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After yesterday’s cancellation due to extreme winds, I was back out today and ready for a little pay back! Dan & his sons, Crosby & Jack were with me this morning, looking to catch some fish. Warren also came along, making for a full boat! I realized quickly that I was going to do a drift & dropshot as the winds would be in our favour. Although they were blowing big again, at least they were from the proper direction.

With all lines in the water, we covered an area that I was marking fish from and Crosby was soon tight to the first fish. He landed a nice keeper walleye and it was just the beginning! Each pass yielded more walleye with a mix of perch. Although everyone was having their chances, it was Crosby that was on fire. In a very short time he managed to get a slam with his additional smallmouth bass.

Today was going to be a half day and I was glad that we had gotten off to a fast start. I was also happy to see the winds diminish slightly, allowing for better drifts. It was making the subtle bites much easier to detect and the results were obvious. Everyone was hooking fish now and several more walleye made their way to livewell for their dinner tonight.

In the few short hours they had to fish, there were plenty of keepers, unders and several overs brought to net. A good number of perch were also landed along with one nice smallie from Crosby. By 12:30 we were done and packed it in for the day. We even left the fish biting!

For a first time experience, Dan & his kids couldn’t have asked for more. A good number of fish were caught and plenty more missed throughout the morning. Now that they have the bug, I expect to see them again before the season ends. With any luck, they will be out with me for something much more substantial in size. Talk of a sturgeon trip was heard before we parted and it’s only a matter of time before we’re out again. Hopefully the fishing will be as good and everyone will feel the burn from those impressive beasts! I just can’t wait!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

After yesterday’s cancellation due to extreme winds, I was back out today and ready for a little pay back! Dan & his sons, Crosby & Jack were with me this morning, looking to catch some fish. Warren also came along, making for a full boat! I realized quickly that I was going to do a drift & dropshot as the winds would be in our favour. Although they were blowing big again, at least they were from the proper direction.

With all lines in the water, we covered an area that I was marking fish from and Crosby was soon tight to the first fish. He landed a nice keeper walleye and it was just the beginning! Each pass yielded more walleye with a mix of perch. Although everyone was having their chances, it was Crosby that was on fire. In a very short time he managed to get a slam with his additional smallmouth bass.

Today was going to be a half day and I was glad that we had gotten off to a fast start. I was also happy to see the winds diminish slightly, allowing for better drifts. It was making the subtle bites much easier to detect and the results were obvious. Everyone was hooking fish now and several more walleye made their way to livewell for their dinner tonight.

In the few short hours they had to fish, there were plenty of keepers, unders and several overs brought to net. A good number of perch were also landed along with one nice smallie from Crosby. By 12:30 we were done and packed it in for the day. We even left the fish biting!

For a first time experience, Dan & his kids couldn’t have asked for more. A good number of fish were caught and plenty more missed throughout the morning. Now that they have the bug, I expect to see them again before the season ends. With any luck, they will be out with me for something much more substantial in size. Talk of a sturgeon trip was heard before we parted and it’s only a matter of time before we’re out again. Hopefully the fishing will be as good and everyone will feel the burn from those impressive beasts! I just can’t wait!

Désolé, cet article est seulement disponible en Anglais Américain. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language.

Although I was on the water almost every day this week, today I had the pleasure of having Ronnie & his wife out. They were in from Texas and looking to catch some walleye. After yesterday’s recon outing, I knew just where to go!

We started at 11:30 for a half day afternoon trip and within minutes they were fishing. I was also marking plenty of what they were hoping to catch. I held with the electric over schools of walleye in deep water. By drop shotting they were able to catch a limit and returned a bunch of others as well. Multiple moves to find the fish each time they relocated proved to be the most effective. I would have loved to drift over the schools and cover water but the big winds out of the SE didn’t allow me the luxury. It was rough and going to get a whole lot bigger as we were about to find out!

Along with the walleye there were also a few perch and smallmouth bass caught before the anchor feature on the electric became useless. Some of the waves were now rolling over the bow and the motor spent more time in the air than actually in the water. I would need to change the presentation completely if they were to have a chance at catching any more fish!

With the boat sideways, I made several short drifts crossways over the small area without any success. I still marked fish, but our speed was quicker than I wanted and missed fish were had. After about 8 fishless drifts. We were done! I packed everything away and strapped everything down for the run back. It wasn’t going to be pretty!

By riding the waves in the troughs and crests, we literally surfed our way back to the take out area. Unfortunately it was blowing directly on the ramp and it was big! To my surprise however, Bruce was on shore waiting for my return. He called me and backed the trailer in, for me to take out. This definitely made a difficult situation a little easier! Other than a little splashing, we were safely out of the water in no time!

