Days on the Water: 2
Who we fished with: friends, clients
Where we fished: Upper Niagara, Lake Erie
What we were Targeting: Smallmouth Bass, Freshwater Drum, Walleye
Tactics: ned rigs

Commentary

Last Week

It was a super light week – some engine maintenance, some nasty weather, and time with the family took up the bulk of the week. On the water, what made this week unique for me was that 100% of the anglers were new to fishing. Sure, the sample size was small but still, it was fun being around new anglers – every fish was a source of excitement.

I’ve been sticking around the lake for the past couple weeks in pursuit of bass. The river got weird for a bit, but I’ll be revisiting her soon enough. Aside from it being super warm, the boat traffic has been borderline prohibitive after 11:00AM on the weekdays – weekends are even worse. I’ve also been noticing a ton of floating weeds – not moss – weeds. Like fresh growth from the bottom getting torn up or shredded and in turn, floating downstream kinda weeks. Not sure what that’s from but, it’s been problematic. I noticed less on Friday so I’m looking forward to getting back in touch.

Call me crazy but something changed last week…better yet, I felt a shift. On those couple of near-windless days toward the end of the week, the sky was surreal. A different blue from those hot days in July. Looking up there, I got a twinge of…I guess I’ll call it excitement or urgency. Something telling me that fall is coming. Shorter days, cooler and longer nights could be the other factor making it feel like fall is near. It was a good feeling – something probably only experienced by those of us who spend most of our waking hours outside. Again, maybe I’m just imagining it but I’m betting that before becoming an industrialized culture, we all used to feel these kinds of signals – small kicks in the ass to prompt us to start stockpiling food, etc.

NextWeek

Next week’s forecast looks like a gamble across the board. The plan is to be out near daily, but as per usual wind and rain will be the prohibitive factor. Bass will remain the focus with a little bit of exploration in the mix.

Stay healthy my friends…mentally and physically,

Ryan