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Val was back out with me again looking for some information on where the largemouth hang out. We would be fishing heavy cover and hopefully encounter some of the big green monsters today!

I ran into the shallows and started him off on a buzzbait looking for aggressive fish. On his first cast, he had one try to eat it 3 times and the blow ups were quite spectacular. Unfortunately largies don’t miss and I knew this was a pike!

We covered all kinds of good looking areas and saw several large bowfin that didn’t even want to eat as well. At one point I showed him how to pitch jigs to heavy cover and this didn’t work much either. I did have one fish grab a bait and it was in deep! Too bad it turned out to be another northern and I had to go far into the jungle to get him out. Sure glad I checked first before lipping what was buried in a thick bunch of weds!

We tried a bunch of baits in the shallow water and covered plenty of area too. All without success! One final ditch effort saw us entering a small narrow cut and we pitched to both sides hoping for a big bite. I had caught 5 and even 6 pounders from here in the past and wanted to show him why we were spending so much time doing what we were doing. On one of my pitches to a piece of cove, I finally got hit. To my amazement I had hooked into a 23 inch walleye and flipped the lost puppy into the boat. It’s hard to believe that the walleye was in a foot and a half of water but it was! This was the final straw and we idled out and decided to go for smallies instead.

It didn’t take long once we arrived on the rocks before the first fish came aboard. There were bass all over this flat and by tossing soft plastics we were able to salvage the day. In less than a couple of hours we had multiple catches of good smallies coming aboard. I hadn’t planned on taking any pics of the brownies but Val managed to land a really nice one and I needed at least one pic!

Once we finished pounding on bass Val asked that we go for some walleye, hoping to bring a few home for dinner. With limited time remaining and flat calm waters, I decided to give it a try. We hit several areas in the short time remaining and although we did manage a limit of walleye, only one of them was worthy of the cut. It turned out to be the fish’s lucky day too, as it ended up being returned to where it had come.

Although today didn’t turn out exactly how I had hoped, Val did get to learn a couple of new techniques for a different species. The fish may not have cooperated but now he knows what to do and where to look for them as well. Hopefully the next time he’s out there, they will cooperate for him and he’ll have more confidence fishing in heavy cover. At least we had a backup plan with the smallies to salvage the day and there were many! With the weather finally getting back to summer temperatures, I expect the water to warm up again bringing the fish to where they should be. Lately these cold fronts have moved many of them all around causing me to fish deep. A much slower presentation but still very productive and rewarding too!

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I had 3 generations in the bot today with a grandfather, father & son. Mike, Arthur & his son Alex enjoyed a beautiful outing, with some pretty nice fish. Although they had a tough time getting use to the drop shot in the beginning, eventually they caught on. Alex even landed a smallie while using his Star Wars push button set up! He also reeled in the only sturgeon of the day when we anchored up to give it a try. Too bad it was our only bite! Overall it was a bit slower than I had expected but everyone had a great time and that’s all that counts!

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Costa & Luc had an interesting day that was forecasted to rain all day long. Ironically, we never had a drop of rain! The winds were even light for most part with some east & south east at times. They were going to be spending most of their time dropshotting with the cold front we were locked into.

It took a little longer than I expected to get on the board but not for lack of trying. Several misses were had before Costa finally brought one to net. It was tough for them to get the feel for the bottom while fishing the presentation vertically!

Throughout the day we switched locations and pretty much hit some fish wherever we went. Most were on the smaller than usual side but some were worthy of pics. More bass than walleye were also landed making for great fights! I even brought them shallower in one place where they managed to get several more fish casting.

The entire day was slower than I had thought it would be, with overcast skies and very light winds. I’m sure the water temps had something to do with the lack of aggression as they dipped to 67 degrees! Despite the slow fishing they still managed to bring plenty of fish aboard before they were done. They even learned a new technique that may help them in their future fishing!

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Chris was with me this morning along with his son, Will. We headed out for some walleye & smallie action and hopefully they would get into them good, before we headed back to the dock. His wife Widdia would be joining us as well for the remainder of the trip and we would be picking her up and returning to the water.

