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Today’s trip saw John flying solo and up for just about anything. I planned on fishing a variety of species in several areas and hopefully they would all work out!

With very little wind present, we began on an open water spot in deep water for walleye. Once I marked them, all you had to do was drop down and get bit. In theory that is! John managed to catch several, including a couple of keepers, before the school shifted and I had to find them again.

We spent the first hour or more drop shotting these fish until another boat decided to just move in on us. He had idled by slowly to see what we were doing and set up above us to make a drift towards where we were fishing. I didn’t want to educate him so we just unlocked the anchor mode on the electric and drifted away.

I made a few passes over adjacent areas just to draw him out and apparently it worked. He caught nothing and decided to troll out of the area completely. Mission accomplished! Now we could resume our fishing comfortably!

When the bite slowed on the walleye, I decided to make a long run and see if I could get John into a few big smallies. After setting him up on the soft plastic, I showed him how to present the bait to the fish in the current and it didn’t take long. He was tight to a big bass that immediately took to the air with several spectacular leaps. This was the one I was hoping for as it was a true giant! I eventually netted his fish after a lengthy battle and took a few pics before the release. As it turned out, this was his personal best smallie too!

For almost an hour, we remained in the same area, but John only managed to get into a couple more bass. Time to relocate once again!

The next few places weren’t as good to us and we scrambled just to get a bite. I thought we’d try a little trolling after and ran to an area to set up. With no wind and high sunny conditions, I wasn’t sure how we would make out, but we were going to try.

After the lines were in the water I raised the roof to give us a little comfort from the scorching heat. If we weren’t catching, at least we would be comfortable!

I had spent about an hour trolling and all we had to show for it were a couple of northerns. I’m sure that if I had of started here today that the results would have been different! Time to make another move!

Thoughts of trying for sturgeon again were on my mind so I decided to do a little searching for these beasts. I headed to an area to search for them and spent about a half hour just scanning the bottom with the sonar. Without any real concentrations anywhere, I soon realized that this wasn’t going to happen, at least here!

Another long run to open water with less boat traffic and I was once again searching for more sturgeon. At least there was life here, both on the bottom as well as a few fish breaching. I decided to give it a try and set the rods up to fish.

The floating grass like weeds were a real pain with the lines and we had to clean them often. Less time spent in the water meant less chance at a hook up! We were constantly moving as well, when we stopped marking fish and it wasn’t looking very promising anymore. Time to try something else!

With only about an hour remaining in the day, I move off the sturgeon and decided to try for a few more walleye again. By drop shotting, I hoped for better action and a couple more fish for him to take home.

We made as many passes as we could and held in the areas that showed concentrations on the sonar. It may not have been the action I wanted, but some fish were caught and a couple more walleye made their way into the livewell before we were done.

With all the nice weather we’ve had lately, I wasn’t surprised to see heavy boat traffic on the water today. I am not looking forward to the weekend as I’m sure it will only get worse! Add to that the fact that we are in the construction holidays and it’s going to be a zoo! I guess today was as good as it gets!

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Dave & his son Mathieu were with me this afternoon for a very interesting trip. We began in deep water where I had found a school of walleye the day before, just hoping to get a limit. Mission accomplished!

We saw overcast skies and a light east wind and I had no trouble holding on the tiny spot. With the aid of the anchor mode on the electric, I was able to park right on top of the fish after marking them. Dropping down to the walleye in the current required a heavy weight and patience, but getting bit wasn’t an issue. In the first 15 minutes there were almost as many walleye caught. Unfortunately only one of them was in the slot though and I knew that they would have to filter through a few more in order to have their 6.

A few smallies were hooked into from the same area making for a nice mix of fish. The walleye however were now being a little finicky and required more patience than I thought they would. Add to that the floating grass like weeds and it was becoming just frustrating. Thoughts of changing locations were tossed around but I knew that if we focussed, we could get the job done.

Dave hooked into a fish right after it showed up on the sonar and I was sure it wasn’t a walleye. I had seen a big mark and was sure that it was a sturgeon. Sure enough, this was her! Let the battle begin!

