Well, back to reality and a local lake after a couple of days of battling the silver sided kings of the big pond. I was to fish with Bram & his brother Neil & their sons Dylan & Jamie today for a multi species kind of day. The weather was a little confusing with cloud & light rain in the morning and bright sunshine in the afternoon. Little to no wind was present as we set the lines for a troll hoping for a mix of pike & walleye. Although the air temps were only in the low 60’s, the water temps were in the upper 60’s and this should have meant that the fish would be active. I was about to find out different as It took almost 15 minutes for our first bite and that’s very unusual. A small pike was landed and another shortly after and then it began. I concentrated in an area that was putting out fish on every pass after this and continued to hit them regularly. We were now getting into pike up to about 6 pounds with an occasional walleye and amazingly a few largemouth bass as well. In fact, Bram landed a nice one of over 4 pounds that we really thought was a walleye by the way it was fighting. Another big fish was lost along the way in by one of their sons when the hooks just pulled free, leaving us with the unknown. I’m pretty sure by the fight that it was a big walleye, but will never know for sure. After this area slowed, I switched up a couple of rods to spinnerbaits and slid in over the shallower weeds for more action. There were a number of northerns landed here, but after an hour or so of catching them, we decided to make another move for a different species. Bass was what we were after now and they were about to hammer them pretty good on a variety of baits. From spinnerbaits and crankbaits to tubes and soft plastic, they all got bit. I had to give an explanation on each & every bait and pretty much locked up every time on a good smallie while doing so. There were just too many fish in the area not to and they were all finding out as well. I really don’t know how many fish were caught here, but I know it was over 25 by the time all was done. We had been hearing thunder and watching a storm system moving in but managed to stick it out till 5:00 before we headed back to take out. I’m pretty sure that there were at least 50 or 60 fish caught today with decent sizes in all species. Everybody managed to hold their own despite the ongoing bet the adults had with the kids and I do think that the boys managed to win by a hair. The parents may have something to say about this though as the competition was quite intense at times. All in all a great day was had by everyone and a few fish even got caught in the process!!

Day two began with almost no wind and a little different than the first one as we began our troll. The sun was coming up and the sky was a brilliant red signifying a change for the worse on its way. Air temps were actually cold and damp with water temps not quite 50 degrees at the start and the air slightly warmer. It took quite a while before we had the first rod fire and Norm knew by the fight that the fish wasn’t very big. It was more like the landlocks we caught in the spring rather than a king from this big pond and we released the skippy. The next one was a clone to the first one and a little disappointing once more. The third fish to hit however was a reel screamer and went airborne several times behind the boat just going crazy with the flips. I saw that the spoon was hooked in its back causing the salmon to freak out with the aerials. It must have tried to hit it but somehow managed to miss and become foul hooked. Either way, it wasn’t going to be landed & thankfully tore lose. It was definitely a slower day than yesterday, but I had the confidence that we were going to catch and trolled over some of the same areas and a few newer ones looking for the big bite. A wire line rod went off when I slid in a bit shallower and I thought we might have a good one only to find out when it came to the boat that it wasn’t a salmon after all. Ironically it was a laker and not bad in size. It went 10 pounds and was the first lake trout I had ever seen from here. Back we went to trolling and with the flat calm conditions, had to cover lots of water to get the bites we were having. Although we were only on the water till about 1:30 we never really got into them like the day before and had to settle for a total of 10 fish today. Norm wanted to try one of these salmon so we kept a couple of smaller ones less than 10 pounds in the livewell swimming. We may not have had the action we wanted today but we still landed 10 more fish and that’s good on any day. I think yesterday spoiled both of us leaving us thinking it was too easy and wanting more & bigger today. Either way it was a great two days of fishing and we can’t wait to get back & tackle more of these strong kings again!!!

