May 15th 2018

Christopher & Dave were with me this morning, for a half day of fishing. Fortunately, it wasn’t too cold overnight and the water temps hadn’t fallen too bad. Unfortunately the skies didn’t look too nice and I was glad I had brought extra rain gear for them to wear. Not as glad as they were though as they were wearing shorts!

We began on a spot far from the launch and along the way, the rain started to fall. It got even heavier when we arrived, but it didn’t seem to matter. They were fishing and didn’t care! I decided to troll this area to see if I could find a few walleye for them to catch, but it looked almost void of fish. Christopher did however lose a few before we finally had one come aboard. They were fishing with rod in hand and I had set another in the holder to make three. This one went off and Christopher soon landed his first ever walleye! He immediately noticed how much it looked like a Zander, their European cousin. Being from Scotland, neither of them had ever caught one and were happy to have finally done so. We kept at the troll for a little longer but never landed another fish from here. With the waves building from the wind and the direction having changed, I decided to pull the plug. Off to another area and hopefully better fishing!

After a long run, I settled on shallower water and they began to troll. We used the same technique with the third rod in the holder and it didn’t take long. Chris was tight to another walleye and it joined the first one in the well. Dave was having a tough time keeping the fish pinned after losing a couple in the first spot but I knew it would soon change. Chris on the other hand was hooked up several more times before Dave finally got in the game. Now they were both catching fish and it was a mix of giant perch, walleye and the odd smallie. Although not fast and furious, there was enough action to keep them interested. I had to really cover water and hit every waypoint and icon I had in order to get bit. The 51 degree water temps and overcast skies with rain weren’t helping. The fish just didn’t seem to want to move! Stained water didn’t help either as visibility was almost zero! Unless you hit them on the head, they didn’t eat. In fact most of the ones that made it to the net, fell off once landed. All of this aside, they managed to get into a good number of fish in their short time on the water. Dave rebounded nicely and landed several good ones as well and in the end, they were tied. There was a friendly competition going on that Dave almost won. Unfortunately he dropped the last fish while reeling it in causing the results to end even.

We had fished for over 4 hours and by noon, called the day. They were heading to another area for several days to fish for carp and needed to get on the road. This was just the prelude to the actual reason why they had flown so far to fish. I’m sure that if the weather warms up some, they will be having a great time as well, landing all kinds of big fish. The same thing should occur here if we ever get stability and water temps. In the mean time, I’ll just have to keep grinding it out and covering water in search of fish. Better fishing, still to come!!

May 12th 2018

With the walleye opener yesterday, I was looking forward to getting out this morning with new clients. Marc had booked the day last December as a Christmas gift and remarkably he lucked out with the weather. We met up at 7:30 and shortly after, were on our way to the first spot looking for gold!

I set out 4 lines as Don & Darren had joined Marc giving me a chance at a full spread. Water temps weren’t great and the clarity was terrible, but I still expected to get bit. A deep to shallow troll was in order as I searched for our first bite! I trolled along and right on cue, our first one was a very short strike. With my speed so slow from the 51 degree water, it was almost inevitable! The next reel to fire was a deep diver and Darren boated the first eye of the day. It fell off in the net indicating just how lethargic they were! A chunky 20 incher soon entered the livewell after a few quick pics and the skunk was officially out!

We resumed our troll with confidence, now that we had proof they lived here! I covered water in search of warmer temps and marked many fish in the area. Unfortunately they seemed a little lock jawed and never really moved to eat. After about 10 minutes I decided to check the lines and to no surprise found a rider on one of the them. Don got to reel in an almost dead walleye of the same size that also fell off in the net. Aggressive, I think not!

We remained in this area for a couple of hours and picked up a few more pike before heading to another section of the lake. I did the same thing here with similar results and only pike to show for our efforts. Time for another move!

This next stop had the reels going almost immediately but pike and smallies were the only two species getting hooked. In fact most of the bass were jumping the hooks when they took to the air! As I didn’t want to keep hooking them, I decided to move out of the area completely and apparently away from all the fish as well. It wasn’t until I decided to relocate again that I realized there were walleye here! As I brought in the lines, one of the deep divers felt heavy and we had our third eye of the day! These fish were so lethargic that the reel never made a sound, even with an extremely light drag!

The next area close by produced nothing but bottom and I didn’t stay long. I wanted to find warmer water and headed closer to where I began. This wasn’t much better and the water color was definitely worse! Visibility was only inches with bright colored lures! We did manage to have a few more fish in the last hour or so and boated three walleye along with a few bass.

