Another Boat Full

Well, two thirds of the Mikes were back this morning making it the M & M show. The other Mike was to join us mid day as he had scheduled appoints in the AM this time around. We hit the water before 9 and gave walleye trolling a shot for about 90 minutes. It was the first time in over 2 months that the floaters actually allowed me to run a board. In one area, they were non existent! Along with the lack of weeds were the lack of eaters and we struggled to come up with only one bite. I was marking them real good in all the usual places but they just didn’t want to move. With flat calm conditions and almost no current they were tightly pressed to the bottom, not feeding. In fact, the one fish we did manage to get to eat was taken in much shallower water and over 24 inches long. I guess he was lost or something! Time to pull the plug and cast for something else, somewhere else! We made a long run to an area that I thought we would get them good but soon found out different. For some reason, there were boats all over and two of them were parked on a couple of the best spots. I decided to remain over deeper water and try drop shotting on a flat where I was marking fish. They were also in the same mood as the trolling ones, with only one small bass coming aboard. After two unsuccessful passes over this area, I threw in the towel and headed shallower. One of the boats had vacated the area and now it was our turn! They both threw tubes to the rocky areas and managed just a few smallies for their efforts. I realized quickly that the presence of the other boat had dispersed the fish, regardless of how many they actually hooked. By now the other Mike had given me a 45 minute notice for pick up and I wanted to hit one more spot before we returned. We made another long run and it was here that they finally hooked into a few good ones. By working their baits slowly along an edge, they managed to land 5 nice walleye and a couple of bass. Junior had two Walters that made the slot and one under. Senior on the other hand didn’t contribute to dinner, but instead released a 23 & 24 inch plus walleye that were just beautiful. Their golden appearance was absolutely picture perfect! After the pick up, I thought we’d give trolling another shot, seeing as I had my rod guy back on board. I ran through all the good sections of one area and definitely marked loads of fish. Unfortunately they were still pressed to the bottom and not moving on our baits at all. This lack of wind really has a bad effect on how the walleye feed and we were feeling the pain. Plan B and off we went to cast for smallies once again! This time they managed to hook up many times where we were and landed over 50% of the fish. Some fell to the tubes and others ate the senko but at least we were on eaters! Once the action slowed, we moved once more and found another area with a few more to play with. With the blazing hot sun & high humidity just crushing us, I knew it wouldn’t be long before we were done. We pulled out of this place and headed to another area to try a little drop shotting. Without any wind and almost no current we would surely have a difficult time vertically. With two Mikes up front and one out the back, I positioned the boat for a drift. Back Mike hooked up first with a small bass and almost on cue, the others also locked up. This is what you can expect when vertically fishing over the reefs as you encounter small pods of tightly grouped fish. Mike junior managed to hook up with one other smallie before I called it a day. It was too difficult to concentrate on specific sections of this place and the fishing was slow at best. Add the insane heat wave and I was fried! The fishing may not have been phenomenal but we did have our share of chances throughout the day. They had landed a bunch of walleye & bass and oh yeah, a couple more sturgeon too! A tough but rewarding day on the water!!