A Woman’s Touch

Jay joined me again this morning but this time he brought his wife Kim along for another incredible, « Multi Species » fishing day. We hooked up around 7:00 and were fishing not long afterwards in hot pursuit of pike & walleye. The weather was a beautiful sunny, cool morning that was scheduled to reach 80 degrees by days end. Winds were out of the S/W, blowing 10 to 15 knots and putting a 1 to 2 foot chop on the lake. The cool nights had the water temps dropping once again and now they were below 70 degrees. It didn’t take lone before we had Kim locked up and reeling in her first fish in many years. I believe the last one she had caught was also with me, but it was at least 3 years before on another body of water. This one was a northern of around 4 pounds and quickly returned to the lake in hopes of bigger & better to follow. Although the rods weren’t firing off like I was use to, we still picked at them for several hours catching a bunch of fish while trolling in this area. There were even a couple of double headers and Jay managed to get a chance at reeling in some of his own. The biggest one to come from the morning was a pike of just over 6 pounds and surprisingly, there weren’t any walleye landed. I think there might have been a couple on but they came unpinned on the way to the boat leaving us without any real confirmation. We decided to give the smallies a shot and relocated to another area in hopes of more aggressive fish. Jay was the first to lock up on a tiny crankbait and a chunky 2 pounder was his reward. We fished the area for close to 90 minutes picking a fish here and there but once again, had to work for each and every one. Although it was tougher than usual, there were still a few nice ones landed with the largest going over 4 pounds. Unfortunately, Kim was only able to get into a pike here and we decided to try another spot when things just died. The next area wasn’t any better but both Jay & Kim managed to land a few more bass before we packed it in once again and opted for another troll. I figured with the big waves and all that we might be able to stir up some of the better walleye that frequent this location. Once again it wasn’t gang busters but when the reel fired off, Jay was able to reel in our first walleye of the day. It wasn’t a giant like I had hoped but just an average 3 pounder like I see so often. When the next reel fired I made sure that Kim grabbed the rod to complete her grand slam for the day and she reeled in yet another 3 pound walleye. She also managed a couple more around the same size in the next half hour and fought a 4 pound smallie all the way to the boat. Unfortunately, the smallie had other ideas and after 4 or 5 jumps, threw the hooks and was gone. It was getting on in the day and I probably would have called it had that fish come aboard as I always like to end on a high. When the next reel went off I was glad she had lost the bass as this fish was worth the wait! It too went to the air several times but was long and lean and not a bass. Kim had not only managed to land 3 species of fish but now had a fourth to add to her Grand Slam completing her home run as well. I netted the 33 inch muskie and after a few quick picks released it back to the water unharmed. I knew that this fish would be hard to top and officially ended the day on that high note. We had managed to get into lots of fish throughout the day by covering water and mixing it up and had turned a slow day into a very memorable one. I know Kim will remember this one for quite some time or at least until the next time she’s invited back to fish again! All in all a pretty good day to be on the water!!