October 26th 2018

I had a boatload today with Sam, Steph, Phillip and Gaurav, all looking for big smallies. Another road trip had us meeting at the location with a slightly later than usual start. It didn’t matter though as the air temps were below freezing anyway. Hopefully everything would heat up soon!

I started them shallow in hopes of a few quick fish but soon found that we needed to go a little deeper to get bit. Sam locked up on a couple of nice ones on a jig that had everyone excited. We were even seeing some fish swimming in the area as well, adding to their confidence!

I had set up the rods with various baits, hoping to figure out a pattern and it didn’t take long. Although Gaurav did manage to get a couple of strikes on soft plastics, it was the jigs that produced more. Phillip hooked into a real giant that unfortunately got off on the very first jump. Time to make another adjustment and try something even slower.

I slid out to even deeper water and tried a drop shot rod to see if this would help. First cast, locked up and confirmation was made! I set up another rod and had two of them work the area and several other quality bass were landed. Between the drop shot and the jigs, they were definitely seeing better action than earlier this morning!

The air temps were feeling pretty good now with the sun and lack of wind, regardless that it was barely above freezing. I even think the sun helped with the fish activity! Bites weren’t everywhere but by slowing down and concentrating, they were able to hook some fish. I had only spot fished and managed plenty of hookups, telling me that the fish were definitely there. A little concentration and focus was all that was needed for the fish!

We had fished a bunch of different places and caught bass in almost every one of them by fishing slow. With the water temps barely over 50 degrees, this was required if you wanted to get bit. I decided to try one last area before we were to leave and within 15 minutes they had another half dozen or so fish, closing out the day.

Although a short one, it was still one of the more productive outings for numbers as well as size today. I’m sure that if we had gotten out a little earlier, they would have landed even more fish. I was unable to fish all the places I wanted, being limited to time and just remained on the ones that were producing best. The fishing may have been slow at times but the bites were definitely good ones when they hooked up. At least the conditions were nice, for a change!!

October 25th 2018

Phillip & Ryan were with me today, looking for a few big smallies. I decided to take a road trip to another lake in search of personal best records. Hopefully they would get into them big time!

We hit the water after 8:30 in temps barely above freezing. Added to that was a NW wind that was expected to increase during the day. It was definitely going to be a challenge just to feel the bites !

Our first spot was on a fast current break and I was locked up instantly while making a demonstration cast. I immediately passed the rod to Phillip, letting him do battle with the fish. He was impressed at how strong it fought and loved every second of the fight. We had started the day with a bang and the first smallie was quality! Hopefully now they understood what they needed to do!

Both of them had made several casts to the same general area without much happening until Phillip finally got crushed. I could tell by the way this one was fighting that it was a heavy fish. When I finally saw it jump, I knew that this was the one I was looking for and that he had a monster on the line. It didn’t seem to want to come to the boat much so I released the anchor lock and drifted down to her. At least this way he wouldn’t be fighting the current as much, lessening the chance of it pulling free. Once we were close enough, I locked the motor again and netted his giant. It would definitely be his personal best and well worth several pics before the release. This one fish alone made his day, but I planned on getting them many more!

I repositioned the boat again and soon after Phillip was tight to another bass. Although it wasn’t as big as his previous one, it was still welcomed on this chilly day! Ryan wasn’t having as much luck and still looking for his first hookup. Although he may have had a few hits, he wasn’t able to hook any of them, as of yet! Phillip on the other hand was getting into fish quite regularly and landed several other decent ones while we were there.

A slight change in plans had us running back to the ramp to pick up another friend of theirs by mid day. This also gave Phillip a chance to change the boots he was wearing as his feet had been cold all morning. It would be a win, win for both!

We headed back out with Patrick in hopes of more big fish for the afternoon. With this many bodies casting, I decided to try something different. They would be using jigs and hopefully be able to feel the bites. The winds had picked up considerably now and it wouldn’t be easy to detect the hits with all the slack in their lines.

I had pulled into a rocky area, instructed them where to cast and it didn’t take long for the first fish to get hooked. Phillip battled another big bass and eventually brought it to the net. They may not have been getting loads of fish but the ones we were catching were big! He went right back in after the release and moments later was tight to another good one. This area definitely held fish as they could see. Too bad the others couldn’t hook up! Several misses later I was changing locations once again hoping for more big bites.

