Catching up with the cousins and big sunnies!

Always great catching up with my buddy Pete and his son Peyton! Bass were chomping too and took home some of their tasty homegrown honeycrisp apples.

Right off a point, I saw this 4.3 lb.., 19.5” largie swirl at the surface and a few baitfish exploded. I casted my 1/2 oz. white chatterbait and a couple cranks in my line tightened and a big leap followed by a surge from the fish after a sweeping hookset. Peyton was quick with the net and a couple of photos, and back the fish went to fight another day.

Visited my old stomping grounds and caught our limit of crappies within minutes! The Kalin’s 2″ Triple Threat Grub rigged on a 1/16 oz. chartreuse jighead was the ticket.

A little rain, a little sunshine, and a whole lot of harsh wind. Always an adventure out on the river!

Carp are pound for pound king! This 14 lb. beast picked up and ran off with a half nightcrawler in slack water near an eddy. A short battle around the boat as he was running under the motor nearly getting wrapped in the anchor rope. My buddy Dylan scooped him and a couple photos and back he went. Cat bites were pretty slow; we couldn’t find them.

A slow overall evening on a smoky sunset. With a half hour of daylight left, I zipped a chatterbait along the edge of the milfoil when this 19.5”, 4.59 lb. chunky bass crushed it! A couple leaps, a head shake, and my net man, Peyton, was quick with the scoop.

Topwater smash! Reeling in a squeaky Nichols Lures Reflex Buzzbait was too much for this 22”, 5.42 lb. largie this evening.

Great day fishing and catching up with my buddy Pete and his son Peyton! I caught a variety of fish on various lures. Multiple pike biggest at 29 inches, a small walleye, a big green sunfish, and a few largemouth. Peyton caught the most bass and Pete pulled in a few as well.

High river levels made fishing challenging but we found a few kitties! Flatheads disappeared, channel cats kept us busy for a few hours.

Stacey, Joshua, and I made our eighth family vacation/fishing trip together to Arcadia Lodge up on Big Turtle Lake mid-June. We stayed in the Rustic cabin for the sixth time.

Smallmouth bass action was fantastic! The mayfly hatch was in full bloom. The best technique was mid-trolling with a 3/16 oz. jighead and a 5″ Sakamata Shad. Casted it out letting in drop a few feet and begin working it back with fast twitches until the rod loads up signaling a fish is on. Other lures that worked were a Ned rig with a 2.5″ Stealth Craw in the 309 color, Sleeper Craw (caught the biggest bass at 19″), and a 1/4 oz. jighead with a live crayfish caught in the minnow trap. Mostl bass were in the 17″ to 18.5″ range.

Check my full-length vlogs below for the full action along with my family video!

What a day. Over 20 catfish made it to the boat, both channel and flathead. They were out chomping yesterday morning. Weight ranged from 3 lbs. to a whopping 30 lbs.!!