Day two wasn’t as good as the first! NE winds made for a little tougher fly casting and boat positioning. Most of the areas that were holding fish yesterday seemed to have been vacated too. They worked hard for the ones they caught and missed more than they landed. The quality was definitely there though as Dave caught the largest bass so far this trip! Hopefully tomorrow it will all change and the numbers of big ones will increase!

A change of pace today as I had 2 fly fishermen out in search of smallmouth bass. Young Dave and old Dave, as he referred to himself, were hoping to get into some bass and I was looking forward to making it happen! The weather looked perfect for what they were about to do and we headed to our first spot to give it a try.

It didn’t take long before young Dave was tight to a nice fish and it wouldn’t bee the last. On the first spot alone, he made it into the double digits. Dave number two was catching as well but not as many before we moved to another location. I only hoped that it would be as good as this one!

We covered a decent amount of water before we finally found a place worth fishing. It was here that they both managed to get into some larger bass. We stuck it out for a while and the fishing was definitely worth staying! Another high numbers area and some bonus big bass were caught & released on the fly!

Several moves after and later in the afternoon, I managed to get them on another area that was loaded too. What I didn’t realize was that this would be where we would end the day. They landed so many bass from this one little spot that we never needed to move again. Young Dave was just pounding on the fish and Dave number two was holding his own as well. By the time 4:00 was upon us, we were ready to go.

We will be back out again tomorrow for hopefully another great day of fishing. With 4 days booked, I will need to move around plenty to ensure their fishing success. Who knows, I may even take a road trip to another pond. One thing for sure, there will be lots more bass landed in the coming days!

Another grinder today but for different reasons! Water temps were still hovering around 58 degrees and the fish definitely weren’t active. Add another day with NE winds and you’ve got a perfect recipe for a tough day!

Rich, Chabil & Kevin joined me hoping for some great smallmouth action. What they got however was difficult fishing! Although the bass were shallow, they almost refused to eat. Several missed strikes were had, but at least some fish were caught on the first couple of spots we fished. One area produced multiple fish hookups and more bass were landed than lost. We ran around plenty looking for warmer water, but never saw 60 degrees!

In the afternoon we switched it up a bit and headed to a spot to troll. While setting everything up, Chabil dropshotted 3 decent bass from slightly deeper water, giving us hope. Once I was ready and the lines were in, it didn’t take long before the first reel screamed. In a brief flurry, 2 pike and an over sized walleye came aboard. Unfortunately, that was all they wrote for this area. Our winds had died completely making for a flat troll. It had also heated up considerably and thoughts of raising the roof were on our minds. Instead, we opted for a change and a move.

Limited time remained and we finished up the day, dropshotitng another place closer to the take out. It produced a few more small fish and several more missed strikes, before we were done. Hopefully today will be the last time I struggle to find water warmer than 60 degrees. Forecasts are calling for high heat and humidity for the week that should change everything. Let’s hope Mother Nature is right this time!!

Back on the water this morning with Lloyd & Dave in absolutely miserable weather! We may have launched dry but it didn’t last as we soon found out. It practically rained the entire time we fished and the big NE winds didn’t help either. The fish seemed to have moved deeper and they definitely didn’t want to eat very well. I trolled for quite a while over both bait and good marks before finally having the first reel fire. After that, I concentrated on the areas that produced best and managed to put plenty more fish in the boat. Both pike and walleye were landed by Lloyd & Dave and they ended up having a great time, despite the conditions. At least we had a few brief periods where the rain let up! We definitely grinded it out today, for sure!!

Kris had never caught a smallmouth before, so I told him that we would focus on them today. Being from Texas, largemouth were the bass he was used to, so catching a few smallies would be a real treat. Seeing as how bass had opened just yesterday, he was definitely in luck!

The lake was a mirror and there was a thick haze where we started. Fortunately, the fish didn’t care as Kris boated several brownies from the area, we were fishing. I’m not sure what he was more impressed with, the clarity of the water or their fight!

With each move we made, there were more fish landed and on one of the spots, he somehow managed to hook a sturgeon with a crankbait! We saw the lure in the mouth area but I don’t know if it actually ate. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to land it after a lengthy 20-minute battle, so I guess we’ll never know! Eventually it went to deep water and just pulled off. I think Kris was happy that it was over too!

The haze stayed with us all day and I actually think it was due to all the forest fires. It wasn’t a usual humidity haze that I was used to seeing. It made visibility everywhere, very difficult. Even seeing into the water was harder than usual. One of the areas we were fishing had bass shallow and trying to sight them to cast to wasn’t easy. Thankfully Kris had a great pair of sunglasses on and managed to land plenty more fish from here.

The time flew by today with only one person in the boat. He benefitted from this as well, by catching all the fish! He will go home with a great respect for the smallmouth and I’m sure it won’t be his last time fishing for them. Tough but very rewarding day!!