I had moved them from one rocky area to another and apparently it was the right choice. Phillip was right back to his old tricks by stabbing another huge bass almost instantly. Although it didn’t fight much until it neared the boat, it did go crazy when it saw the net. He had a difficult time bringing it up for me to get but eventually it came in the boat. Another absolutely huge smallie was added to the ones he had already landed and he was on a role for bigguns today! He even managed to catch a few more from the area before I relocated again. I really wanted to get the others into some fish and was determined to get it done.

We had slid out to deeper water now and I worked with Patrick, trying to get him hooked up. As soon as I hit the area I wanted, he was fighting his first bass! It was another good smallie and definitely worth a pic. It was also his biggest to date and another personal best was had! All that was left for me to do was get Ryan into one now and almost cue, he too was bringing one to net. More pics and more personal bests were had, as they continued casting the area looking for others. Too bad all they could come up with were missed strikes. Time for one last spot before we were done!

I had gone to a place that I wanted to start on this morning but due to another boat there, had opted for a different area. Now I was able to finish up with hopefully a few more fish! My first demonstration cast had me locked and passing the rod to Patrick to land the fish. He also had another on his own a little later and boated a decent bass again. The others only keep their fish pinned briefly before the hooks pulled free, leaving them with slack line. They may have only landed few fish from here but there were definitely plenty of chances!

By 4:00 I pulled the plug and headed back to take out. Today was one filled with size, not numbers and it couldn’t have ended any better. Despite difficult conditions, they were all able to land personal bests with Phillip coming out on top. He had caught several big fish, all of which would have been bigger than anything he had ever seen. This was definitely a day to remember by everyone!!

October 23rd 2018

Phil was back with me again for another grueling day on the water. The conditions had returned to the usual hell and we had a NE wind that would only get worse as the day went on. I decided to head directly for walleye in hopes that we could get them before it got too bad!

After a rough ride, we set up to do a little trolling in open water. The waves were already two footers but I was sure we would still get into some good fish. Unlike the usual troll, we were going to hold the rods and do a controlled contour pass looking for active fish. If I marked them, we should catch them!

I had covered a bit of water without seeing much activity, but soon came upon a few hooks. Almost instantly we were into a good fish! Phil had the first walleye pinned and moments later a chunky 23 incher was in the net. Quick pics and back she went!

We trolled plenty more water before the next bite, but it was a good one! Phil set into an almost 26 incher and brought it aboard for more pics. Things were starting to look up but the screen was still pretty empty. Although I did mark a few fish, it wasn’t what I was expecting. They were few & far between and we had to cover a lot of water in order to get the bites.

The next fish was on the smaller side and made its way into the livewell for dinner tonight. Although there were some fish in the area, they were pretty scarce. I decided to move a little shallower and as soon as I did, we were locked! This time however, it turned out to be a nice smallie, giving Phil his second species of the day. A couple more bass and a big bite off later, we decided to move back to deeper water looking for the walleye again.

We probably spent another hour or so with very few fish to show for our efforts and I decided to pull out and try something else. I was going for sturgeon, if the wind would let me anchor! It was pretty big now and wind against current is never a good thing!

The run to where I was going wasn’t pretty and I could see that the waves were much larger than they were, while we were trolling. It wasn’t looking good! I idled over the area and dropped the anchor hoping it would stick. Despite two drift socks and the anchor, we were still being blown up current. We gave it a try for about 30 minutes but were never firmly in place. In the end we just gave up!

We headed back at the area that we had trolled but this time I decided to try a little drop shotting instead. I could see that the water was rougher now and the waves were definitely bigger. With the electric in anchor mode, we held as best as we could and somehow managed three more good walleye in the process. I know we both missed a few bites but keeping the line tight was next to impossible in the gusting wind. Time to go back to the troll again!

We decided that we would finish the day by trolling again and almost immediately, Phil was locked up. This fish was acting a little strange and when it neared the boat, I knew why. Phil had somehow managed to hook into a small musky giving him a slam for the day. Although difficult, we kept trolling after the release and managed a few more bass. The walleye had somehow vanished but at least we had the smallies!

