Steph & his boys, George & Michael were with me this morning, for another banner day. Although tough at times, the kids managed to catch their fair share of fish by trolling. For a change, the conditions were just perfect!

A slightly later than usual start had me setting lines by 8:00 and shortly after, into the first fish. With a good chop on the water from the SW, we were able to fish in relatively weed free water, or so I thought!

The boys were excited to be catching, but the bites weren’t great. Plenty of the fish were short striking the lures and getting off before we ever had a chance! Even the ones that were being landed weren’t hooked well. Many of them were just falling off in the net!

I managed to pick at the pike & walleye throughout the morning with both George & Michael reeling in good numbers. Although it could have been more, the fish just didn’t seem to be all that active and I was just happy to get the ones we did. They even had a couple of walleye in the box for dinner tonight!

The floating weeds were starting to become a problem and constant cleaning of the lines was required. Eventually I just tried trolling out of the area I was fishing, but found everywhere to be the same. Weekend boat traffic sucks! Time for a change!

Early in the afternoon I pulled the plug on the troll and ran to some open water areas to try a little drop shotting. With 4 lines in the water, we surely could catch a few more!

The first spot yielded nada but not for lack of fish. The sonar was loaded and they didn’t want to bite! A couple of passes later, we moved to another area, hoping for better results.

The kids were now wanting to leave, but Steph wasn’t ready just yet. He hoped to be able to catch a few more fish before we were done! Schooling walleye were showing at times on the sonar and we were drifting right through them without even a bite. Eventually we just held on top of the fish and dropped right on their heads. This only produced a couple of missed fish when they bit and came off almost immediately after. Except for one perch, we weren’t having much luck! Eventually after several drifts, they called it a day!

The boys lasted longer than Steph had expected and with over 5 hours of fishing, he was fine with leaving. I know that if we had more time, I would have been able to pick some fish from the reluctant schools of walleye. Oh well, they’ll still be there, for the next guests to catch!

I think we got off the water at the perfect time as rain clouds were beginning to move in as we pulled out. For a change, I was able to get the boat covered at home before the skis let loose. Wow, I’ll have a dry boat to start tomorrow’s trip!

Michael and his family were with me this morning, for another incredible day of fishing! With two trips scheduled, I knew I would have to get everyone on fish and decided to begin with trolling. Hopefully it would all work out!

With lines set, we started covering water and the first reel to fire went to Greta. She got the ball rolling with a walleye that was unfortunately too big and released after a couple of quick pics. Next up was Justice and it didn’t take long before he was battling a nice northern. We were in an area that obviously held fish and it was producing! Michael and his other son Linus also managed to bring a couple more pike on board and the rotation was completed.

The surface water was full of torn up vegetation, due to all the boat traffic recently and without any wind, a real pain to keep the lines clean. I spent most of my time going from one rod to another, just to maintain the lures. A small price to pay for the action we were having!

When Greta’s turn came around again, she somehow brought another walleye to net. This time however it was in the slot and immediately went into the tank. Now we just needed a few more!

For several hours we covered the water and many fish were landed by all. When the sun got higher and the bite slowed, I opted for a change and another area to fish. We were going deeper to try some drop shotting!

The lake was a complete mirror now and little to no movement was present. It would require a much slower presentation, just to get bit. I idled over the open water and scanned the bottom with my electronics, looking for schools of fish. I angled the boat so that everyone could get a good drift and it wasn’t long before Justice landed the first one. It may not have ben what we were looking for but it was a big perch and went into the livewell, adding to their catch. Michael soon followed with a nice keeper walleye and the others also added a few more too! There was even a quality smallie boated by Justice amongst these fish, completing his slam for the day!

Time had passed by quickly and before we knew it, we had to go. I was once again dropping off the morning group and exchanging them for Nikko & Dimitri for the afternoon. I only hoped that the afternoon would be as good as this morning’s bite!

With the new guys now in the boat, I thought we’d try a close area and some drop shotting to get them into quick fish. Well that didn’t work out as planned and before we knew it, we were heading to another spot, equally the same!

