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Today was undoubtedly one of the best late season outings for walleye, ever! Stephano just happened to luck into it, as he had booked several weeks back. In town on business, all the way from Italy, I had hoped for light winds and decent temps. Lately the weather has been the deciding factor in whether or not, I can even get out! Fortunately today, Mother Nature took a break and shut off the fans allowing me to actually fish comfortably.

We met up shortly after 8:00 and headed out to fish. I wasn’t sure what to expect as it had been almost two weeks since I had been on this water and many changes had occurred. The water temps at the launch were 37 degrees but I was sure the lake would be warmer. Turns out they weren’t much more but were at least 42 degrees where we were to fish.

After a quick explanation on how we were going to fish, the lines went in. Moments later, Stephano hooked up and was tight to a good walleye. He had caught them back home before, but not this size. We boated his catch and took several pics before the release. I don’t think he went 3 minutes, before he was locked up again! This one was also an eye and almost the same size. In less than 5 minutes he had already landed the two biggest walleye of his life. I knew we were in for a great day!

I had decided to fish as well and ran a second rod, hoping to bring up the numbers. As luck would have it, that’s exactly what happened! It seemed like every few minutes, one of us got hit. I didn’t need to reel anything in so immediately the rod changed hands. The whole day went like this and Stephano put an unbelievable amount of fish in the boat, including some bass & pike. He had slammed without even trying! All that was missing was a giant of an eye and I really hoped he would be the one that caught it.

We fished for almost 7 hours and boated all kinds, with the majority of them overs. In fact it was very difficult to catch keepers! I was hoping to take a late fall limit home and it took almost the entire day to fill it. Fortunately we did though and I would be having fish for dinner tonight! Stephano on the other hand had a flight to catch and wouldn’t be able to enjoy his catch. He would have to settle for the memories and many pics of the fish he landed today.

We fished right up till 2:45 before heading back to the dock to take out. He had caught fish from the time we started all the way to the end of the day. We couldn’t even remember how many were landed and that’s not a bad thing! This morning he had said that he would be happy if he caught one or two fish. I don’t think he ever imagined having a day like this!

Flying back home to Italy tonight he will have plenty of time to reflect on the day he just had. He would also have loads of pics to look at as there were many shots taken of some of his better fish. With any luck the next time he comes to Montreal for business, I’ll be getting another call. Hopefully it will be in warmer weather and somewhat earlier in the season. This way we might be able to fish for some other species and possibly one of those dinosaurs. His original trip was scheduled for October but was pushed back to today by his company. After missing out on the sturgeon I don’t think he was too disappointed with today’s results. I know I wasn’t!

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I finally got out with Norm today after many failed attempts this season. Hard to believe that he hadn’t wet a line all year! I knew we wouldn’t get many fish but they would probably be big today. His first hookup turned out to be a real beast of a smallie and he was thrilled. I shot several pics to get all the best angles before he released it back to continue growing.

We had been working extremely slow due to the 43 degree water temps and I was also fishing to locate the fish. My quest was for walleye and I definitely found some beauties. The first one was probably the largest, but every other one I hooked into was also sizable. Although I had hoped for a keeper, it wasn’t meant to be today. They were all well over the slot and returned after a few pics.

This time of year never gives me too many bites but today wasn’t one of those days. Between Norm & I, we had over the expected number of chances and monopolized on every one of them. Yuup, 100% of the fish came to net! This also doesn’t happen when the water dips down to almost 40 degrees!

Although there were mostly walleye landed today, the bass that we did catch were all big. In fact everything we landed today was on the large size making it a very enjoyable outing. In the few short hours we actually fished, we definitely made the best of it. It’s always nice to get out this late in the year and with the predicted weather ahead, I think I will be out right into December. I’m definitely looking forward to fishing more soft water before the hard water season begins!

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Scott & Justin were with me this morning as we headed to the water in below freezing temps. It felt more like a morning for ice fishing rather than one for open water and I just hoped the fish would bite!

The cold run to our starting spot made me realize just how slow we would have to fish. I set them up with baits and instructed them to fish slower than they had ever done before. The first half dozen hits were so light that each one was missed. All I could do was hope for sunshine to get the fish active. We did have a short burst of it that unfortunately lasted only 20 minutes before disappearing for the day! We would be in the clouds for the remainder and working hard for each fish we caught!

Scott finally managed to hook into what I thought might be the trophy he was wanting, but I soon realized it was the wrong species. He had somehow lucked into a young musky as an added bonus fish. Although fun to catch, not really what we were after! You never know what can happen this late in the year and this fish was the proof!

We covered plenty of water, marking all kinds of fish, but struggled to get them to take. They were either bumping the baits or coming off quickly and it was getting frustrating. Eventually Justin hooked into a good one and things were finally looking up. He battled it to the boat carefully as it would turn out to be his personal best. Several pics later he was releasing the biggest smallmouth of his life!

The remainder of the day saw similar results but no numbers. Scott even managed to catch another exotic species with a beautifully colored fall fish over 2 pounds. I would have liked to be able to use live minnows today but due to restrictions, it didn’t happen. We had to make do with what we had and pick at the fish instead. We also had to pick at the guides on the rods as ice formed all day long! By 3:00 we called it and headed back to take out.

Although the temperatures continue to fall, there’s still many days left to fish. I will be making a few adjustments next time out to be able to catch more of these inactive fish. It may even include some steelhead equipment along with the usual arsenal of baits! I just hope that the winds and below freezing temps hold off long enough to fish into December. I’m not ready to store the boat quite yet and there’s many more fish to be caught. Back out again soon!

