Seems like spring would never come this year.  Maybe now our area lakes will warm and fish will become active once again.  Time to think about summer fishing.

I travelled to NY state to pick up my new Scout 191 Bay boat.  She is so pretty and functional.  Lots of room for everyone.  Most of my time now is spent rigging the boat for the summer.  I added a MinnKota iPilot trolling motor on the bow and a MinnKota Talon power anchor pole on the stern.  I choose to install a Humminbird 898 side imaging sonar on the helm.  It is state of the art and provides incredible detail that will help find those bronzebacks in hiding spaces never before reached with other brands.  

I plan on heading to Door County around Memorial Day so look over your summer calendar and book a trip aboard my new baby.

For the past two seasons I have used two boats for guiding which makes things crazy at times.  I decided I needed to simplify things and find one  boat that could be used for both bass and walleye guiding plus personal saltwater fishing during winter months.  I found what I think will prove to be the best all around boat for everything....a Scout 191 Bay boat.  Bay boats are primarily designed for accessing shallow water where saltwater species like redfish abound.  But they also are perfect for bass fishing because they are so stable for casting yet take a good chop on the water.  I found a new 2009 Scout 191 that should be ideal.  It is 19 ft long and 8.5 ft wide.  It is big and roomy but most important, stable.  It can accommodate up to 4 anglers with room to spare.  It is powered by a 90 hp Yamaha 4-stroke that can hit 40 mph when needed.  I won't be picking up my new Scout until April 2011.  I sold the Ranger and will sell my old 1999 Scout 162 SF in Texas this winter.  If interested contact me.  Here is a picture of a new Scout 191 that is similar to my new one except mine does not have an elevated poling platform shown at the stern.  

Time to wrap up the charter season and move on to other things, like fishing redfish in Texas this winter.   Hope to see you next year.
Denny

 We have had our share of wild weather this past week with more wind than I can remember.  The cold front that passed two days ago dropped water temps 15 degrees in 24 hrs.  Bass were darn scarce as a result.  Winds are going to reach gale force tomorrow again with waves on Lake Michigan forecast to reach 14 ft or more.  No thanks!  Did manage to get a few hours walleye fishing yesterday afternoon before wind knocked us off the water.  Caught a very sweet 28" walleye that weighed 7.5 lbs.  I am anxious to go again once weather cooperates.

 YES!  Bob Lenke from Woodstock, IL and his party did well this morning in very high winds catching many nice smallies up to 5 lbs.  The surprise fish was a 36 inch 13 lb northern pike caught while casting a crankbait along a weed bed.  All fish were released.  I continue to see nice chunky bass of late that are well fed.  But this wind sure makes us pay for each fish.

I shared my boat with several of my grandchildren this week and we had a blast.  The fish cooperated to say the least.  Yesterday we boated 14 smallmouth all over 15 inches including several over 4 lbs.  Note my son-in-law''s smaller fish outclassed by his son's 5 pounder.  Needless to say, lasting memories were made for all.  Take my advice and take your kids and grandkids fishing!

 Yesterday and today provided some of the best smallmouth bass action I have ever witnessed.  It must be the heat and humidity or something because the fish were biting non stop.  In 3 hours this morning my client and I caught over 30 legal size keepers and released them all.  Most fish were in the 16-19 inch range.  High winds and lots of rain tonight and tomorrow will probably hamper water activity unfortunately.  So it goes...fish when you can!!

  On Monday Don Zahrobsky caught and released the biggest smallmouth bass landed in my boat this year.  The fat fish measured 21 inches in length and weighed 6.4 lbs (weighed on two scales by the way).  The fish is out there waiting for some lucky angler to catch him again.

James Sullivan beat his 20-inch fish he caught the other day by one half inch this morning and again out fished his dad, Steven.   The beautiful smallmouth weighed 5 lbs.  What made the catch so memorable was that James sight casted his bait directly in front of the fish and watched the big boy gulp it down.  The fish was released to fight another day. 

 Light west winds helped fishing today.  We boated many nice smallmouth ranging from 15-20 inches.  We could see the fish swimming around our boat all morning long.  What fun!