Well, we spent almost 2 hours without putting a fish in the boat but not for lack of trying! Although I was marking them where we were, they were tight lipped! With the exception of one bite on Will’s line that left him bait less, nada! Not knowing when Chris’s wife would be joining us, I had decided to remain close by, but now it was time to move. I headed to the other side and we would fish there instead!

Several passes were made in the area and a few decent fish were landed, finally putting us on the board! Chris managed to get the ball rolling with a nice smallie and Will soon followed with a smaller one. Not wanting to leave the area, we unfortunately had to when Chris got the call. We were on our way back to get his wife!

After the pickup I realized that we were about to get into some rain and suggested that everyone don the raingear! Smart decision as we headed right into the wetness as we ran to our first fishing spot!

I had spent about 30 minutes in the area having everyone casting the dropshot without even a touch. Another move was in order after I raised the roof with slightly heavier rain now falling. This time we were going to try a little drifting with the drop shot as casting with the roof up wouldn’t be easy where I wanted to go. Chris didn’t take long before getting into another nice smallie and just like this morning, his son soon followed. Widdia was new to fishing in general and unfortunately lost a few before finally keeping her first fish pinned. Too bad too as she had a couple of quality bass throw the hook when they took to the air on a spectacular jump. We definitely knew their size as it was ten feet from the boat when they went to the air!

We made many drifts over the deep shoals and plenty of chances were had with several fish coming aboard. Eventually with about an hour or so remaining in the day, I headed to an area that I hoped would put a few walleye in the boat for them to bring home. Chris had wanted to eat some fish tonight and I didn’t want to disappoint!

With the rain still falling I kept the roof up as they casted the drop shot rig next to the weeds. It didn’t take long before the first keeper was in the box and it didn’t end there! In the remaining time they managed to put a limit of fish in the livewell and released a bunch of others. In between the walleye being caught, there were also several smallies giving them a banner finish for the day.

Just before we were to leave, the rain stopped and I was able to put the cover down for the run back. It figures that they had to endure Mother Nature’s misery that ended just before we were done! Oh well, it didn’t seem to bother them or the fish any as the action was great today. It may have been a slow start, but it definitely ended with a bang!

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Haig was with me for the afternoon and he brought his daughters Katia and Talia along as well. We would be starting a bit early due to the wet weather on the way and hit the water about 10:30. I hoped it wouldn’t be as bad as they predicted!

First stop was a little slow with absolutely zero wind and getting bites was difficult as best. It actually felt like there was no current! Haig did manage to get a couple of bass and one was a true giant! Despite all their efforts though, the girls came up empty. They did however miss a couple of strikes in the number of casts they made!

Our next stop had everyone casting a drop shot and both girls managed to get into some walleye. A couple of them were even keepers and would be joining them for dinner tonight! I probably shouldn’t have left this area but the rain began to fall and it didn’t look like it was going to stop anytime soon. I needed to get the roof up and decided to make a long run before putting it up for them to fish more comfortably.

The next spot saw them drifting and dropshotting open water shoals once the top was raised. It made for difficult fishing but at least they would remain dry! Everyone had shots at fish but unfortunately strikes were missed while we covered the areas. The winds also didn’t make the drift easy as we gained more speed with the roof. It wasn’t easy to slow the boat to a fishable drift and sometimes they weren’t even touching the bottom. Time for some adjustment!

Misery was upon us with the wind & rain and one of the girls decided to tap out for a while and not fish. This allowed me to take a different approach with the drift by pointing the bow into the wind to slow the speed down. Apparently it was the right choice as now we were fishing vertically!

Haig and Katia both managed to hook several fish in the remaining time and some of them came in the boat before we were done. Both bass & walleye were landed in this wet weather, but they didn’t seem to mind a little dampness. As long as they were catching fish, they didn’t care!

One more stop in the place that gave up a couple of the better walleye saw us struggling to get bit. The winds and waves made it too tough to fish and despite many casts by everyone, only one perch was taken from here. The fish had just vacated this spot entirely with the weather change and now, so were we!

Although tough at times, this afternoon proved to be a great experience for everyone. They all managed to get into some fish and that’s all that matters! Mother Nature could have been a little kinder to the girls but unfortunately, that’s out of my control. In the end, they were able to bring some fish home with them and plenty of memories of the day’s events. Hopefully they’ll be back again and with any luck, it’ll be a nice day full of fish and even more great memories!