I was pretty sure this wouldn’t end well but did my best to follow it with the electric motor. Dave was enjoying the fight and actually thought he had a chance. About 4 minutes into the battle the hook pulled free and he was left with an empty line. It’s never easy to land one of these dinosaurs on a tiny hook from a drop shot rig! We headed back to the walleye and fished a little longer, trying for their limit.

Although it took more time than I had expected, a limit was finally brought into the boat by Dave & Mathieu and things were officially done from here. Mathieu even landed the largest one and let everyone know!

I had brought along the big sticks today to make an attempt at sturgeon fishing. I had to run around a lot looking for a concentration, but eventually just settled in an area that showed some life. It would be the first time this season fishing for them but I knew we at least had a shot!

With lines in we waited for our first bite and when it finally came, I thought it was the right species. Disappointment was had when Dave brought the fish to the boat and we saw that it was an eel. I hate snakes and this thing was just that! I unhooked the hideous creature and went right back to fishing.

The next bite came about 15 minutes later and it too turned out to be an eel. I was definitely in the wrong area! We relocated slightly when I saw better marks and re anchored, just hoping for another shot at a sturgeon. Unfortunately when the next bite came and I set into the fish, I knew it was small. I immediately gave the rod to Mathieu to fight. He had a bass on the line and landed it shortly after. We were officially done!

Although we didn’t catch any sturgeon today, the fishing was still great. A good number of walleye were seen and a limit of keepers were taken in the half day outing. I could have done without the eels, but they did make it very interesting! Hopefully the next time I decided to anchor up, the results will be different. It’s only a matter of time before the first dinosaur makes its way into the boat, starting the big fish season for me. In the mean time I’ll just have to remain on the pike, bass & walleye. Tough job but someone’s gotta do it!

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What a full day today! A group of 7 girls in the morning had me requesting the help of Warren, for the second boat. I had Sarah, Tonya, Becky & Jeanette with me and we wasted no time heading out.

With this many bodies in the boat, I decided that a troll would be the best thing and set the four lines in motion. It didn’t take long for the show to begin as the first rod bent without a sound. We were officially on the board with a small northern! Not long after, another reel went off and a second pike was netted. The bites weren’t as aggressive as they should have been and visions of the early season, cold water action, seemed like it was back. I had to be on my “A” game today as most hits were light and making very little sound. I was constantly checking the lines and often finding fish already on, while doing so!

The bite only got better as I covered water, but I found certain areas producing more than others. By concentrating where we caught fish, I was able to keep their rotation going strong. Although pike were the most aggressive, we started getting into some good walleye action as well. Big fish were mostly caught but they were able to put a few keepers in the livewell for their BBQ tonight!

The morning passed by quickly with all the action and before we knew it, time had run out. Half day trips are always more difficult to produce fish, but today all the stars aligned. I think having 4 girls on the boat helped as well, because they definitely had the luck today! These girls rocked!

I made my way back to the boat ramp and changed guests, only to turn & burn for the afternoon trip. Val was back with me and hoping for another great one! His mandate was to bring dinner home and after that, catch smallies the rest of the day.

We started off with a troll in an area that I hadn’t fished this season and not long after, pulled the plug due to the poor results. Too much floating crap weeds and constant cleaning of the rods had me leaving quickly. Time to make a long run!

I headed to a point extension in deeper water and immediately started catching walleye. Too bad they were on the small side and had to be released! Val did however manage to land a couple of good keepers that made their way into the livewell. He would be having fish tonight!

After the bite died, we ventured shallower and tried for bass. Although there were a few caught, they weren’t the calibre I was looking for and soon after, we left the area entirely.

I really wanted Val to catch some bigger bass and headed to a spot that definitely held them. With soft plastics, he began covering the water and it wasn’t long before he was tight to the fish I had hoped for. These things really fight when in the current and this one just went crazy! As soon as it was in the net, he realized why! It was now his personal best smallie! Several pics later and he was back, casting for more!

I had him covering the water and working slower than he was used to, but he soon realized why. Another giant bass and possibly even better than the first one was on the end of his line. Several jumps later, I netted his catch and saw that although not as long as the previous bass, it was definitely heavier. He had just managed to bump his personal best, again! More pics and she was free to be caught another day!

