justtracytrolling

Now we have a proper dinner! 1 more pass and we are off to the filet table. Then it's time for the beach! The boys have a nice mixed bag for the grill tonight. My work is done mission accomplished!

Smallies are keeping us busy now! These little rigger rods are working out very well with the kids.

Have my nephew and his friend in from New Hampshire out this morning and had to share these pictures...dandy brown for here...22". The boys just got done saying they liked to eat Salmon... well this is as close as I can get here!!! Looks like brown trout on the Traeger!

I decided several days ago my boat limit on bass is now 3 per person no culling. So basically keep 2 and keep a slot open for a bass that won't go back or something bigger. Nobody needs a full cooler of bass! My group of 2 this week kept 16 over 3 days and released more than they kept. At least the walleye seem fairly safe for the time being...lol! I've been getting many walleye groups to take just 1 less fish as a group when fishing is hot for 2 seasons now. Once you get the technique down a nice walleye can actually be put back instead of in a cooler...scary coming from me! I think it's important for guides and captains especially on smaller water to think more of teaching conservation and setting the example than pictures of huge limits. I was as guilty as anyone, but it's never too late to do the right thing. To end on a high note we seem to have a real nice school of 2018 natural reproduction eyes doing well right where I've consistently been finding yoy and 2nd year fish every summer since the DEC cut our stocking to every other year. Little guys are the only walleye in the lake that do the same thing every year, but they were just as hard to find the first year as any walleye!

Smallmouth and brown trout bite off shore is absolutely ridiculous last few days. Walleye will go but its tough. Last 3 mornings we have landed over 40 fish. Tigers haven't really shown up much off shore. Couple pics of the best 2 fish yesterday. The walleye was just over 8 and the brown was 21"

Fancy stuff is for catching fishermen... no need to break the bank to catch fish recreationally! Nothing high end about my trolling setups until recently and the cheap old rods and reels I still have do their job.

Probably could get your boat idling down better too! He does boats 7 days a week and he has saved my ass many times and I've never lost a day of fishing. I had to be towed in 1 morning after fishing all night and having a bad gas situation with Johnny walleye and lyke2fish...he had me back on the water by the time I woke up around noon. 4000 hours on my Mercury...

Shane here at the campground marina has a tig machine here and does aluminum.

I'll bet I'm not the only one who figured you would dial it in...nice work!

Awesome job!!!! Seeing a young walleye angler isnt as common as it should be! Take every opportunity to soak it in they grow up fast! I got my son hooked on bass when he was little, and he travels fishing tournaments all summer. I'm guiding all season now so we don't get out like we used to, but it's special when we do! I still remember every trip I took him on and most every fish he caught. Cant remember hardly a thing about the fish I caught with him. Guess that's why I'd rather guide than fish for the most part. Fingers crossed...he is starting to talk about guiding with me and adding another boat to the operation...

It is easier after you put a few thousand hours in....

Nice work bud! I was out all day as well and we had a decent big fish bite on down here too! Nothing better than pulling a good fish outta bad weather by toughing it out...and doing it with your son is even better!

My group Thursday pulled a 38" tiger on that rod n reel from 35 down off a rigger. Today we pulled 3 nice eyes to 9lbs, but all on boards. It's setting up, but I'd love to see the water go down!

Great pic Kevin! Can't say enough about how important it is to teach the next generation the outdoors.

Thought I'd share a pic of a decent fish from yesterday. Fish came 25 down offshore on a rigger. Also included in the pic is my new rigger rod and reel. I'm very happy with the Denali myriad walleye rods and the Daiwa Lexa lc s.

Amateur fireworks are just a bad idea all the way around!!! No exceptions really....

Kudos Rustyrat! You certainly can impose your own conservation minded limits for customers if it is a personal concern. I try to teach a mixed bag approach to my customers on harvesting fish along with taking mature fish and releasing some for future. I take the approach that everyone needs to practice some level of conservation, and in order to do that you have to take home less than a limit especially when it's easy. I don't allow any customers to keep tigers no matter if it's legal or not! I'm not judging anyone following the law, but on my boat I set the limit and my customers come back year after year and respect the conservation. I certainly kept more fish than I needed to for years just because it was legal and I could. I matured enough to realize we all can make a difference by taking a long term conservation minded approach to our harvest.