Despite the conditions today, we managed to get into a bunch of good fish. Phil had caught a variety of species and all on light tackle. I hope to have him out again before the season is done and with any luck, we might even have nicer conditions. Better luck next time!!

October 21st 2018

After a couple of cancellations due to giant winds recently, I was finally able to get back out this morning. Glen, Tony & Todd were here to do battle with the beasts and I just hoped we would be able to fish for them. With the big blow still happening, a slight change in direction was our only hope. We were going all in!

The run to the area was not a great one but with the new motor on the boat, it was safe & dry. Winds were still blowing pretty good from the NW but the waves weren’t too bad, yet! We arrived and to my surprise there were rollers from two different directions. We had wind & waves from the W/NW as well as some bigger ones out of the west. It looked more like what I see in the summer with all the boat traffic! I still wasn’t sure if I would be able to fish, but got everything ready to try.

After idling around for a bit, I finally found what I was looking for and dropped the anchor. I was also forced to use the electric motor’s anchor feature in order to securely hold. Unfortunately after everything had settled, I realized that we weren’t exactly where I wanted to be. The winds had pushed us off the spot and also the fish I had marked. After about 30 minutes of not seeing anything, I pulled up and idled again. The next time I dropped the anchor, I compensated for the angle the winds were putting us at and set up right on the fish. I knew this was going to be a lot better as I kept seeing fish while we were parked.

We had been positioned for a while before Tony set into something big. They had been holding their rods as the bouncing made it just impossible in the rod holders. Instead of bringing in the other lines, I decided to leave them out in hopes of a second bite. Good thing too as Tony battled his fish for about one minute before the hook just pulled free. It was definitely a big one, but how big we’ll never know! Almost on cue, Glen reared back on a second fish as quickly as Tony had lost the first. This time it stayed pinned and fought him for a while. Although it never jumped, there was definitely some weight there as the runs were long ones. Roughly 5 minutes later, I brought the fish aboard for a few pics. At least we weren’t skunked today!

Todd was the next to hook up and we all thought he had a junk fish until the baby dinosaur appeared. It was just so cute that they both made fun of its size! Todd had been out with them on previous trips and still hadn’t landed anything big yet. His luck continued with this fish but I still needed a pic!

I had made one or two additional moves afterwards to get back on the fish and eventually it paid off. Glen had locked up on another good one and it was acting even bigger than his first. He was having a hard time lifting it off the bottom and controlling his animal. Multiple long runs were brought back only to go right out again. This thing just didn’t want to give up! Eventually though, I was able to net the sturgeon and again more pics were taken before the release.

Despite the miserable cold winds from two different directions, they were having some action. Although not what I had expected, at least fish were being hooked into on this hateful day! Several snow squalls were also happening on & off throughout the day but fortunately none of it gathered in the boat. Best thing however was that we were alone! I guess no one wanted to be out other than us on this beautiful day!

We were well into the afternoon now and I was hoping for more fish when Glen set into another good one. He passed the rod to Tony as he hadn’t managed to land anything yet. Tony’s short battle this morning had ended in heartbreak when the fish just came unpinned. He was now looking for a little payback!

I believed that this sturgeon was the biggest of the day so far as Tony had absolutely no control over the beast. It was taking line at an alarming rate on the first run that had him thinking it was foul hooked. I knew better though and eventually the fish turned and began heading right at the boat. Now Tony was reeling back all the line he had lost and more. As the fish neared I could tell that it was about to breach and almost on cue, it took to the air. It was large and definitely not foul hooked! It felt just like the one he had lost right out of the gate this morning and now he wanted redemption!

The fight had gone about ten minutes before I actually had a shot with the net and slid her into the giant bowl. This fish may not have been the fattest thing I had seen, but it sure was long. A true dinosaur! Tony had gotten his payback even if Glen had hooked it. I told him that it was no different than having the rods in the holders and being handed a line.

Multiple shots were taken from different angles before she was torpedoed back into the water. The only thing left now was to get Todd a giant! As luck would have it, just before we were ready to leave, he sort of set into a fish. Todd had gotten a bite and set the hook, only thinking it was gone. What he had done however was loosen the drag with his gloves making it seem like it wasn’t there. As soon as I tightened it up he was tight to the last fish of the day. We had all hoped for another biggun but as Todd’s luck would have it, not! Although the fish was larger than his first one, it was still a juvenile. You just never know when you get bit!

