance. No big deal as the fish would wait! We finally were on the lake around 10:30 and the lines were set when a reel started to scream that lovely sound. It was a deep walleye zone, but unfortunately turned up an 8 pound northern instead. Three minutes in and already a snake! We did manage a few more small walleye and a couple more pike before I hit the main area once again. What had started out as a day with light winds from the NE had ended abruptly and now we were in flat calm. I hate flat calm! Wind creates movement and movement means activity. Along with the lack of wind also comes the “Dog Pecker Knats” and they too added to the misery! I wasn’t sure how this would affect the area but thought that we could get a few walleye despite the lack of flow. The usual 1 to 2 footers were what I preferred, but you can’t always get what you want! I was soon to find out that I was right as I covered lots of water and only had a half dozen or so walleye to show for it. Most of them were under the usual size too and I knew it was time to begin the search once more. I had an idea of where they were and headed to deeper water in search of the mother load. Well it wasn’t gang busters like the two previous days but we were getting them. We were also getting a few northerns and many big smallies in the mix that obviously were recovering well as they had bulked up nicely. The water was warming up with the sun & cloud cover and was around 68 degrees, but I was hoping for more. Plenty of floating vegetation was also present due to the previous northern winds and boat traffic and rods had to be placed down to compensate. Once I found what I was looking for, the reels began their lovely sounds once more. I had located the big ones and took full advantage of this situation hooking up frequently. Between big northerns, big bass & big walleye, we were into them big time! A couple of the walleye were over 25 inches and ironically fought quite well. As quickly as I could get the rods back in the water after netting a fish, another reel would go off. Talk about a chaotic experience! I love chaos and crazy fire drills too! We fished the area and fanned out looking for more and were rewarded for our efforts every time. It’s amazing how a small refinement can increase the end results when the conditions change like they did. Although it’s only mid June, the 80 plus degree temps made it feel more like a full blown summer day and I think the fish felt it as well. I found myself adjusting constantly just to stay on the fish. By 3:00 we decided the heat was too much and pulled the plug after another double header. I usually don’t like leaving the fish biting but lately that’s what I have been doing. It’s different with clients as everyone always wants more, more more, bigger, bigger bigger! I can’t argue with that and tend to milk the areas for every bite they can get. We weren’t sure what the boat ramp situation would be like and gave ourselves plenty of time as the previous weekend traffic had delayed take out plenty. As luck would have it, nobody was around and we were out in no time. Talk about a perfect end to a perfect day!!