Brian was to join me today on the water, to see if he could better his personal best smallie that went 2.5 pounds. I laughed when he said that! He had felt like taking a trip south and immediately thought of coming here, being from Alaska. I guess that’s south for some, but not for all! The weather was mild with the air temps reaching into the lower 50-degree range and we had mostly sunshine throughout the day. Winds were out of the S/W at 15 to 25 K at times and subsided in the afternoon 5 to 10, making for a real enjoyable day. I think it was on Brian’s first cast that he cracked the 3 pound mark and the record was broken, but it was just the start as he was about to find out. He hit fish all day and plenty of bigguns too! Threes & fours were being caught, with the occasional 2 pounder and he was in heaven. I still can’t believe that he left a steelhead run in Alaska just to catch bass here in Quebec! This fishing went on all day with a pretty good spinnerbait bite happening around midday too. Most of the fish were a little lethargic though with the water temps holding around 54 degrees and jigs were needed to take the bulk of the fish. Sometime in the afternoon, he finally managed to get one over 5 pounds and we weighed it just for fun. It was to finally stop at five pounds, ten ounces on the scale and really become a personal best for him. We kept fishing for several more hours and eventually called it a day around 5:00 P.M. after many more fish. This was definitely a day that he would remember for a long time, as he would have to go back home for 3 months of almost darkness in Alaska real soon. Overall, it was a pretty good day to be on the water!

Today I was back on the water with Craig & Herm once again. They had been here last week and had to get back for another day of smallie action. We began with a complete opposite of yesterday and welcomed it with open arms. The weather was just spectacular with air temps of almost 60 degrees and plenty of sunshine. Winds were out of the S/E at 5 to 10 K and I was thrilled to finally have a light chop. Water temps were 54 degrees and went to 54.5 by days end. Herm drew first blood with a decent smallie of a couple of pounds within the first few minutes and the games were on. After that, Craig also started boating a few of his own and they were soon both catching their fair share of bass. It was a little slow for a while and I decided to move around trying to find a better load of fish somewhere, but was only able to pick a few here & there until Herm loaded up on a real giant. He had never caught a smallie over 5 pounds and was really looking foreword to the possibility of landing one. This was not going to be the day however when the fish decided to take to the air and throw the hook. We all had a great look at this bass next to the boat and agreed that it definitely could have surpassed the 6-pound mark. Not only did he lose the biggest bass he ever had on, but he still didn’t land a 5 pounder! Both Craig & Herm did however have a great afternoon, catching plenty of smallies with Craig adding a couple more over 5 pounds to his belt. The best Herm could manage was a measly 4 pound 12 ounce bass that fell 4 ounces shy of his 5 pound goal. Oh well, there’s always next time! We called it quits shortly after five and headed back to the ramp for our drive back home. All in all it was a tremendous day spent on the water and best of all, it didn’t rain!!

Darren & I hit the water this morning and were surprised to see that it wasn’t raining, yet! The forecast called for rain, heavy at times and plenty of it was coming our way. Well, we weren’t on the water for more than 30 minutes before it began and it just never let up. We had decent temps of about 50 degrees, but heavy rain throughout the entire day. The water temps were about 54 degrees again with little change from the day before. This was only the second time that the “auto Bilge” pump kicked in since I’ve owned the boat, and it went off many times during the day. If there was only one good thing to say about today it would have to be that at least the fish were biting! We managed to get into plenty of bass ranging from 1 to almost 5 pounds with the majority of them being around 3 pounds apiece. Despite the lack of enthusiasm between us, we were too busy catching fish to worry about how wet it was and continued casting. By 4:30 P.M. we were considering packing it in and got into more fish that delayed our departure, slightly. We did however leave about 15 minutes later and almost in the dark because of the heavy cloud cover surrounding us. Although this wasn’t the most picture perfect day to be out on the water, we did manage to stick it out and endure what “Mother Nature” had thrown our way!

After a few days off, I was back on the water with Norm & Alison once again. Norm was still looking for a personal best, larger than 4.7 pounds and was hoping today was the day. We began the day in frosty conditions that had the air temps hovering around the freezing mark, but eventually climbed to over 50 degrees by afternoon. Winds were light and from the east at less than 5 k and it was sunny all day. For a cold start, it really warmed to a beautiful fall day. The water temps had dropped as well, and were now barely over 54 degrees too. Within the first 5 minutes, both Norm & Alison had multiple chances at bass and managed to land several with a couple over 4 pounds right away. Most of the fish were a little on the smaller side at 2 to 3 pounds and it seemed like they had to weed through them in order to get to the larger ones. This action was constant for a while and then we had a slow period that caused us to move around and try to find more active fish nearby. After picking a fish here & there, we thought a move was in order and relocated altogether! This wasn’t to prove to be the best choice either as there was only one fish landed with many others seen just roaming around the area. Eventually we decided to go back to where we started and there, they began to catch once more. Lots of fish were being caught and some decent ones too but Norm was still looking for something a little bit larger. He did finally manage to capture back to back in two casts, a couple over 4 pounds with the largest going 4-3/4 pounds. Several more bass were caught as well in the next few hours before we decided to call it a day and headed off the water. Norm had finally captured something that he could be proud of and now had a personal best broken that he had held on to for over 10 years. Too bad it wasn’t over five, but that’s for another day! Both Alison & Norm had caught plenty of fish with several really good ones throughout the day and with this beautiful weather we had, there was no suffering involved. Next time out, he’s shooting for one over five!!

It had been a long time since Jay had been out fishing with me but today he finally managed to clear his schedule. Too much work and no play isn’t good for the body, unless you’re fishing that is! We didn’t get on the water too early with the cold air temps and began somewhere around 9:00 A.M. instead. I don’t think it took more than a minute for Jay to be locked up and he knew it was going to be a great day. The sky was overcast all day with absolutely no sunshine, contrary to what the weatherman had forecasted and the air temps barely reached 50 degrees at best. Fortunately for us, there was very little wind and this made conditions bearable. The water temps had fallen to just over 57 degrees and rose to only 57.5 by days end. We fished mainly tube jigs slowly on the bottom, but Jay did manage to take a few bass on a spinnerbait that hit like a freight train. There’s nothing more violent than a smallie hit on a spinnerbait in the fall! He caught fish all day with very few slow periods and that really gave him the confidence he needed to fish the jigs. I think that by the end of the day he had landed 8 or 9 bass that topped the scales above 4 pounds, but nothing above five. He also managed to catch plenty of fish between 2 & 4 pounds and this made for the best day of smallmouth bass fishing he has ever experienced. Despite the dismal weather for the day, we were able to convince several bass into biting. Oh yeah, another walleye as well! Overall, a pretty good day on the water with plenty of action to keep anyone tight lined!!