Richard needed to take a break from his hectic work schedule and called me early this morning to see if I was available. As luck would have it I was and we were meeting at the ramp shortly after 9:00 A.M. I thought that with the beautiful weather and sunshine we were having that we would start for smallies and ran to the first spot. Air temps were hovering around 70 degrees at the start and climbed to over 80 by mid afternoon. Winds were from the S/E at 5 to 10 knots early and really kicked up later in the day with gusts around 20 knots creating a real big chop on the water. I don’t think it took Richard more than a couple of casts before he was tight to his first smallie and many more to come. Three to 4 pounds were the average size he was getting and he broke off an even larger one when it took him around a big boulder. We casted to the bass for several hours successfully, before trying a change and heading into the jungle for some largemouth bass. This wasn’t to pan out however as the winds were blowing big waves on the water, making fishing almost impossible in this area. Richard finally gave in as work had been hounding him all morning long and he really had to be there. We packed it up and headed back to the ramp around 2:30 giving us about half of the day both had wanted. Overall, it was pretty good for the smallies as we managed to get into about a dozen quality bass in just a few short hours up to 4.5 pounds. I hope the next time out it’s on the weekend when he doesn’t have to think about his work and can focus on just catching fish. I think he does too!!!

What miserable day it was today! If it weren’t for the explosive strikes on the surface from largemouth bass, we would have called it a day, early. Alain & Cindy joined me today for another enjoyable day from « Mother Nature » and she was a real treat. I thought that by the report, Monday would be the better of the two with Tuesday calling for the worst of the weather. How wrong they were! From about the time we actually began to launch the boat at 7:00 A.M. until mid afternoon, we were in the clouds and rain. The air temps actually dropped throughout the day starting at 73 degrees and ending at 64. There was virtually no wind at all and the clouds just held over us because of it. To make matters worse, Alain had forgotten the pants to his rain suit and only brought the jacket soaking his lower half in the first 10 minutes. We managed to get into a few smallies up to 4 pounds on soft plastics despite the cold water temps of 66 degrees, down from 72 a few days earlier. Eventually, the winds started to blow from the south and really put a chill in the air. I knew that if we were going to be able to stick it out that I was going to have to find a less windy area and changed to the largemouth as a backup. Here we were at least able to get out of the wind and it really felt a whole lot warmer too. The fish were acting a little strange as they were blowing up on the frogs and not getting hooked. At first I thought it was because Alain was setting too soon, but soon realized that they were just not taking the baits well. There were a few smaller fish caught up to 3 pounds, but there was also at least 10 or 12 bigger fish that just never made it to the boat. Cindy had the closest fish as I almost got the net in time for the 4 pounder that just came off before I was able to take a shot. I must admit the action was great, but the results sucked! We eventually decided to change up once more to the smallies in hopes of a few more fish to add to the catch list. Tiny crankbaits were going to be the downfall this time as Alain was soon to find out. Cindy threw a spinnerbait and managed to hook into a few of the smaller ones in the 2.5 pound range but Alain had a couple of real bruisers on that were in the 4 to 5 pound bracket and the tiny hooks were no match for the power of the smallmouth. By 5 o’clock we had seen enough and decided to call it a day. Unfortunately, there weren’t any pics to be had today, but that’s only because we were too miserable to hold them in the rain! Better days to come!!!

After postponing today’s customers due to the weatherman’s terrible forecast, I awoke to a beautiful sunny morning. I really didn’t want to waste the day so I gave Norm a call and as expected, he was eager & willing to go. We finally hit the water around 10:00 A.M. and fished exclusively for smallmouth bass. There were a few areas that I had been meaning to check out & today was the day for exploration. Although we did have sun, there were also plenty of clouds and for the first time in a while the temperatures felt comfortable. It climbed up to 80 degrees, but a breeze from the south of 5 to 10 knots cooled the air on our skin. We started on a point that I had fished before and almost immediately were into a 4 pound plus blackie. Love the big black smallmouth bass! This was a post spawn fish that had definitely been feeding as it was long & fat. After covering almost a half mile of shoreline with only sightings of fish to show for our efforts, I decided to relocate. The next location also showed signs of life as Norm battled a fish in the mid fours to the boat. This fish was not as fat as the first one, but it was definitely long. Several others slightly smaller were landed by moving around this area but nothing over 3 pounds until the next spot. Here, Norm got into another fish over 4 pounds almost immediately and this one was really feeding by the size of its gut. The balance of time spent along this gravel point only showed us smaller fish again and off we went once more. As soon as we arrived on the next flat, Norm was battling a three pounder to the boat on his first cast. I hooked up quick too, but the fish threw the hooks when it took to the air and another 4 pound blackie was gone. We circled this section of rocks and picked one here and there but nothing big until the end, There, I lost another big fish as it stole my bait and left me with just the hook attached. I was planning on hitting a couple of other areas, but the skies were not looking too good and we opted to pull off before the storms arrived. There’s always going to be another day to fish when you play it safe and I wasn’t about to chance the weather. It proved to be a good decision as we ran through windy conditions and blackening skies on our way back to the boat ramp. We may not have gotten all the time we wanted to fish but in just a few short hours there were some quality fish landed and that’s what it’s all about!!

