One of the trips I look forward to most each year is what I call our “Couples Trip”. Three couples, three boats, two days, too much food and a few fish – what could be better?
This year we returned to Bayfield Lodge, a familiar place and body of water for all of us. In late August the weather is usually stable, though this year it was a particularly hot summer, and there was rain in our forecast. For the most part on these weekends we focus on trolling areas we know hold fish, because it’s relaxing, and fits well for anglers of all levels of experience.
We normally do pretty well as far as fish count goes, but a combination of some rainy weather, and the heat driving the fish down, meant we had less time on the water, and that fewer spots produced success. That being said, all was not lost!
While the area is known to hold Walleye, we rarely target them with success. Lisa (pictured above) landed this beauty Walleye, her first ever! This was on the Saturday morning, before the rain and wind came in. That afternoon the three guys headed to a small river to get out of the wind and to try fishing some deep holes that we knew could have some big bass lurking. Alas, after several hours of fishing, one tiny large mouth was all we had for fish.
The Sunday is a short day for us, as we usually fish after breakfast, and pack up after lunch. The day started slow, though Carolyn was able to land this small Pike (above), though I think the fish enjoyed being held more than Carolyn enjoyed holding it. After very little action, and having stared at the water temperature for a couple days, we decided to find some cooler water, and headed out to the shoals. It was worth it.
The Pike were very active in the cooler water. We trolled around the sharp drops and deep weed beds that are all around the shoals. Boat control was tough in the wind, and we both had to have our eyes out for submerged rocks, but it paid off. In an hour we landed 5 nice Northerns, the largest was 38 inches(above) and the smallest was 25 inches; all getting ready for the winter and putting on weight.
It goes to show that sometimes a relatively small change (a new location), can produce results. In this case, the water temp was almost 5 degrees cooler, and the results are evident.
I’ll be fishing this body of water two more times this year, and it will be interesting to monitor the water temps, and the fish migration as the cool season approaches.
As always, if you’d like to stay informed of when I add new posts or learn more about any of the lakes I fish, just sign up and you’ll be notified each week if I have a new post. I’d also be happy to chat about your fishing plans; just email scott@canadianfisherman.ca and I’ll get back to you!