Today I hit a local lake for smallmouth bass with Britt and had a blast. The weather was brutal with the air temps reaching almost 90 degrees but with the humidity, it felt more like 100. Water temps went to almost 75 degrees as well and with no wind present, it was a scorcher. It didn’t take long for Britt to lock up on a smallie around 4 pounds on a senko slowly moved across a rocky shoal. This was to continue throughout the entire day as we picked up fish everywhere we went. Most of the bass were in the 3.5 to 4 pound range, but there were many over 4 and closer to 5 pounds as well. Britt was a tournament fisherman from the south and had no problems adapting to the northern smallies. He even landed a few largemouth up to 3 pounds in some of the same weedy, rocky areas that held the smallies! By days end there had to be at least 25 bass caught with very few missed and lost. He had been looking for a trophy to hang on the wall, but would have to settle for a number of high fours and no fives today! A great day nonetheless!!

Morning: This morning I fished with Amy & her brother, Tim on Lake St-Louis for smallmouth bass. The lake was flat calm & perfect for running to our first spot, a few miles away. Air temps were in the 70’s but today’s forecasted highs were scheduled to reach into the 90’s by afternoon. Only a couple of smaller bass were caught in this area and I decided to try another location further away. Apparently, this was to prove to be the right decision as Amy was into a large smallie within her first few casts. After a few quick pictures we released this 3.5-pound smallmouth back to where she came from and continued our fishing. For the next couple of hours, Amy was into fish frequently and Tim occasionally got into a few of his own. Senko’s were without a doubt the hot ticket this morning as these fish weren’t really that aggressive and a slower presentation got us the bites. Most of the bass were between 3 & 4 pounds with no real giants landed, only missed. These fish were all quality and nothing to frown at and Amy realized just how much power they all had as she battled them to the boat. Running short on time, I decided to try one more area nearby before we were to head back to the dock for my afternoon group. This place was a little slow until we got to the end of the reef and began hooking a few. The fish weren’t the quality of the ones earlier, but they definitely fought like they were. We managed to get into another 5 or 6 and landed over half of them before we were done. For a few short hours, there were probably shots at 20 or 25 bass with around 75% of them actually being landed. A pretty good morning if I do say so myself!! No pics today as the camera crapped out!

I fished with Leonard & his grandson, Eron today on Lake St-Louis today for smallmouth bass. We were beginning to wonder if we had made the right choice in days as the weather looked like potential rain in the distance. Fortunately it was to change before noon & eventually become sunny. The winds were almost non-existent making our long run up the lake a smooth ride. It took a while before we were into the fish and Leonard was the first to hook up on a soft plastic jerk-bait. The water temps were almost 70 degrees but continue to lose temp every night with the cooling air. Eventually both Leonard and Eron were into fish and Eron seemed to be catching some of the largest ones of the day, up to 4 pounds on senko’s. He had a couple the measured 18.5 inches and would have been a solid contender in an ongoing tournament had he been of age to register. After catching many bass and missing many more, we decided to try another area further away. The lack of wind and high sunshine made locating these offshore shoals a simple task. Leonard hooked into the first fish of about 3 pounds on a tiny crankbait and I knew we were going to get into them. I had Eron throwing a jerk-bait across e flats and I saw several large fish following it back to the boat that may have committed if he was aware of their presence. I thought I would throw a tube along the outside in deeper water and came up with several bites in a short time with a couple of them going in the high 4 pound range that went airborne and just came off. Unfortunately this only lasted a short while until the winds went SE on us and sent the fish into a lockjaw mode. We stuck it out for a little longer and then called t a day. There was no sense pursuing this any longer as it was getting late and the fish just weren’t cooperating. By the end of the day the total count landed would have been around 20 bass with at least that many or more lost or missed. A good day that could have been a great one!!

Warren and his brother, Shawn were to fish with me today and I had to reconsider my lake options in the morning when the reports had 20 to 30 knot winds forecasted. I needed to have a lake with some sort of shelter and not so wide that the waves were unbearable. Water temps were 67 degrees and the waves were 2 to 3 footers on our first spot making boat control quite difficult. Unfortunately the winds intensified and the waves got worse, forcing us to leave the area completely and move closer to the shore. The smallies weren’t cooperating much with only a couple of fish caught, so I thought I would reconsider my options once again and try for largemouth in canals. Apparently it was a good choice as Warren landed one over 5 pounds in the first one we fished, on a senko. At least in here, we were able to fish without being blown all over the place! The second spot was to prove to be an area we stayed for the rest of the day. There were so many arms that we never needed to venture onto the lake until we were ready to leave and took advantage of our fortune. Shawn hooked into the first fish on a scumfrog and had to power out a big largie of over 5 pounds from all the vegetation. What a beauty she was and we quickly returned her to the water after a few pictures! Both Warren & Shawn continued to catch fish all afternoon as we just covered water in the series of canals. Senko’s and scumfrogs were the best choices in this jungle of vegetation and the fish were definitely on in the 75-degree water. By the time we were done, there were probably over 30 largemouth bass caught with a couple of them over 5 pounds. We really made the best of a miserable day with the protected largemouth inlets and were thankful for the results!

Sam, Stephan and Anthony were to fish with me today on a nearby lake for more bass action. We had a rather cold night of barely 50 degrees and I hoped this hadn’t affected the smallies too bad for where we were to fish. The water temps had dropped a few degrees and were now 66.5 with an air temp of mid 50’s. It felt more like the fall than summer! The skies were clear & bright sunshine helped, but the cool NW wind made it feel colder than it actually was. Several places were tried for smallmouth in the morning, but only a few large fish were seen and nothing big was caught. The only big fish hooked was Sam when Anthony buried a hook in his ear casting a tiny crankbait. This was the first time this season that I was forced to do surgery on someone and all went well as I removed his newly acquired earring. They all quickly realized how lucky he was and how much worse it could have been that close to the eye and were a little more careful when casting afterwards. Accidents happen, but everyone really needs to be aware while fishing with other people around them and be extremely cautious while casting! After fishing several of the better areas for smallies and coming up with only a few northern pike, I thought I would bring the guys shallow and try for largemouth instead. The sun had been up for a while and we were officially in a major with the water in this area above 73 degrees. I knew they would be on and it didn’t take long before everyone was hooking up with bass. Anthony managed to get the largest one when he locked up with a 4-pounder inches from the shore and had to muscle it out of the weeds to the boat. There were probably around 30 or more largemouth taken in the next few hours and the action was definitely better than the 1st half of the day. We hit a few more spots afterwards with minimal success and a few smallies and then called it a day. We had to make adjustments during the day, but made the best of a not so perfect situation with all the cold water we were dealt. Fortunately, the largemouth cooperated!!