July 12^th 2019

Joseph was with me this morning along with his granddaughter Alexandra. I was hoping that the storms we had come through last night didn’t kill the bite. Only time would tell!

It took all of about 30 seconds to fire the first reel once I had the rods in and Alexandra battled a really nice walleye to the boat. We worked hard for the remainder of the bites we got after this and struggled for a while too. Mostly pike but a few more walleye and one really nice smallie was landed before I decided to switch it up.

We packed the trolling gear away and went for smallies on soft plastics. I taught Alexandra how to cast and it didn’t take her long to get the hang of things. She even managed to hook a couple on her own! With only the morning to fish, time flew by quickly and before we knew it, we were done.

They both managed to land several nice fish this morning despite the cold dirty water from all the rain recently. I’m sure that if we hadn’t gotten the electrical storm last night, the fishing would have been much better! Regardless, they had a great time and Joseph enjoyed seeing his granddaughter catch fish even more. Great half day of fishing!

July 9^th 2019

After a day of scouting yesterday without clients, I was back at it again this morning! Barry had his three kids, Leiha, Paige & Justin along for the morning and I was hoping to get them into a pile of fish.

Our trolling bite was definitely slower than expected with short strikes and less fish than I usually see. They only managed one walleye, with the balance being northerns. Time for a change of plans!

I ran to a smallie area and instructed them on how to manipulate the soft plastics they were throwing. It didn’t take long and Justin was tight to his very first smallmouth bass. He couldn’t believe the difference between the largemouth bass he was used to catching.

For the remainder of our time, they all hooked and landed, or lost, plenty more bass. The bite was definitely better than our troll earlier and I was just glad to have them on active fish.

Half days are always tougher as you can’t work through the slow periods as easily as full days. The clock is always ticking whether they bite or not! Fortunately I didn’t have an afternoon trip scheduled so we stayed on the bite about an hour longer.

Great times were had by all with many fish being landed in the end. Leiha however got top honours by slamming out 4 different species. She had managed to land a couple of really jumbo perch on the same baits the bass were eating. Sure wish we had the afternoon to keep the ball rolling. Water temps were climbing steadily, making the fish more aggressive. I always hate leaving them biting!

July 7^th 1019

I had double trips today with Ben & Jen in the morning, followed by Lori & Geof in the afternoon. Both couples had a good time catching all kinds of pike, along with some walleye & bass.

Morning cold front conditions made fishing a little slow by my standards but they still managed to boat plenty of fish in their short 4 hour trip. We ended up fishing smallies for the last hour and they brought some good ones to net.

Lori & Geoff in the afternoon had a much quicker start to their trip with pike coming in hand over fist in the beginning. Geoff landed the only walleye and it was his first one too! We were even checked this afternoon by the game wardens! Nice to finally see them on the lake!

When the bite slowed a bit, we headed to an area I knew, holding tons of gar. Lori wanted to see them and hoped to actually catch one. They were all there, but not really eating. One fish grabbed a senko and was hooked for a while, but eventually came off as I tried to grab it. Oh well, at least they saw plenty of them!

Bass were the last species we went for and although slow, there were still a few of them landed in the remaining time we had.

Today was exhausting but by having great people in the boat, it made it all worthwhile. Both couples had firsts with the pike & walleye and ended with the bass. Four hours go fast, but doubling it up in the same day makes it go even quicker! Busy day but loaded with fun!

July 5^th 2019

Bruno, Chris, Mike & Eric were with me today, after an earlier cancellation due to weather. The forecast was calling for possible thunder storms and visions of a short day were in the back of my mind while we raced to our starting location.

It didn’t take long to get the ball rolling as the first pike was landed. We were trolling an area that was just beginning to produce this season, with the warmer weather. Both pike & walleye were targeted and there were plenty landed for the next several hours.

The skies showed several areas receiving heavy rain but we were fortunate to fish under the roof, in just a light drizzle. In fact, it didn’t last too long and we were able to take the roof down, soon after it passed.

After several hours of successful trolling we switched it up and headed for bass. They were throwing soft plastics and in the remaining couple of hours, landed many more bass. It was a great day all around!

July 4^th 2019

Celebrating the 4^th of July, in Canada! Alyssa and her newly acquired family, from her marriage, were all together for a great day of fishing. They had a blast catching all kinds of fish, despite the excruciating heat wave. Absolutely zero wind made for a tough day with all those damn dog pecker knats!

The large walleye wanted to bite today and they managed to get a bunch of them. Along with the eyes, they also landed some good looking pike. They took turns with the rotations and we also had a few doubles, finally!

Although tough conditions were had, we overcame the sun & heat and put a bit of a beating on the fish today. Temps were pushing the 100 degree mark with humidex, but we stuck it out regardless. Thank god for the roof, otherwise I don’t think we would have made it till lunch! Great day on the water!