Norm & I were on another lake today in pursuit of those violent striking smallmouth. We hit the water a little later than usual around 8:00 and were quickly searching for a 6 pounder under not so perfect conditions. A light rain was falling along with a strong westerly wind of 15 to 20 knots making the 43 degree weather feel more like 32. Norm’s faithful companion Buddha was with us again and he didn’t like the cold, wet, windy weather either! We began by throwing blades & jerk-baits to try & locate some active fish but soon found out that they weren’t aggressive at all. We soon switched up to some slower moving jigs and unfortunately, missed a few strikes. I knew it was only a matter of time before we would make contact with one of these bruisers and stuck with the slower baits. With the water temps hovering around 60 degrees I really thought they would be more inclined to react to faster moving lures, but they just weren’t moving at all. In the first few hours we were only able to land three bass but the ranged from 4.5 to 5.5 pounds respectively. I knew I would have to make some drastic changes and decided to make a long run to another area in hopes of more active fish. This proved to be a better decision as the water was slightly warmer and we were now fishing in some current. The first several fish fell victim to a jerk-bait held on a long pause. By allowing the current to sweep the bait downstream, we were able to trigger some violent strikes that really didn’t require any hook-set at all. Most of them just ripped line from the reel upon contact! When this happened, I knew that a spinnerbait would most likely work as well and instructed Norm to chuck away. Almost on his first cast, he was locked! From this point on we just covered specific areas of the water and caught almost everywhere we stopped. Although most of the fish were a little smaller than we had hoped for, their attitudes were large. They all fought like champs once hooked and who could ask for more! From 2 pounds up to 4 pounds we just kept hooking up in both shallow and deep. By shifting locations on the lake we were able to turn a desperate search for big fish into a good day. Maybe we didn’t see a fish over 6 today, but we will be into those bruisers once again. There’s still plenty of days left in the season and fall is prime time for the real trophies. Oh well, we’ll just have to get two 6 pounders next time we’re on the water to compensate for our lack of one today!!

I was back on the water again today along with Hugues, his wife Carole and their sons, Etiene & Olivier looking for more big bass. Hugues had to postpone a fishing date this summer and had chosen this day many weeks in advance, hoping for good weather. It wasn’t looking too good as the forecast called for heavy rains in the afternoon, but we took our chances anyway. We wasted no time getting on the lake and began fishing almost immediately hoping to get a break in the predicted weather. The air temps were around 60 degrees and the water temps were almost 62 degrees where we began and it didn’t take long before Carole was into her first bass of the day. Although it wasn’t too big at 3 pounds, she was still the first to land a fish. Etiene was the next to get hit and unfortunately slack was the cause of his loss as a decent smallie never even got a chance to fight. He managed to miss a few others after as well and then he locked up on one that made it to the boat. She went just over 3 pounds and still not the size I was looking for so I moved on hoping for bigger bites. Carole landed another nice one over 3 pounds on the next drift and tension was building. It was ironic that Hugues & Olivier weren’t getting into fish but I knew it was just a matter of time before that would change. Several lost fish were had before Hugues hooked up with a real beauty and after many jumps, I netted this almost 5 pound beast. He was officially on the board and only Olivier was left to land one now so I relocated to another area nearby in hopes of getting him into a few of his own. It didn’t take long and Olivier brought to the boat a nice 3.5 pound smallie and all was good. He also caught the next fish of almost 5 pounds as well and we thought he was finally getting the hang of things. The weather had now moved in and rain was falling along with a S/E wind blowing 5 to 10 knots making boat control terrible. I had to switch to casting just to be able to get bit and I knew that wasn’t the best choice for these inactive fish. Although there were only a few more bass that came aboard, there was one that went in the 6 pound class and that was a real beauty. We had seen plenty of fish in the areas we had been fishing but most of them were reluctant to take our offerings and that was just frustrating. Somewhere around 3:30 they called it a day and we headed back to the dock. It was definitely not what I had expected today but there were some quality fish landed once more. Although it would have been nice to get into a few more fish the ones we did land were all of good size and everyone caught. Let’s hope the next time Hugues and his family decide to hook up with me that the weather cooperates, leaving them wanting more. Overall a tough day, but big fish all around!!