It’s that time of year again when Mother Nature plays cruel tricks on us by delivering nasty weather. The big winds definitely make for some tough fishing! Today was proof as we found out. Prior to it kicking up, fish were being caught. Once we couldn’t hold, not another fish was landed. I only wish we had been able to get out earlier to take advantage of the morning bite.

Overall they both had a great time regardless and still managed to take a limit of good keepers back to where they were staying. I guess fish is on the menu for the next couple of days. It sure beats dining out in expensive restaurants every night!

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Allan was with me this morning, along with his friends Matt & Alex. We spent over two hours anchored up for sturgeon, without even one bite! Along with the lack of fish there, we were plagued by those damn goby minnows, causing me to constantly re bait the lines. In the end, we just gave up and headed to fish a different species!

I decided to hit a deep water area for bass and set them all up with a drop shot rig. Although it took them a bit of time to understand the technique, Alex managed to land a nice bass at the end of the first drift. We made several passes over different lines and someone always hooked up. They may not have all been big, but they were catching and I was happy to finally have action after the slow morning!

With limited time remaining in their trip, I moved to another area and drifted for walleye. I had been marking them pretty good but the bites were light and fish were being missed. A couple of good ones did manage to make it into the boat though, proving that they would eat!

Noon came quickly and before we knew it, we were done. Despite the slow fishing today, they still managed to enjoy themselves and everyone caught fish. I only wish we were able to have kept the lines in the water long enough for sturgeon in order to have gotten bit. The gobies definitely took us out of the game today! Hopefully the next time I decide to fish for them, things will work out much better. Only time will tell!

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Mark & his son Owen were back again today and this time we weren’t going to troll. I wanted them to fish with rod in hand for the entire day! Walleye & bass were the targeted species and I headed right to an area holding both. Unfortunately we were faced with opposing wind direction again, as it was blowing out of the NE and impossible to drift. They were going to have to cast!

We spent a good amount of time in the first spot and came up empty. I had marked some fish but they just didn’t want to bite. Our second area had Owen hooking up on his first drop. I was anchored with the electric and marking fish directly below the boat. Instantly he was tight to our first walleye of the day and it was a good keeper! Mark soon hooked up as well but his was a feisty smallmouth and released after the fight. Not long after they were both hooked up again with one walleye going into the livewell and the other an under and released. In the next thirty minutes or so that we remained, a couple of other unders were put back as well. Time for another change!

I thought with the wind lying down that we would attempt fishing for sturgeon and headed to a place to try. We stayed for about two hours hoping for at least one bite but all we got were gobies and they were a real pain. I moved several times but they constantly harassed us, making it impossible to keep the lines in the water. Eventually I just got fed up and pulled the plug on them for today! Time to go deep and drop shot for bass!

With Owen in the front with me I explained to them what was needed and we dropped the lines. Minutes later I was hooked up showing them what they had to do. Vertical was the presentation and soon after, Owen had his first bass on the line. We made multiple drifts and someone seemed to be hooked up on each one. Fish were being caught and fish were being lost, but they were enjoying themselves. Mark manages to get the best one from the area but Owen would have matched him if his had of stayed pinned. One jump and she was off!

With the winds picking up and weather on the way, I decided to make one last move. We were going back to where we had started to see if we could increase their walleye count for the day.

As soon as I arrived, I knew it was going to be better due to all the fish I was marking. The place was loaded and it looked like they were feeding too! I think Owen hooked up on the first drift now that the winds were in our favour and I netted another high end keeper for them to take home. His next fish was another good one but smaller than his first and now there were four in the livewell. Soon after, he hooked into something really large and drag screamed from the reel. Unfortunately we never got to see what it actually was, but my money was riding on a really big eye! Somehow the hooks just pulled loose and it was gone!

With each drift we made I had noticed the wind picking up and the waves getting bigger. Rain was also getting closer as some of the mainland was starting to disappear. It was just a matter of time before we were out of time but I wanted to stay as long as I could!

Mark finally hooked into something on one of the last passes and I netted his high end keeper and biggest walleye of the day. This was also to be the last fish going into the livewell as we were done!

Although today was slower than I had hoped for, there were still plenty of fish caught. The biggest disappointment had to be the sturgeon as the gobies just wouldn’t let us fish! Bass & walleye on the other hand gave them enough action and apparently a good dinner for tonight. Overall it was a pretty good day!