After spending several hours of unsuccessful trolling for muskie with my wife Christiane yesterday, the furthest thing from my mind was heading out today to do it again. Unfortunately, a buddy of mine from out west was in town for just today and he convinced me otherwise. We hit the water at the crack of 11:30 A.M. and set the lines in hopes of hitting another lunge to add to the three that he landed with me last year. The winds were out of the W/NW at 15 to 20 knots with even stronger gusts. Water temps remained around 73.5 degrees and the air temps were in the 70’s. Although they called for sunshine and occasional clouds for the day, they lied! There was very little sun and lots of cloud cover making this look like a big fish kinda day! I guess it was about 45 minutes into the troll when the deep line started to scream. I mean it really went out and I knew it had to be a big fish! By the time I removed it from the holder and passed it off, I had the feeling that she was huge by the power of the headshakes. Last year the largest fish Keith landed was about 45 inches and he thought that was enormous, but he was about to see what really big was all about! I cleared the other shallow line to give him room to fight the fish and was glad to have done it when we both caught a glimpse of the beast. Its head came out of the water like a bad scene from Jaws! When it was close enough to the boat, I grabbed the leader and boga gripped her to remove the hooks. It had the entire plug in its mouth and I had to cut 2 of the trebles out not to harm the fish. When everything was ready, I took a couple of quick shots and a measurement & safely released her back to the lake. What a way to start the day with a fish that went 50 inches! It was definitely his personal best and the longest one in the boat this season, so far. We trolled for a little while longer and landed a small pike of about 5 pounds, but had no more strikes from muskie. I decided to change tactics and we began casting lures for bass & walleye. Keith landed a few perch and a small walleye on a spinnerbait before we relocated once again. The same thing happened again with a few more small fish and another relocation was in order too. Here he managed to get into a bass of about 3 pounds before a quick release and lost another larger fish on a spinnerbait that could have been a pike or muskie before we called it quits for the day. He had to be at the airport to fly back to Calgary and needed to leave early. We decided to pack everything in and head back to the ramp. Although there weren’t too many fish caught today, there was definitely one that counted. We had come out hoping to get into a big muskie and succeeded! This was all that mattered to both of us and he was ready to head back out west with the memories of today still fresh in his mind. By the time he gets back home, he will be able to remember it even better when he sees the pics! All in all a great day with a huge lunge to add to the memories!!

I hit the water a little later than usual today with Steve, Greg & Joe for a mix of fish. They were in town on business and met me at the ramp around 11:30 in the morning for a day of sunshine & high humidity. The air temps were already in the mid 80’s and eventually peaked somewhere in the 90’s by the afternoon. Along with the high humidity were the “Dog Pecker Knats” due to no winds! Water temps reached almost 74 degrees in some areas but averaged 73 where we concentrated. We began trolling for Muskie as soon as we hit the water taking advantage of the moon, but had no luck. Off to the smallie areas we went and it didn’t take too long before Steve was releasing bass on a spinnerbait. Unfortunately, he hadn’t caught them before and they didn’t count! Greg managed to get into a few of his own on a crankbait and pretty much the same thing happened there with a quick release before he finally managed to land one and that did count. Joe was getting pick ups on a senko and also managed to land a few of his own. We covered water in this area seeing a few fish here & there but none that were really large enough for my liking so I just kept moving. All 3 lures and baits were working and none better than the other until we changed locations and the crankbait out produced all. Greg had the hot hand hooking into multiple bass of all sizes and a couple of decent ones in the high 3-pound range. Steve managed to land a nice walleye of over 3 pounds on a spinnerbait and Joe captured a few smaller bass on a senko too. With the scorching heat and midge driving us all nuts, we opted for another changeup and went trolling with lighter tackle for walleye, pike & bass close by. When the first rod fired, Steve took it and lost what felt like a heavy fish before we could see what it was. I hate the unknowing! Next up was Joe and he landed a smaller walleye of a couple of pounds. We trolled for a while longer without much happening and had a couple of drive by’s but only managed to get one other small walleye and called it quits for this place. With the sun getting lower in the sky and cooler air temps, I thought we would give the muskie another try and set the lines out, trolling again. I don’t think we had them in the water for more than 10 minutes when the long line set the reel to screaming. I grabbed the rod from the holder and passed it to Greg, seeing as it was his turn and we cleared all the other lines to give him room. This fish had power as he ripped more line from the reel even with the drag locked down pretty tight. I could see be the wake behind the boat that it was a good one and waited for him to bring it along side so that I could grab it with the boga grip. The fish was well hooked and made a couple more runs as it neared before I had it safely secured. I only had to cut one hook as the other was in a location that was easily removed. A couple of quick pics before an easy release and the 43.5-inch was back to the water and bolting to the depth from where it came. Everyone was now pumped and wanted more! Unfortunately, we trolled for another hour or so without even a touch and called it a day. Although it was a hot and sticky day that physically drained all of us, it ended on a high note as Greg landed not only his first muskie, but also the largest fish of his life. Great day to be on the water!!