I was jumping around, looking for some active smallies and eventually put them on a couple of fish. Too bad both were missed as one of them was a real giant by the way it fought. We never actually got to see the fish but based on where it came from, I knew it was big!

I decided to make a long run to a shallow spot to see if they could get into fish and this turned out to be the last area we would fish! With soft plastics they had many bites from active bass and beat on them for several hours! They may not have been huge, but they fought like they were!

Both Dimitri & Nikko experienced a slower than usual fishing day, but they landed more than enough bass to keep them happy. Plenty of others were seen, missed or just lost all together as well before the day was done.

We made the long run back in almost zero wind, but 2 to 3 foot rollers from every direction from all the boat traffic. It was a little bumpy going back!

Today was another success, with everyone catching fish. From the morning gang to the afternoon guys, good times were had by all. Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I’m sure it will be another great day for fishing!

I had a full boat today with Frank, Kevin, J.P. and Paul, all looking to get into some good fish. After yesterday’s outing, I could only hope for better results!

With flat calm conditions, I made a long run and quickly set up in the area to troll. It felt good to open the engine up for a change, on a mirror like body of water!

I don’t think it took more than 3 minutes to get our first bite, but as fast as it hit, it was gone. Visions of yesterday’s short striking fish went through my mind, but that was about to change. Soon after, another reel fired and it quickly turned into a double. This was definitely a good sign of things to come! In the next couple of hours almost every time a reel went off, another followed. We had mostly double headers and even a triple at one time too! Although they were almost all pike, there were several walleye landed as well and 3 of them even made it into the livewell for someone to bring home tonight.

After a while things slowed down and I decided that a move was in order. We had taken advantage of the morning bite and monopolized on a feeding period. We even had a good chop on the water throughout, but when it went flat, the bite just died. It was time to relocate!

I made another long run to deeper water in hopes of getting everyone into some bass action. I set up the rods with a couple of drop shot rigs and two jigs, just to mix it up. They would be drifting and I knew someone would soon be into a fish!

Paul was the first one to set into a bass and although a little on the small side, it still gave a great fight coming from the deep water. J.P. was the other drop shot rod and after missing several bites, he also managed to land a bass of his own. Unfortunately all the jigs could do was snag rocks and required multiple reties!

With each long drift the guys managed to pick at the fish pretty good at times. Eventually even the jigs got in the game and they too landed a few more bass. Frank almost had a keeper walleye from the same area but it fell short when I tried to net it and just came off.

With time closing in on us I made a couple of shorter passes over some fish and finished with another bass from Paul. He said he helped me out, by letting it jump off at the boat!

Today’s trip was a great one filled with lots of action, both on the troll and drifting the deeper waters for bass. Although more fish were lost or missed with the drop shot & jig technique, there were still plenty of fish caught. I don’t think they could have asked for a nicer day to be on the water and the boat traffic was pretty good too! Just another great day for fishing!

Doug & his sons, Ben & Nick joined me today for a birthday fishing trip. Ben had celebrated his 23^rd just last week and this was his gift. Hopefully it would be a good one!

The winds had been just insane lately, with the cyclone or hurricane in the states and although they had diminished slightly, they were still hell today! I had to make a long run to our starting area and decided that less of a beating was the best choice. I took the long way around!

Trolling wasn’t going to be easy as I could see by the big waves and dirty water color, but I prepped everything and hoped for the best!

We trolled for several hours through all kinds of areas and managed only one keeper walleye. All the other bites we had may have made the reels fire but they didn’t remain pinned for more than a few seconds at best. I think the fish were hitting the baits with their mouths closed! We were done for trolling!

I decided to try a little drop shotting for bass & walleye in open water and headed to an area that had been good to me lately. Unfortunately after a few passes and adding the heaviest weights I had in the boat, I determined that it just wasn’t fishable. We were drifting at too fast a speed for them to be able to feel the bottom and I needed to change something up. After testing out a heavier jig and landing a really good smallie, I switched everyone up with the same thing.

