Time to Fish!

[Red Childress]

After a last-minute decision to chase bass and walleye, we ended up having a pretty good day. We only netted a couple prespawn bass with the bulk of our fish being males or juvenile females. We landed about 15 smallies and 2 post spawn walleye in about 6 hours. Water temps were 55-57 where we were fishing. No accidental pike or musky.

A busy 3-day fishing weekend coming up for us. Muskies/pike on Saturday and a Presque Isle smallmouth hunt for Sunday and Monday. Let’s hope the weather is normal and the water keeps warming up.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Been a hectic 3 days! On Saturday’s Allegheny trip, Elias the 7 year old manchild, had 2 toothies hooked-up (1 musky and 1 nice pike) but they both shook off. Al and Dave both had muskies chase them to the boat but could not convert. We did net a couple accidental bass and a smaller pike while down-sizing our baits later in the day.

Sunday’s smallmouth trip to Presque Isle was met with a nasty, rainy cold front with air temps dropping 30 degrees from the day before and 20-25 mph winds constantly pounding us. The fishing was decent in the morning but got very tough by noon. We mainly caught smaller males but a few prespawn females were netted. As the last boat left around 2:30, we decided to pack it in too.

Monday was a much better day as the fishing picked up as the temps rose into the afternoon. We had a very diversified species day with smallmouth, largemouth, pike, rock bass, perch and a single bowfin to round it out. I was surprised at the sizes of the pike that kept eating our jerkbaits and shiners over the 2 days. Our heaviest smallie was around 4-5 pounds and all 7 pike were 30+ inches except for 1 that was 28”. Water temps ranged between 64 on Sunday and 61 on Monday.

We are planning to do the same trip this coming weekend and battle the craziness known as Memorial Day.

Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

After a final discussion regarding the crazy amount of water traffic on Presque Isle this weekend, we decided to postpone our trip. So, we spread 6 yards of mulch and a few other outdoor jobs yesterday and more of the same slated for today.

Be safe and good luck out there!

[Red Childress]

Saturday was a good day on the water. Anthony (who is 14), caught his first musky and he had a larger fish shake off a couple hours later on a Rig Boss 7”. Craig had an extremely tight follow just before noon but couldn’t get the fish to commit and that was it for us. Noon to 2pm was the dead zone for my boat.

A little later start for our musky hunt today as travel plans get tweaked a bit.

I have gotten away from posting pics the last couple years but since this was Anthony’s first musky, here it is:

[Red Childress]

Sunday’s musky hunt started off with us visiting each spot where we had action the previous day with the hopes of finding a hungry fish. Instead, we fished thru those areas 2x but no action at all. We ended the day without seeing an Esox anywhere.

Water temps were 63-64.5 where we were fishing and clarity was very good. Another week of school in NY and then back at it again for the weekend.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

We had a very slow morning looking for an Esox until Ben hooked his first-ever musky around 1pm. He fought the fish thru the first set of headshakes and then his line went slack and the fish was gone. That was the only action of the day as we quit at 2.

River temps were 62-64 depending on location with some stain leftover from Wednesday’s heavy rains.

Today, we will chase muskies again with some first-time musky hunters. Let’s hope the lightning holds off long enough to squeeze in the trip.


Good luck and stay tuned!

[Red Childress]

Another crew of first-time Esox hunters decided to try their luck on Sunday as John kicked off the day with his first-ever pike around 8am and then Steve (father) scored his first-ever musky around 10am. I’m sure glad I had the proper release tools because the fish gator rolled himself into a giant web of netting. After cutting some hooks and pulling the net out of her mouth, we managed a successful release. Steve also lost a big smallie after a few acrobatic jumps.

As soon as we get some consistent warm temps, I think the river will wake up and come alive again. I am just not seeing the normal surface activity or baitfish schools like I was just a couple weeks ago. The birds of prey hunting the river have been scarce which usually means their food source is staying deeper where the water is warmer. We have actually lost a degree or two since last weekend.






Good luck and stay tuned!