Thomas & Mason joined me today for a very interesting day of fishing! Expectations were high as we headed on the water and hopes of big fish were on their minds. What would the day bring?

I thought we would start off with a little trolling to get them quickly into fish, but unfortunately it didn’t go as planned. The area I hit had tons of floating vegetation and once again, constant cleaning of the rods was required! Add to that, very inactive fish and we only stayed for about 90 minutes before we headed elsewhere. Although a handful of pike were landed, it was way too slow and too much work to fish this area. We were done!

I had wanted to show these guys a few different presentations today and switched up to casting soft plastics at our next spot. What was supposed to be a smallie area, ended up producing a nice pike that Mason sight fished. It had followed his bait to the boat and tried to grab it when he was finished his retrieve and I immediately told him to throw back. Next cast, fish on! The short line fights are like musky fishing when they hit right next to the boat and all hell broke loose when he set the hook! It was a fat, healthy fish and nice to see during the heat of the summer, in little to no water. Definitely feeding well!

Although they didn’t land any bass from the area, Mason had a couple of good ones blow up on his bait that only ended in disappointment. Soon after, we decided to just move to another area and hopefully better results. We made a long run to deep, open water!

I had wanted to fish some of my offshore spots that were much deeper and today was going to be the day! With the temperatures constantly rising, the fish were being pushed to more comfortable depths and we were going drop shotting for them.

Mason started off with me in the front of the boat as we drifted down current over the area. It didn’t take long after I explained what to do before he was tight to his first deep water smallie! He also caught several more in the 2 to 3 pound range before I decided to make some deeper passes. I was seeing average fish from the first range and hoped the bigger ones would cooperate better by moving out.

Again, it didn’t take long to see the results when Mason was tight to another fish from this new area. It seemed like a better one and when it came up, I knew it was. Although not a giant, it was definitely larger than the previous ones he had landed. While removing the hook and taking a few pics, Thomas finally hooked into a good one as well. I guess he had let out more line than he needed while we were drifting because it took a while to get it to the boat. This would be his biggest bass for the day as well as his personal best! She was released immediately after the pics and bolted right back to the bottom, as we saw her go down on the sonar!

We kept at the drop shotting and made several drifts at various depths. With each one, fish were being hooked and some of them even landed. When the bite slowed, we pulled out and hit another area but still remained with the same presentations.

For a change, this spot was better to Thomas than it was to Mason. He managed to land a few smallies and we even put a nice keeper walleye in the boat for Mason to bring home with him tonight!

Once again, after the bite stopped, I relocated to another area much further away in hopes of catching more fish. We made several drifts and although I was marking plenty, they were reluctant to eat. Mason did manage to land a small walleye from here though, that completed his slam for the day!

I had planned on finishing the day from here but with the way the fish were acting, I knew I couldn’t stay. I needed to get back out in the deeper, cooler water if they had any chance of getting bit!

By now it was quite late in the afternoon and the boat traffic was at its max. Despite the lack of wind, we were still in 2 to 3 footers most of the time and from all directions. Fishing deep was going to be a challenge, but I would make it work!

I can never understand why other boats, both big and small, have to run by fishermen so close and throw massive waves while they are fishing! It was next to impossible to stand comfortably and feel the light bites, with the rollers they created! Somehow we did manage to land several more fish in all this chaos before we were done for the day!

I wasn’t looking forward to taking the boat out and feared that the ramp would be a nightmare when we got back. I was right! People everywhere and boats just anchored up with nobody even around. This was going to be a challenge!

Fortunately I was able to tie up on the outside and had both Thomas & Mason hold the boat away from the dock with the waves rolling in. The parking lot was also a nightmare and I was barely able to get the trailer out, with stupid people parking their cars so close, in designated boat trailer slots. Guess I’m just gonna have to put another complaint in, again!

Despite all the obstacles that we encountered throughout the day, they still had a great time and even learned a few new techniques. Hopefully some of these will help them in their future fishing trips and add more fish to their results. Gotta love weekend fishing and the traffic it brings!

Another day of double trips started out with Peter and his kids, Amanda & Michael this morning and Emma & her boyfriend Julian in the afternoon. I only hoped the fishing would be good!

We began the day by trolling for pike & walleye and covered a fair bit of water before getting our first bite. I had a feeling it was going to be a grind after seeing how inactive these fish were! Michael was up and landed his first ever northern!

With the lines back in, I hoped it wouldn’t take as long for the second bite as I noticed a big bend in one of the rods. Amanda was next and she too reeled in her very first pike as well. Things weren’t going as quickly as I had hoped but at least we were seeing some action!

By covering water I was able to pick at the fish pretty regular and managed to get the rotation going. At one point, we even had a double header, with a good keeper sized walleye and another pike. Things were finally picking up!

We trolled for a few hours this morning and they managed to catch a bunch of fish before I pulled the plug. We were going to try a little drop shotting further away, but not before they all took a swim in the water.

With less than an hour remaining in their trip, I stopped on a deep flat and things looked great. There were fish and bait marking all over the area! It didn’t take long to get the first bite and both Michael & Amanda were locked up immediately! Amanda had a small walleye that was immediately released but Michael was into a big smallie. After a few acrobatic leaps and drag pulling runs, I slid his fish into the net. This would be his first and obviously biggest bass!

The remainder of their time was spent making a few more drifts and someone was always hooked up. We ended the day with a triple header that came at the very last minute. What a way to finish their trip!

I headed back and made the switch, picking up Emma & Julian for the afternoon outing! I figured that I would head right back to where I had been and hopefully the fish would still be biting. Emma confirmed that with a walleye on her very first drop. Julian also managed to get into a big smallie soon after and I knew the fish were still on!

We spent most of the afternoon drop shotting in the area and they either caught, or lost, plenty more fish. I made many drifts over different sections until the well went dry! Once I started seeing an empty screen, I moved to another spot and managed to put them on a few more fish before switching to a little trolling.

With the roof up, I headed to an area a short distance away, but spent all my time clearing weeds from the rods. It didn’t seem to matter where I was, the floating grass was all over the water. I couldn’t troll for more than a few seconds without the rods being loaded. Not much fun!

Despite our efforts, eventually I just had to call it on the trolling and went back to another area to drop shot. The last hour saw a few more fish caught by Amanda but both of them had their chances. Too bad Julian couldn’t monopolize on the bites he had! In the end, Emma had caught the first, last, most, biggest and even slammed with a huge pike she landed earlier, while drop shotting the first place they fished.

Today was a bit of a roller coaster with the fishing, but I still managed to get everyone into plenty of action. I’m back on the water again tomorrow with another group and only hope that they too have a great day. It’s all up to the fish now!

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!

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!

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!