After dealing with some really crazy weather earlier in the month, it was sure nice to get back on Chequamegon Bay without rain gear and long underwear… Scott and Wyatt Evans from Mineral Point, WI joined me for the last leg of their two day trip on Friday, and we couldn’t have asked for a better day. High skies, warm temps, and light winds had the smallmouth in a pretty good mood as we caught fish consistently throughout the day. Spinnerbaits and a variety of plastics put some awesome fish up to 21″ in the net in 4′ – 6′ of water with some good flurries that included a perfectly executed double. Those poor fish didn’t stand a chance with the Evans crew on their first adventure to the big lake. Water temps ranged from 65 – 69 degrees, and things had settled down quite a bit from my previous trip a few days earlier. Scott and Wyatt performed as expected, and I know those fish were happy to see us leave. Thanks for a great couple of days fellas, and good luck in high school Wyatt. You’re the man!
Saturday was spent off the water cheering on my wife LeeAnn along with brother in law Joe Weiss and good friends Shawn and Tricia Lund as they ran the Grandma’s Half Marathon in Duluth, MN. It’s an incredible event and inspiring to watch all of the people who train countless hours to finish this race. LeeAnn and the crew did well, and I was proud to watch them all cross the finish line in honorable fashion. Way to go gang. You’re all champs in my book!
Corbin Shouse from Spring, TX and his son Mike from Georgetown, TX returned on Fathers Day to fish with me in the Hayward, Area. I can’t think of a better father & son team to be with. Corbin was hoping to get into a topwater smallmouth bite on this trip. Cue the weather man… Big winds and hot temps made for a challenging morning as we fished two different lakes and found an inconsistent bite. Crankbaits and plastics worked in 4′ – 8′ of water produced a few fish up to 18″, but we had a bunch of short hits and missed fish as well. It was obvious that the smallies were in a weird mood, so we decided to see what the walleyes were doing on another nearby lake. Stop #3 of the day was productive from the start as we put a bunch of walleyes up to 19″ and pike up to 30″ in the net on jigs & minnows fishing weed flats in 5′ – 6′ and rock humps in 15′ – 20′ of water. Water temps spiked to 75 degrees by the end of the day. The mid summer bite is definitely setting up, and it pays to look in all areas right now to find active fish. As usual the Shouse men accounted well for themselves, but I’m sworn to secrecy on who caught the most…
Corbin and Mike were back in the boat with me on Monday, and more big winds had us ducking for cover in the Hayward area. Amazingly, we had a good topwater bite in the a.m. as we fished the only shoreline that was possible to effectively present lures. The Shouse men put some good fish in the net up to 20″ in 5′ – 8′ of water. Plastics caught a few fish as well, but it was definitely all about the top water bite. Just what Corbin had ordered up! We switched lakes in the afternoon and searched awhile but ended up finding some good smallies up to 18″ on topwater baits and a variety of plastics. The fish we caught were staging just off spawning flats in 5′ – 8′ of water. Storms that rolled through the night before definitely cooled things down a bit, and water temps were in the low 70’s. I’ll have to let Corbin and Mike decide who caught the most fish on our trip, but they both performed well in my book! Thanks for a great time and lots of laughs guys. Can’t wait to do it again!
Jeff Evans
jeffevansfishing.com