My brother Mike had always wanted to fish a tournament with me, so we entered an event today and went in hard. Although it wasn’t anything major, there were still 21 boats registered and that was almost as many as the « Quebec Tournament Circuit « had all season. I had been out of this scene for a couple of years now and my bro even longer, so it was great to see some of the old faces at morning registration. What wasn’t too good though were the 34 degree air temps we were faced with when we arrived at the lake. Along with the cold air there was of course a heavy fog and this looked like a possible delay, or so I thought. Departure time was 8:00 and we actually left a bit earlier when everyone was in the water and ready. This never happens in the tournament world and it was real treat getting in an extra 15 minutes of fishing time. Running in the fog has never been a thrill of mine and I took it slow until we hit the open water where it was more broken up and safer to run. I knew by the 59 degree water temps in our first location that it was going to be a slow bite and started just that way. The first five fish came aboard by yours truly and if this had of been the old tournament days, it would have cost my bro a case of two four. To make matters worse, I even culled the first couple of fish as well before Mike actually woke up and got in the game. I knew by the size of these fish that every one of them would be culled throughout the day and wasn’t too excited about putting them in the livewell. Oh well, at least it’s a limit I thought! Once the sun rose and the air temps began to rise as well, I knew we would start to have better fishing with the bass. They would become active and the culling would begin! In the next few hours we were able to cull up to over 25 pounds with Mike putting three in the boat that all went over 5 pounds. We were switching up between deeper water and following the movement into the shallows as well. Some of the fish were being caught deep and some of them weren’t but we had the best of both worlds. By resting areas we were able to go back to them repeatedly and monopolize on some of the better biters. Eventually we were able to cull up to around 26 pounds or so and now we really needed a kicker to add to the bag in order to have a chance at the win. I was pretty sure it would take at least 28 pounds and never gave up the battle. I did have one come unpinned that would have definitely helped the cause late in the afternoon. We hit the deeper water again and when I hooked her, it really wasn’t any different that all the other high four pound fish we were screening through. Unfortunately when she took to the air near the boat, I realized that this fish was well over 6 pounds. One more leap and the hook and fish parted ways leaving me that empty gut feeling I had forgotten from years past. We had a bad run in this area late in the afternoon that saw about 6 or 7 lost bites and break offs. Who’s to say just how big some of them were, but it still sucked! We kept fishing, culling ounces until the bitter end when we stopped within minutes of the weigh in area and still managed to catch a couple more 4 pounders. These ones wouldn’t be helping us today and I packed it in to head to the ramp. We had caught plenty of fish but was it enough to take the win? We were soon to find out that it wasn’t as we weighed in after a bag that went 26.35 pounds. We had a solid 26.00 pounds for our 5 largest and probably could have improved it by a couple of pounds with some of the lost fish, but that’s fishing. There was another bag after us that went 27.65 pounds and that I thought was fantastic until the last team weighed in. The team of Charles & Nigel would be breaking the Canadian record for five bass with an unbelievable weight of 30.35 pounds. It was anchored with a 7.15 pound lunker that was also phenomenal. Hats off to them for doing what we all wanted to accomplish, weigh a 30 pound bag! By the time all the dust had settled, there were 5 teams with 25 pounds or better in this event. This is Lake Eerie fishing and we don’t have to drive 6 hours to get to it. We also don’t have to endure the ferocious winds and waves to catch bags like these and that’s the best part. This event will surely start people talking about just how good the Canadian smallmouth fishing actually is and create more than just a ripple. I’m thinking more like a Tsunami in the fishing world! Although we didn’t even cash a check for an average 5.20 fish in this event, it was great to be able to spend quality time with my bro and meet the old gang once again. Hopefully the next time one of these tournaments gets organized, we can do better. Better than 26 pounds isn’t something I’m use to saying and I can’t believe I’m disappointed with a weight like that. Man, are we spoiled!!!

I decided to take a road trip today so who better to travel with, Norm of course! Mike joined us as he had the access permission and we headed north with even higher expectations. The weather was freaking cold as we started climbing and arrived with barely over 40 degree air temps. Not unexpected were the 58 degree water temps as well and they only rose to 61 degrees late in he afternoon. To make matters worse, the winds were also out of the north and they blew 10 to 15 knots making the chill factor below freezing to start. We did manage to catch a bunch of bass with the largest going almost 22 inches on tubes along with a few Muskie. One of the lunge was caught on a tube as well but the other two were caught on Muskie jerk-baits and Norm got to witness a tremendous figure eight on one of them right at boat side. Mike had a follow and went through the motions like a ballerina, effortless in the rotations to provoke the attack. Although we didn’t catch a lot of fish, we did have a great time mixing it up and once the sun warmed the air, a beautiful fall day as well. We fished until around 4 in the afternoon and packed it up shortly after to travel back home. It’s still a little early to get the real big ones on this lake and hopefully in the next couple of weeks the water temps will fall, activating them before the winter arrives. With any luck, we will be back taking advantage of this lack of fishing pressure as well as capturing some of the oldest smallies of the north. I can’t wait!!

After hearing about yesterday, Norm just had to get back on the water for more giant smallies today. As usual, he brought his faithful companion Buddha along for the ride. We hit the water shortly after 8:00 and tried the shallows looking for migrating schools of smallmouth. The weather was dead calm with bright sunshine and temps of low 50’s. Although we were expecting some wind, it was to be from the east and not the best for a drift. As with yesterday, we ran aggressive reaction baits for well over an hour or so in hopes of getting some quick bites. Once again it was a disappointing ordeal that soon had us scrambling. I wasn’t going to waste any more time today so we headed straight out to the deep water once more in hopes of a repeat of yesterday. Although the wind wasn’t in our favor, I had to try! It took a little while to figure out which way I had to position the boat in the current to be able to move along at the right speed, but I got it. Once we lined up correctly, the game was on! I think the first one was around 5.25 pounds when it finally showed from the depths and Norm was all smiles. All we had to do was repeat the right depth drift and the fish would take our baits. We tried all different types and literally caught on everything from straight tailed worms to Carolina rigged lizards. There weren’t any real better baits than the other and by changing presentations we were able to get a few fish from each drift. I didn’t want to over pressure the area so we changed locations and were able to repeat this everywhere we went. It had taken Norm many a trip last fall to break 5 pounds and he had already accomplished this more times today in just a few hours. He even broke his personal best with one fish just under 6 pounds that weighed in at 5.86 on the scale! Once we had enough of the deep bite, we ventured back into the shallows in hopes of finding some easy fish and started throwing reaction baits again. Although we did catch some fish, they were definitely smaller at 3 pounds max. We mixed it up several times during the day from deep to shallow and always came up a little short when we moved in. The deep bite with the bright sun was the way to go and we knew that by covering water we would have action, but not quality. By the time the day was done we had the best of both worlds with the numbers and the size. By shifting all over the lake we were able to have our cake and eat it too! The best part of the day was the pumpkin that Norm caught that went almost 6 pounds. Unfortunately he now has another goal to target and probably won’t sleep until he accomplishes it. It’s gonna be a long fall!!!