I took a long road trip with Norm to Lake Ontario for King Salmon today and we departed at midnight to be able to begin at first light. We decided that a two day trip would be the best way to go, due to the long drive & figured on fishing the following day till about noon. Our arrival was planned just perfect as we were on the water at first light and fishing before 6:00 A.M. The winds were out of the W/NW at less than 10 knots and were scheduled to diminish throughout the day even less. You don’t want to be on this lake in a smaller boat when it’s blowing hard! Waves were less than 2 feet at the start and that was just perfect for me to be able to troll without getting swamped. I had informed Norm of just how strong these fish were & instructed him on what he was in for, but I don’t think he expected what was about to happen. On the first line I put a magnum spoon down 60 feet and started to troll. I set the second line down 50 over 200 plus feet of water and ran a flasher & cut bait on the other rigger. I was about to put the third line in when the second rod started to bounce and I knew we were locked. Norm thought I was joking when I handed him the rod & said there was a fish on the end. That line hadn’t been in the water more than about 45 seconds when it fired and we were on our way. Although this fish wasn’t a real big one, it was the start of good things to come for the day & an indicator that I was on fish. After battling this thing for about 5 minutes or so, I slid the net under his first king of over 10 pounds. He couldn’t believe the power of this fish and was fibrillating at the thoughts of something bigger. After releasing the salmon, I began to re set the lines and was on the last one when the third, wire line rod started to go and line peeled from the reel. I had set it just minutes before and we were locked again. This fish however was substantially larger than the first and Norm was in his glory battling this beast. The line was screaming from the reel & just made it all that more enjoyable as he kept laughing throughout the entire battle. By the time the line counter reached about 350 feet or so, he was finally able to start to reel her back in and this time he spent closer to 15 minutes before I was able to get it in the net. I thought he was going to have a heart attack when he saw the size of this one! It weighed 18 pounds and after a few quick shots, was swimming back from where she had come from. We could have gone back home after that fish and he would have been happy, but I kept him there for plenty more punishment. This was to be one of those days that moat people just hear & dream about and Norm was actually living the dream! I would need to write a novel to explain everything in detail that happened throughout this day but the end result was 20 salmon landed out of a possible 20 fish on with the largest one weighing slightly over 24 pounds. Most of the fish ranged between 18 to 24 pounds and gave him amazing battles. We caught fish on a variety of spoons, flashers & flies as well as cut bait rigs. They were in anywhere from 100 to 240 feet down 30 to 90 and were hungry today. On average, we had a fish about every half hour and considering how long it took to set the lines & reel them in, there really wasn’t much down time. He just fought fish! I told Norm that the weather and fishing isn’t always like this and that we were going to stay out as long as we could in order to take advantage of this spectacular fishing. We fished till about 6:30 before we called it quits and headed back to the ramp to take out. I think Norm’s head is still spinning after having the day of his life on his very first outing. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!!

Well Norm was back from his Florida trip and after hearing about some of the days on the water lately, wanting a taste of his own. We took a little road trip and hit another lake to see if he could tangle with some of the quality smallies that I had been getting into lately. Let’s just say that today would not be a disappointment for anybody! It was a beautiful, crisp morning with sunshine and a light breeze from the north. Air temps began in the low 60’s but ended in the upper 70’s and the water ranged from 65 to 67 degrees. It had gone down slightly with the cold overnight low of barely 60 degrees and I knew we would have to wait for it to rise before the fish would become active. Although we were seeing a few fish swimming in the area we began in, they were really not interested in our offerings and barely even paid any attention. There was one 4 pounder caught and a couple of smaller ones as well but the action was too slow for my liking and we relocated. The next area didn’t prove to be much better as we saw all kinds of bass in the 4 to 5 pound range that never even looked at the offerings we had, even though we threw everything except the kitchen sink at them. At one point I couldn’t take it any longer and I made a drastic adjustment to the other side of the lake hoping for warmer water and more active fish. I stopped on a current break at the tip of an island and tried a jerk-bait to see if I could get a reaction strike. Apparently it worked because on about my third cast, a big smallie just hammered the lure. Shortly after releasing the almost 4 pounder, another 3 pounder slammed the bait and a pattern was developing. I immediately switched Norm up to another jerk-bait and he too was soon tight lined with a 3 pound fish as well. Unfortunately, there was only one other smaller bass landed after that and we relocated once again to an almost exact spot not too far away. Norm locked up on another bass close to 3 pounds on the second cast and nothing after. We slid below the current line and casted the slower water with senko’s and had many a follow but no takers. Both of us lost big fish after slamming into them and losing them seconds later. They just weren’t eating the baits and that was driving me crazy! After catching a few smaller ones and seeing many a big follow or cruiser, I slid out of this area and hit a rocky flat, offshore. It was here that Norm locked up on one, on the fly. He decided to try the fly rod for a while and managed to get into a nice fish of around 2.5 pounds pretty quickly. It had a buddy beside it and