Mike & Joe joined me today on a local lake for another multi species day. They were looking to see if they could catch a few walleye for the table, so I set the lines out to troll. The weather started a little cool with the air temps around 60 degrees but climbed way up to the low 80’s by the time we were done. Winds were out of the S at 10 to 15 knots and the water temps were barely 70 degrees. I don’t think we had the lines in the water for more than 3 minutes when the first reel went off and Mike was into a nice smallie over 3 pounds. Soon after, Joe also landed a smallie a little smaller and we were well on our way. Eventually, Joe got hold of a nice walleye of almost 4 pounds and into the livewell it went. We had a few misfires and then a double header of smallies a little later and then Joe managed another walleye of about the same size again. The action wasn’t fast & furious, but they were definitely hitting in the area we were trolling! Mike also added to the walleye with one a little smaller for the dinner table. One anorexic northern and a few more smallies and we decided to try our luck to see if we couldn’t hook up with a muskie. I relocated, set out the lines and began to troll a weed edge hoping for just one hit. Maybe 20 minutes into the pass, the deep line screamed for a couple of seconds and then went silent. Another drive by! I hate when that happens. The lure was over deep water and there weren’t any signs of weeds when I checked the bait, so I knew it was a fish. This was to prove to be the only hit we were to have as I trolled for about 90 minutes hoping to lock up. Back to searching for walleye with the lighter rods and an instant hook up of a pike was had. I really thought we were going to get them good, but only managed one other fish in the next 45 minutes. Fortunately, it was a walleye and Joe reeled it in again. They had to leave by 2:00 P.M. so we called it a day and headed back to the ramp. There were lots of fish hooked and landed today, but not the numbers or size that I am so accustomed to. Luckily for them though, walleye is on the menu for tonight’s dinner!!

Today I fished with Fred once again, on another local lake for big smallies. The weather was a little strange as we encountered rain along the drive and waited it out for 5 minutes at the boat ramp before heading out. Clouds were all around us and the winds were out of the S/W at 10 to 15 knots causing the lake to be a little rough. Air temps were around 62 degrees at the start and 85 degrees by the end of the day. Water temps were down again at 71.5 to 72 degrees at best. Fred began throwing a spinnerbait with all the chop as I thought the fish might be a little more active under these conditions. I tossed a tube at the same time to see which one would work better, but he was the first to hook up. After missing a couple of strikes, Fred was into an honest 3.5-pound smallie and thrilled when it came to the net. He also got hammered by another not long after the first and managed to bring this 4 pounder to the net as well making for his personal best smallie. We moved around a little more picking a fish here & there, but never really found any concentration. Eventually, I offered to switch it up a little and give trolling for muskie a try and he happily agreed. Fred had never landed a muskie and looked foreword to the possibility of getting into one of these toothy creatures. With the rods in the holders and the lures down it took only 3 minutes for the deep line to go off. The reel screamed and I grabbed it from the holder only to feel the last tug and then the vibration of the plug. I hate short strikes or drive by’s! This was to prove to be the only hit we were to have after trolling this area for over an hour and I suggested that we go back to smallmouth for a while now that the sun was out. We fished all over the place with only a few strikes and fish to show for our troubles, but they were decent fish in the 3 to 4 pound range. Fred eventually got into another bruiser on a tube and I netted his second personal best of the day at over 4 pounds. I didn’t weigh the fish but it was 19.5 inches and real fat. Definitely a quality bass by anyone’s standards! We got into a few more a little smaller and thought we would give the lunge another try so off we went to troll once again. This time we had the rods in the water for almost 15 minutes when the shallow line went off and really screamed out plenty of line. I knew it had to be a good one by the amount of drag that went out and immediately grabbed the rod from the holder to give to Fred. Wouldn’t you know it, the damn thing came off once again! This time I felt the power of the headshakes and it wasn’t small. Too bad all I had to feel after that was the lure wobbling. Twice we were ripped off and I wasn’t pleased! We trolled for almost 45 minutes after that without another touch and decided to call it a day. It was a really tough day with almost no cooperation on the part of the fish at all. I fished through the major and never really saw any difference, as the fish remained inactive throughout the entire day. It was definitely a tough bite, but still rewarding by Fred hitting his personal best in bass. Too bad we couldn’t have gotten at least one of the two muskie that made the reels fire as that would have also been a personal best again. Oh well, that’s fishing!!