Well, you could definitely tell that it was a holiday today with plenty of boats all over the lake. Tim was staying in Bromont for a week of vacation and wanted to fish locally with his two sons, so he hooked up with me for the day. Brian & Bobby were so anxious that they were already wetting a line at the boat ramp when I arrived! The weather was going to be a carbon copy of yesterday with blazing sunshine and highs in the mid 80’s predicted. Light winds from the north were nothing to concern ourselves with as the boat traffic waves were much larger! Water temps were around 65 degrees when we began our troll and it didn’t take long before bobby was reeling in the first pike. He followed that up with a beautiful walleye of at least 5 pounds on the next fish and we were well on our way to another crazy day of fishing. Brian was up next and he too was reeling in northern of 3 to over 5 pounds in the next hour or so. Mixed in with the pike was an occasional walleye and the action was pretty much non stop. Tim decided when both his sons had landed 10 fish apiece that he would take the next reel that fired and what a decision that was. The rod went off and he started to reel in what I was sure was a walleye due to it staying down all the way to the boat. When it finally showed itself by the boat, I couldn’t believe my eyes at its length. I netted this beast and boga gripped the walleye for a weight. It went over 7 pounds and all of 28 inches plus. This was the longest and largest so far this year and definitely had to go back after a few quick pics. Brian and Bobby both continued to land more pike and somewhere around 11:30 we decided to switch it up a bit and go for smallmouth. Although the action wasn’t fast & furious, we did see plenty of bass in the 4 pound class but were unable to convince them into biting. Most of these fish were just cruising and not interested in our offerings at all. Bobby did manage to hook up on one of these big ones on a senko but unfortunately it came off on one of its jumps and left him quite disappointed. We covered a lot of water with just a few smaller fish being landed and a couple of largemouth by Brian before we finally arrived in an area that the fish seemed to cooperate. Tim was the first to hook into one of these feisty acrobats and Bobby doubled up immediately afterwards. A quick pic and back they both went unharmed. Bobby managed to get into another in the same spot and that’s all they wrote! We moved on and a little while later on some huge boulders, Brian finally locked up on a real beauty. He couldn’t believe the strength of these bass as he was use to catching largemouth and never really battled smallies before. I finally was able to slip the net under a 4 pound plus smallie and his personal best too. Another couple of quick pics and back it went. Bobby had another on briefly but was unable to catch up with the fish as she charged the boat creating slack in the line. We shifted to another point for our last shot at more of these bruisers and Tim was into one almost immediately. Brian also followed with a couple of his own and after getting into four or five of these scrappers, it just stopped. We tried for a little longer but were unable to scratch up another hit and packed it in for the day. Before we ran back to the ramp, we decided to take a few pics of the walleye in the live well and release them back in the same area they had come from earlier in the day. To say that Tim and his sons were satisfied would have been an understatement; they were elated with the numbers and size of fish for the day. All of them had caught at least 3 different species of fish and some of them were their personal best. All in all a terrific day to be on the lake!!!

I hit a new lake with Norm this morning, in quest of a dinner walleye and succeeded in spades! We began trolling around 7:30 under sunny skies and N/E winds blowing at 5 to 10 knots. I could feel by the morning air that this 70 degree temp would climb much higher by afternoon and wanted to take advantage of the low light period early. Water temps were 63 degrees and really stained from all the cross current winds from yesterday making visibility just terrible. Norm’s first scream on the reel ended in a northern pike of 3 or 4 pounds and we were on our way. The next fish was taken when he picked the rod from the holder to clear weeds from the lure and ripped the bait. It just stopped and he had some weight attached to the end of the line. As with most of the walleye, this one stayed down until it neared the boat and we caught a glimpse of the beast. It looked to be 7 or 8 pounds in the stained water and I thought he had a real giant for this lake! When I finally got it into the net I realized that it was big. It was 27 inches long & I put her on the scale for a second to know for sure. She pushed the 6.25 mark and after a few quick picks I slipped her into the live well for a later release. I wanted to make sure she was in good shape before letting her go back to the lake and pumped plenty of water and oxygen into the tanks. We went back to trolling and managed to get 3 more good walleye and many, many more northerns trolling stick baits. Norm wanted to try for some largemouth bass and I decided that the mid day period would be a good time to see if I could get him a few, so we headed to the jungle after releasing the walleye & began. I had him throw a scum frog due to the pockets of open water and sparse vegetation and apparently it was the right choice. He had a few missed explosions before he finally contacted with something way in tight. I told him to winch it out of there and soon slipped the net under his personal best largie. It weighed exactly 5 pounds on the nose and was a surprise after the big tournament held this weekend. I guess they left one out there! We saw several other fish in the 3 pound class spooked as we covered the water and managed to get a few more up to about the same size as well. Smallmouth were the next ones to target and it didn’t take long before Norm was tight to a real blackie on a senko. When it took to the air I knew it was at least 4 pounds or better and oh what a fight. I eventually netted the fish and took a quick weight and a few picks before releasing her back again. It went 4.34 pounds and completed his « Grand Slam » for the day. We stayed a little longer and he caught several more slightly smaller bass before we called it a day. I don’t think he expected to have the combination that he had for this heat wave of a day as the temps reached around 90 degrees under scorcher sunshine. I was glad for him as he now has another great memory to add to the already many from all the previous trips on different lakes. It seems that there’s always something special each day to remember and this day definitely would be the « Big Grand Slam »!