Val managed to catch a few more fish from this spot but when it slowed down, we quickly relocated. Time was running out and I was hoping to have him catch a few more fish before we were done.

With winds blowing out of the east at over 10 knots, we had a pretty good roll on the water. I decided to try another place that I hadn’t fished yet this year, hoping that it held some quality. We were now both drop shotting in hopes of getting a couple more walleye for him to bring home. On Val’s first cast, he was locked up but unfortunately it came off before we could get it close enough to net. Based on how it was acting, I knew it was a walleye but couldn’t tell the size. Oh well, crap happens!

We did manage to get into a couple of smaller bass from this spot, before I decided to relocate one last time. I ran out to open water and located a school of walleye. I quickly anchored up directly on top of them with the electric motor. For the last 30 minutes, the action was just insane as all we had to do was drop on their heads and get bit. Too bad the majority of the fish were unders! I did manage to put another decent keeper in the box for him, before we were officially done. I had extended his trip by an hour and we called it just after 5 o’clock.

Today saw a great mix of fish with the girls landing pike & walleye in the morning and Val getting into walleye & bass in the afternoon. It’s always more difficult to produce good catches with limited time but both trips went great. Oh yeah, everyone would be having fish for dinner too! Good times were had by all today!

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After a couple of days of cancellations due to the weather, I was back on the water once again. Collin and his parents Lu & Yin fished with me today for another high numbers outing. Loads of pike, walleye and bass were caught, along with a surprise bowfin.

We started out by trolling and they all managed to get their fair share of fish, but it was Collin that seemed to get the biggest in every species. He was the one that did battle with the beaver fish as well giving him a nice grand slam for the trip.

By afternoon the winds had died off from the NE blow that we had all morning and I decided to switch up techniques. We were going drop shotting!

I made my way out to deeper water and instructed them on what to do. It didn’t take long before Lu managed to land back to back bass as the others just watched. Eventually however, they all got in the game and each drift yielded more & more fish.

A combination of both smallies and walleye were brought to net in the remaining hours we fished the area. Plenty of fish were also lost that would have made for an insane afternoon of fishing.

With started by trolling in a NE wind and ended it off drop shotting in almost flat calm conditions. By changing it up when needed, I was able to keep them on fish all day. A combination of bass, walleye and pike were continuously landed with the bonus Bowfin from Collin too. Just another day at the office!

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James was back again today and this time he brought his father Joe and his friend Mike along as well. With a good SW wind on the water this morning, I was looking forward to trolling and wasted no time getting fishing!

With 4 lines working for us, it wasn’t long before Mike was reeling in his first walleye of the day. It was a high end keeper and hopefully one of many to come! We covered plenty of water in search of more for Mike to take home but were only able to add one other keeper to his limit. It wasn’t for lack of trying as he did have to release a few others that were just too big! Plenty of pike too!

Sometime around noon or so, we decided to change it up and they tried their hand at casting for smallmouth bass. They fished for about 90 minutes or so on several spots and managed only a handful of fish. Despite the action being rather slow, they did boat a few really nice ones before we relocated to try something completely different.

I had made a long run to open water in hopes of drop shotting a few deeper areas. Unfortunately the first couple of spot didn’t pan out when we tried to fish them. I liked the big waves but all the floating weeds made it impossible to get a drift. If we were lucky, the lines stayed clean for about 30 seconds! I had to move to other areas and similar results were had there as well. In the end I just settled for one spot that although had weeds, was somewhat fishable.

The remainder of the day was spent making multiple drifts over the deep water and lots of walleye were landed. Too bad most weren’t in the slot, but Mike did manage to add a couple more keepers to his limit for the day. James was trying to help too, but was only able to catch smallies!

For the last 30 minutes we saw a drop in the winds and the lake flattened out almost completely. If it wasn’t for all the boat traffic, it would have been a mirror! Instead, it felt more like being in a washing machine! I tried to hold them on a small area that seemed loaded with fish but they only managed a couple more short ones before we called it a day.

Despite the difficult fishing conditions at times today, they still caught fish everywhere we went. In the end, Mike was even able to take 4 of the walleye home with him. Looks like he’ll be having fresh fish for dinner tonight!