I spent the day with my wife Christiane, fishing on a local lake for what was suppose to be smallmouth bass. Air temps were a beautiful 78 degrees and water temps were a little lower than I wanted at 72 degrees and the smallies weren’t cooperating at all. After yesterday’s results, I thought we would have a great day catching smallies once again, but was in for a big surprise. We ran out to our first spot with the sunshine above in little to no wind and started casting tube jigs in shallow water. On her second cast, Christiane landed a nice smallie of almost 4 pounds and I thought we were going to get into them just like yesterday. As bad luck would have it, I was so wrong! I managed to catch about 5 others with the largest going 3 pounds and we were out of there after over an hour. I knew the next spot would produce because I saw close to 50 or so smallies yesterday all in the 4 pound or better class just roaming around the area. What we got however was a big goose egg! Christiane had a good one over four pounds on, but it came off before we could get it close enough to net. This was the only fish we were to see and decided to have lunch instead. After over 3 hours of fishing and another useless spot, I knew I had to do something drastic in order to save this day and opted to troll for muskie. Although reluctant, Christiane agreed as I set the lines out and began. I don’t think they were in the water for more than 3 minutes when the deep line screamed. Soon after she was landing the first muskie of 36 inches and we were glad we had changed to trolling! After a quick pic & a release, we were back trolling once again. Maybe 20 minutes had passed since the first reel had fired and another reel began to scream again. This time I knew it wasn’t another small fish and cleared the other line to give more room for the battle. When it got close, we were both amazed to see the mass of this fish as I grabbed it with the boga. I had to cut a couple of hooks in order to free the fish without harm before I could bring it in for another quick shot and measure. This one measured 43 inches and was quick to swim away as I held her in the water momentarily. By now we were really pleased to have given up on the bass and set the lines once more in hopes of a possible third lunge. We had been trolling for almost 30 minutes when the next fish hammered the plug and even with a tight drag, ripped enough line off the reel to ensure it was a big one. Once again, I cleared the other line and made way for Christiane to reel it in. Another big muskie appeared beside the boat as I lip gripped it and cut all three trebles due to its voracious appetite. It had the plug crossways in its mouth and managed to get all the hooks in one place or another. No harm done with the cutters and another quick pic and measurement before an easy release back to the lake. This one measured 48 inches and was probably between 25 & 30 pounds due to its big belly and girth. It was turning out to be a great day despite the lack of bass and we weren’t complaining one bit! I set the lines once more without any thought of another fish and the reel went off again. This time it was a smaller fish of 37 inches and another easy release was made. Four lunge in less than 3 hours was great and were blessed to have had an afternoon like this, but we set the lines in for one last pass. Although I didn’t expect anything else, I still had high hopes! There was a short rip or as I like to call it “A Drive by” on the deep line, but nothing got pinned. We finally reeled in the lined and called it a day. This was to prove to be a very memorable end to a dismal start at fishing for smallmouth bass. I know neither one of will forget it for quite a while!!