The word enjoyment doesn’t come close to describing the awesome feeling I get when introducing people to the sport of angling. Even better, is when people experienced bad fishing in the past and we show them just how good things can be.
This week, Tony Perri and his crew came to realize just how good things can get. Mario (his buddy) and Tony have been on many trips, but never experienced anything that resembled memoriable fishing. Trips have included fly ins, and excursions to areas that claimed “world class” fishing, but the end result was always the same… disappointment. In fact, during a conversation before he departed, he told me that if this trip was a bust, he was done with fishing all together. Sad to think about and begs the question, how many other people have experienced the same and have decided to throw in the towel forever?
Knowing this, imagine the relief when in one day of fishing the Pasha Lake Region of Ontario, Tony and Mario caught more fish then all the other trips combined. And they hadn’t even fished the “hot” lakes yet. So when I spent the day with them on Monday and we boated walleyes pretty much at will, everyone was beyond happy. Tony even landed a 29”er midday, which pretty much convinced him this fishing this is all right. Whew… we saved another one!
Anybody that knows me quickly realizes that, not only do I love what I do, I’m also, what I call, a “habitual student”. I love learning new techniques to find and boat fish, the main reason why I am a huge fan of IDO.
In my free time, clear my throat, I came across the going-ons with Shawn Flemming and Jolly Roger tackle. He posts some great info to the IDO site, and has really helped my spinner game. I haven’t used the bottom bouncer technique much in the past, but implemented it flawlessly this past week and have been thrilled with the results. Unfortunately due to the logistics of my location, I haven’t had the opportunity to use his spinners just yet, but hope to in the very near future. In the short term, his informative posts have taken my guiding abilities, and more importantly the experience of our guests, to the next level. Thanks Shawn for your info and great posts, please keep them coming.
On a different note, take one look at the weather and it’s pretty easy to tell we are in the heat of mid summer. With that, brings exceptional walleye fishing on Lake Nipigon. And as the season continues to roll on, that fishery continues to get better and better. On Tuesday, I had the pleasure of spending the day with the Germick brothers from Tennessee. We headed to a little known spot that can be tough to get to, but usually worth the trip. When we got there, it was Katie bar the door as walleyes were jumping in the boat like Asian carp. Biggest of the day was a gourgeous 28”er, caught on a wanna be Jolly Roger spinner rig. The brothers and their boys had a blast and tell me it’s the best fishing they’ve experienced in a long time.
To round out the week, I did get to spend the day with the family on a local lake where we caught as many walleyes as the wife and kids wanted. The trip was an absolute blast, complete with a ribeye shore lunch and the company of some close friends from Northern Wisconsin. (Sometimes I can’t imagine how things could get any better.)
Next week, I want to get out and find some new spots on Nipigon. My hope is that I can implement some of the suspended walleye tactics Brad Juaire talks about in his IDO posts. Brad, wish me luck!
Until next time…