I immediately nailed the fish when I casted right to her. Doubles are always nice to see when the fishing is slow! After releasing both fish, Norm wasted no time in hooking another. What we thought was a small fish turned out to be a 4.5 pound smallie that gave him a battle he’ll never forget. This fish fought like a champ with aerials and long runs, all the while trying to get off by burying itself in the weed beds. Eventually I was able to slide the net under the fish and after a few pics, release her back to where she had come. This was definitely going to be the highlight of the day as catching a big fish like that on the fly is always spectacular. Norm almost had another huge bass with the fly rod, but somehow this big blackie managed to come unpinned when she took the air rendering him speechless. This one was equally the same size if not better and quite disappointing. It was afternoon now and I thought we would give it a try on one of the areas that we had seen so many fish cruising around, earlier in the day. Norm threw a tube and I a jerk-bait to see if they were still in the area, and immediately we had the answer. I had many follows and Norm had one on briefly before it too came unpinned. We both locked up frequently on the baits and several fish were landed up to almost 4 pounds. At one point, we had a double and they were in the high fours apiece. When all this became too frustrating once again, I relocated to a similar area a distance away. The rest of the day was spent throwing jerk-baits and tubes to these big bass with many huge ones coming aboard. Schools of 4 to 5 pound smallies were chasing the lures and most were actually eating. If it weren’t for the damn midge, we might have remained on the water even longer. They were relentless and with the slight breeze from the north, seemed to hover in our faces just trying to get into every opening they could find. Shortly after five, we decided to call it quits and head on in for the day. The run back was great, blowing all of these « Dog Pecker Knats » out of our hair and finally away from our face. I would have to say that this was the best day so far this season for size. There were more fish over four pounds landed than any other outing and even though we never broke the five pound mark, it was still a fantastic day. The fly rod smallie was just icing on the cake!!!

Jay was finally able to get away from his hectic work schedule today and join me for a tremendous day of fishing on the lake. He brought along Andy and his son Korey to join in with the fun as well and all would remember today, for many different reasons. The weather began with light winds from the N/E which intensified to 15 knots later in the morning. We were in the clouds for 90% of the day with an onset of approaching storms often. The air temps weren’t much more than 65 degrees when we launched but climbed into the mid 70’s by the end with an hour or so of sunshine. Water temps were around 65 degrees where we started as a mix of lures were sent into the lake to figure out what the bass might want. Jay threw a crankbait, Andy chucked a spinnerbait and Korey & I tossed a senko. I think we pretty much had all the bases covered with this arsenal of baits! Jay drew the first fish as a nice 3 pound; chunky bass came to the boat but soon came off before I could land it. It didn’t take long after and Jay was into the second & third fish of the morning. He was really on fire and others were looking on, jealous of his success. When Andy finally managed to get a hit, he locked up on what I thought was a huge smallmouth bass only to find out at the boat that it was actually a freshwater drum. Although it was impressive, it wasn’t what we were after and a slight disappointment in the net. This thing was between 7 & 8 pounds and was just bloated. First time on a spinnerbait and it would prove to be the exotic species of the day too! On we went in pursuit of more smallies and almost immediately, Jay had located some more. That crankbait was really hot this morning and Jay loved every minute of it. I think Korey was wanting to change what he was using as he was seeing all the action on everyone else’s rod, but not his. Although he did lose a nice fish earlier, it just wasn’t working as well as the other two lures being thrown. I informed him that it would be the bait that was going to catch the better fish and to just be patient and keep working it slowly. After several more bass from both Andy & Jay, Korey finally got into a nice one of his own and now it started to turn over. From that point on, the better bites were to come from the senko and Korey was finally convinced that the do nothing approach, was the way to go. By now the winds had kicked up pretty good and we were seeing the effects with the fish’s activity. For the next several hours, everyone was getting into bass and an occasional walleye as well. The senko though, was definitely the hot bait as several of the larger bass up to 4 pounds fell victim to this set up and I had to rig another one for a second person to use. Jay managed to feel the enjoyment of this do nothing bait as well, as he got into several good fish on his own. Somewhere in the afternoon, we decided to change it up and do a little trolling, trying for walleye and a possible northern pike. It wasn’t on fire like the bass, but we did manage to catch a few decent walleye up to 4 pounds with Korey losing the best one of over 5 pounds right at the boat. I told him that sometimes the hooks just don’t stay in and there was nothing he could do to change the end result. He did however catch a really nice pike that practically beat him up in the process. We had to circle the area that the fish bogged him down in and pull the fish free from all the weeds that it had buried into. I really thought it was a whole lot bigger than the 5 pounds that it weighed though and we all had a good laugh. One more walleye was caught afterwards before we called it a day and ran back to the ramp to take out. There was an approaching storm coming and I could see by its direction that we were in line to get wet. There weren’t any disappointed faces on the boat today, just smiles from ear to ear. All in all it was a pretty fantastic day on the water, with plenty of action for a day to remember!