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A drastic change in plans were needed this morning as to where we’d launch the boat. The winds were giant and out of the NW blowing 25 to 30 knots. I thought we would be alright where I wanted to fish, it was just how to get there! Herm & I travelled to another ramp instead and decided to put in there as the waters were much calmer. It was a little tricky but we somehow managed to get it done and headed out in search of gold. Walleye were what we were after and I knew that if it wasn’t too rough, we’d get them good!

We ran to where I wanted in mostly 1 foot chop until I got to a section that had current. It was pretty big here with the wind pushing against the flow and 3 to 4 footers were present. Normally I wouldn’t care but the air temps were below freezing and any water that might enter the boat would end up turning to ice. Just when I made it through, I realized that the winds were also blowing pretty good on where I wanted to fish as they were opposite the current here as well. I was even worried about the waves rolling over the back as we trolled!

Our first pass was a little sketchy and a fine line was had to get the boat speed down enough to get bit. Guides were freezing and splashing on the boat was also adhering to the gel coat and rails. This was going to be an interesting day! I made a complete pass over the area I wanted with only a couple of soft hits and no hookups. I normally turn and troll back down but that was completely out of the question with the rollers we were in. I had to use the big motor and elevate the bow not to bring any of the waves in. It was bad enough that we were getting splashed, but at least I didn’t flood the boat. The gusts of wind were strong and it almost seemed like the waves were hitting us from 3 different directions at times. I had now made two passes over the area with only a few missed strikes and was beginning to second guess my decision to come out today. I even switched areas but didn’t stay long there due to the gray water color. I was left with no other choice but to go back to where I was and just grind it out.

With almost two hours into the day, we finally got a glimpse of the sun and right on cue, Herm was locked up with our first fish. It wasn’t a giant by any means but it did show that they would eat and our confidence grew. At just over 22 inches all we could do was release her after a quick pic. We went right back at it and not long after, Herm was on again. Things were definitely starting to look up! It turned out to be another over about 24 inches and was quickly released . With the clouds moving the sun was staying out longer and bites were more frequent. We got into several more fish after and a couple of them were even high end keepers that didn’t get returned. Herm definitely had a hot hand today as he locking up on the majority of fish. I managed only a few, that he reluctantly reeled in!

As the afternoon passed, the bite got less & less and I really had to work hard at staying on the fish. Although I was marking many, they were all pressed to the bottom and not wanting to move up to eat. I would have loved to jig, but between the wind & waves and current, it was impossible. All I could do was troll slowly and hope for one of them to make a mistake! We did manage to land several more walleye & one smallie before we finally called it a day. At just around 3:00 I packed everything up and made the long run back to the ramp. Not much had changed throughout the day in the way of wind & waves and we encountered the three & four footers again while running. Thankfully we passed over them quickly and only had a one foot chop for the remainder of our travels.

This was one of those days when about 1% of fishermen would even attempt to be on the water. We never saw another boat all day, so I guess we made that list! Fortunately, we managed to get into some good fish and had a great time fighting with Mother Nature. She put up a good fight, but in the end I think we won!

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Today was a nice change of pace as I got to target fall walleye. Darren hooked up with me after 8:30 due to family duties but it didn’t matter. The fish would wait!

We raced to our first spot and I decided to do a little trolling in order to see how they were positioned. It didn’t take long before I started marking big arches and Darren was tight to his first fish. He soon brought a healthy over to the net and after a couple of pics, we released it unharmed. I knew from this fish exactly how we were going to fish and carried on with the troll. About 10 minutes later he was locked up again and this time it was even bigger. More pics and back she went, with us resuming our search for more & bigger.

Darren was on fire today with multiple hookups and fish boated and I still hadn’t had a bite. I was even contemplating a lure change but I was in too deep and now it was personal. I was bound & determined to hook up on what I was using and eventually I set in to heaviness. I exchanged the rod with Darren and as soon as I had his in hand, we were doubled! That’s a fair trade I guess! As the fish I was fighting was smaller, I landed it quickly and went for a bigger net for his. This walleye stretched over 26 inches and turned out to be big fish of the day. It was fat and healthy and a beautiful gold color too! I took a bunch of good pics and Darren released her back to continue growing.

The balance of the day saw similar results with plenty more quality eyes being caught and some of them even made it into the livewell. More than 75% of the fish today were overs but we still managed to box a few keepers for dinner tonight. At one point we even attempted casting drop shot rigs to the fish but pulled the plug after almost an hour with just a couple of hits. These big eyes were scattered and covering water was the only way to get them to eat. Although the bites weren’t that aggressive, they were definitely noticeable if you paid attention. In fact some of them were so light that they never even got pinned. Several misses were had as some of the hits were actually pushes!

We fished until after 3:30 and landed a few more walleye before calling it a day. There may not have been a ton of fish caught today but there were definitely enough to keep us interested. The best thing was that the bulk of the catch were big! Fall is a great time to get into some of the largest fish of the year, for just about any species. These walleye were a nice change to all the bass I’ve been targeting lately and I can’t wait to get back out again. With more bookings ahead, I’m sure I can mix in a few days to fish for big eyes once again. There are still several more weeks left before we switch over to the hard water fishing and plenty of open days are available. I just hope that « Mother Nature » gives us a break with the cold & wind long enough to take advantage of the great fishing ahead!