For about an hour or so, I had them dragging jigs over this same areas and a few more bass were landed. It still wasn’t easy to feel any bites and they were also snagging up more than I liked. In fact, Doug thought he was caught on the bottom only to find out that he was actually into a big fish. Game on!

With help from me on the electric motor, we were able to bring the fish aboard, after the long battle. It was his first sturgeon ever and needed a few pics before the release.

After we had released the beast, I decided to try another area and hopefully be able to slow the drifts down enough to drop shot again. Once we arrived I saw that although fast, it was totally doable and set everyone up to fish. Moments later, Nick was into a walleye but unfortunately wasn’t able to land the fish. Several minutes after that, same thing! His fish just seemed to be coming off and I didn’t like it a bit! I knew that they hadn’t fished before but tough conditions were making it even more difficult today.

After missing just about everything, I tried one final area for the day. Everyone had shots at fish and eventually landed some bass from this final spot before we were done. Tough day for all!

Our trip today could have been somewhat better as far as the results go but the conditions definitely weren’t in our favor. This was the third day of big winds from the storm down south and the water was messed up terribly. This also made my job more difficult too! I had to switch areas and presentations multiple times to get the bites we did. In the end though, several fish were landed including a real beast and everyone had a great time. Hopefully the coming days will have the fish a little more active and Mother Nature will take a break from the wrath she likes to inflict on us. For a change, I’m looking for a calm day of fishing!

What an absolutely unbelievable morning of fishing we had today! Keon & Hugo brought their kids, Lilly Rose & Nate out, hoping to get them into some fish. We did just that and in the pouring rain!

The conditions looked perfect as I headed to our first spot. With 2 children on board, we were going to troll and I expected plenty of action with the overcast skies we had.

Once we arrived I prepped everything and set up the roof as well, readying it for the rain we were expected to receive. I only hoped that the big SE winds they forecasted wouldn’t arrive too early. The rain began falling shortly after we began and pretty much never stopped the entire morning while we fished. It didn’t matter however as the fish were eating!

I don’t think we had the lines in the water for 3 minutes before one of the outside rods bent. Nate was about to catch his first fish ever and with the help of Keon, he reeled in a pretty good pike. Pics were taken and the northern was released shortly after and we continued to look for more.

Within minutes, another reel went off and Lilly brought in her first fish as well. It too was a pike and things were starting to heat up. With little to no wind, the roof kept everyone dry as we moved along. Some of the reels were going off but most fish were not even making a sound. I had to constantly monitor the rods in order to catch fish. We even had a few pike jump behind the boat signaling that they were on one of the lines!

Along with the pike, we were getting into plenty of big walleye and boating some real giants! They were definitely overs and needed no measuring! I think Hugo managed to get the biggest eye but Keon had several pretty close too. At one point the bite just got ridiculous and I was left with only one line in the water. I couldn’t keep up as the other 3 rods were still in the boat from fish being caught! I love it when chaos occurs!

Throughout all of the catching they finally were able to bring in a fat 20 inch keeper that made it into the livewell. We had released so many overs that I was beginning to wonder if we would ever catch one that they could take home! Nate had given them dinner!

With the rain getting heavier at times, it was only a matter of time before the winds started to blow. We were still catching fish but the kids were getting wet from standing where it fell and now wanting to leave. Although it was nearing the end, there was still some time remaining and I wanted to get them into more fish. In the last 15 minutes they were able to boat several more, both walleye & pike and add another keeper to the tank. We ended on a last fish as usual and Nate reeled in one more pike for the day.

As I packed everything up, Mother Nature decided to pour down on us and I left the roof up till the very end. Once it calmed down a bit, I headed back. We still had to contend with plenty of rain along the way but at least it wasn’t as intense!

Once we arrived back at the ramp I was glad that I had texted Don earlier. He was waiting with the trailer already in the water, making it easier to pull out. Gotta love the Valet service!

Today may have been a wet one but I’d take this over nice weather any day of the week. I think I can count on one hand the number of other boats we saw out and still have fingers to spare! After yesterday’s circus, it was a welcomed change! They had a great morning of fishing and tons of action for all to enjoy. Once again, this proves that fish do bite in the rain!