They needed to be at the airport by 4:30 so we began to pack everything up at 3:30, after Todd’s fish. I would need a little more time running back in these waves and didn’t want to rush them. I also sent a text to Don who was nice enough to drop us in this morning and would be waiting to take us out when we returned. With the docks having been removed a few days earlier, it definitely helped!

The wind and waves were not great for the return, but the boat ran smooth and dry. The weight of the new motor and adjustments on the hydraulic jack plate had us running comfortable, even with the waves. I still can’t believe the difference this Verado makes and how the boat handles now!

As we approached the ramp, I could see Don arriving and within minutes we on the trailer and out of the water. It wasn’t the first time this year that he had provided Valet Service and I’m always grateful for his help!

Glen, Tony & Todd may not have had the banner day I was hoping for but after experiencing the winds, I was thankful for the few bites we did have. They had landed some really nice fish under the most difficult conditions I had ever faced, anchored up for sturgeon. It’s not a wonder that there were no other boats out there today! Just us four crazy guys! In the end, I wouldn’t have changed a thing!!

October 17th 2018

Pierre, Francois & Sebastian picked another miserable day to go fishing today. It’s not hard when it’s always blowing 25 to 30 knots and there’s nowhere to hide! I just hoped that they would be able to feel the bites in this wind!

We hit the water about 8:30 in a strong westerly howl and headed to our first spot to fish. As I approached the area I realized that we would be able to fish there due to the angle of the wind. I had high hopes for them under these conditions and quickly showed them what to do.

For about 45 minutes they casted lures in current and managed to get several bites. A few fish were landed but most were either missed or just lost before we slid into the best area. It was here that Phillip stuck a really nice bass that fought great. Several jumps and plenty of surging runs later, it was finally in the net. This may have been his largest smallie ever and the day was just beginning!

We resumed fishing after the pics and release and that’s when everything changed. The winds picked up, switching from a west to a W/NW and just crushed us. I now had to use the kicker along with the electric motor just to hold in place. Apparently the fish didn’t like it either as they just stopped biting. Waves were crashing everywhere! I had to try something different and somewhere else if they were going to catch any more fish!

I had switched to a slow troll hoping for better line control but apparently this was more difficult that I realized. Between all the floating weeds and tangled baits, it was impossible to keep the lures in the water. Eventually I just held with the two motors and tried casting the areas instead. This too proved next to impossible as they were still getting tangled with each other somehow and I spent more time retying. Between the wind and weeds things were getting more & more difficult.

We tried a variety of areas and presentations throughout the morning but to no avail. Eventually they requested a lunch break back, back at the ramp and I agreed. We were going to get out of here for a while and re think our options!

They had taken about an hour out of our schedule in a sheltered area and wanted to head back out for the remainder of the day. I tried a different place behind an island and despite marking all kinds of bait and several fish, we still came up empty. I finally decided to head back to where I really wanted to be and grind it out for the remainder of the day!

Despite the big waves getting there, it actually seemed somewhat better when we arrived. I still used the two motor approach but it was doable. Sebastian was casting from up front while Pierre & his brother Frank were fishing from the back. A few hits were had by everyone but the wind still had too much slack in their lines for them to detect the bites. Sebastian was the only one that actually landed anything and unfortunately they were all fall fish. I had wanted to try a couple of other areas before we called the day and ran to the first one to troll.

We covered plenty of water and didn’t have anything to show for our efforts but tangled lines and weeds. A few hits were had but unfortunately all fish were missed! One last stop and we would end the day afterwards!

I held on a big current break with both motors again and fortunately this time they did catch a couple of fish. Francois landed two nice smallies before we finished up for the day. At least they went out with a bang!

The conditions have been insane lately with all the giant winds but I’ve still managed to get people into fish every day. I know that whenever we finally catch a break, the fishing will improve dramatically. Until then however, I will be forced to deal with Mother Nature’s idea of a joke! With plenty of days still remaining in this season I’m sure it can only get better!!