Today was definitely a challenge and we worked for each and every fish that hit! Despite the difficult fishing, there was still plenty of action throughout the day, making it a success. They managed to bring a limit of eyes home with them and reel in a decent amount of other fish.

With warmer temps ahead, the fishing will only get better and I will be out to take advantage of the bite. I plan on fishing every day with or without customers in the coming weeks! With several openings available, I hope to see some new faces along with a few regulars, as the fish start to feed. I know this week will definitely increase the water temps, triggering everything to eat. I can’t wait! Better days ahead!!

May 4th/6th 2018

Despite Mother Nature’s bad sense of humor, I was still able to salvage 2 of the 3 days this weekend! Friday’s pike opener saw a half day morning with Lusis & Dunets from Europe. Water temps were an average 44 to 45 degrees and really dirty. They managed to pick up a couple of fish in the few hours but the conditions weren’t the greatest! I was glad to get off by noon as the weather turned really bad!

Saturday was a complete cancellation as the hurricane winds during the night had us throwing in the towel before we ever began! I hope this start to the year isn’t an indication of what’s to come!

Sunday I took a road trip west and hooked up with a buddy for some great walleye action. The season opener had many others out as well but we didn’t see too many bent rods. We however landed many of these golden beauties and released almost all. A few smaller ones were harvested by Mark for one of his neighbors. On the water before 6 and off by 1 o’clock saw the 7 hours fly by! Although the water temps weren’t any better here, the deep fishing had us boating some real beauties!

Our walleye opener locally, begins this Friday and hopefully Mother Nature won’t be as cruel. We really need the daytime temps to warm up the water, getting these fish on the move. I will be out more after these two species are available for clients to catch.

Plenty of available dates in the coming weeks if anyone is interested. High number days will soon become the norm and I can’t wait! Tight Lines!!

I recently took a road trip with Christiane to fish for a different species. We spent a couple of days in New York State, looking for steelhead. It had become an annual thing, hooking up with Kevin Davis and floating the Oswego River in his drift boat. Many chances were had on both days under very difficult conditions. Low, clear water had the fish in a funky mood, but some of them did cooperate. We managed to land a good number of steelhead & rainbows on the first day and some nice browns and smaller steelhead & bows, day two. It seemed like all of the better steelhead managed to get quick releases, day two!

Regardless of how tough the fishing is, Kevin is always on top of his game. Having fished the river in all kinds of conditions, for many years, he understands their movements almost better than the fish.

If anyone is interested in wetting a line this winter for big trout, I suggest getting in touch with him for available dates. Catching steelhead & browns of this caliber in the winter, really has to be experienced. Check out his Website at catchthedrift.com and give him a call. You won’t be disappointed! Here’s a few pics of some of the fish landed and released to be caught again!

Darren is usually my last client of the season and he just may have been that one, again this year! We hooked up about 9:30 and were scheduled to fish until 2:00 for a half day outing. The walleye fishing had been excellent lately and I was sure today would be equally as good.

With similar baits on the lines, we both dropped in, hoping to up our chances of hookups. Right on cue, the first fish was pinned but unfortunately came off before it reached the boat. Definite weight on the rod indicated that it may have been a good fish! We kept at it and a little while later, Darren was tight to another. This one made it to the net and soon after into the livewell. It was a high end keeper and the skunk was officially out!

I moved around quite a bit for the first couple of hours, all the while picking at the fish. Many were landed but they weren’t eating that well as most were falling off in the net. Unlike a couple of days earlier when I almost had to perform surgery to remove the hooks! Despite the finicky hits, we still managed to hook up quite often. In fact, at one point in the afternoon we got into a good bunch and upped the numbers considerably!

With 2:00 rolling around quickly, I tried to focus on the areas that seemed to be producing rather than moving around. Some of the better fish of the day were caught by remaining in specific spots. In fact, the two best fish both came in the last 15 minute on one of these places. By the time it was all over, we were well into the double digits and managed to put a few more in the well for him to take home. Although most were overs, there weren’t any real giants unlike the previous trips.

It’s always more difficult with half days as I’m limited to what I can do. Moving around doesn’t occur as much with 4 hour days. Fortunately there were enough fish caught today to keep us interested! Although I’d like to get back out, the weather isn’t very promising. I’m still hoping for another trip this weekend before the boat goes into hibernation like a bear. Leaving the fish biting is tough but Mother Nature always has the final say. If temps remain negative for a few more days and nights, I won’t be able to launch and forced to wait for the hard water fishing. Either way, I will be wetting a line as much as I possibly can in the coming weeks. Hopefully out of my boat, in search of solid gold!