I guided George Cochran and his son Chase on Saturday May 26. George and Chase wanted to catch some walleyes for Saturday evenings dinner. It was pretty a chilly ride on Rainy Lake, I even put the gloves on. The forecast was for a 50 % chance of rain 35 degree early morning temperature and easterly 10-15 mph winds.
I opted to stop on a point with a slight breeze blowing in to the shore. Chase and George started to catch walleyes right away on a jig and minnow. We fished three different spots catching walleyes on each spot. The wind was steadily decreasing to the point of dead flat calm. I have guide George for twenty two years. We have become very close friends over time. His three boys Ben, Andrew and Chase fished with me as youngsters. There highlight on Fathers Day was to take a houseboat up to Cormorant Bay with their dad and grandfather Phil. The boys are ardent sportsman. Ben worked on our Chairman II guiding for several summers, Andrew and Chase both worked as dock technicians during summertime at Rainy Lake Houseboats. All three boys went to or going to an upstate New York college. Ben and Andrew started a Ducks Unlimited Chapter there, awesome!
I met George the first time on a Chairman II fishing trip. When fishing on the Chairman you let the guides know what you would like to fish for and they take you them! George has always liked to cast for fish so it was not hard to figure out something to do with the wind dropping to nothing. We went and fished for northern pike to start. George used a 3/4 oz. Johnson Silver Minnow tipped with a 2" white twister tail, Chase was using a black silver bladed buzz bait. We started in a small bay casting dead pencil reeds. It took minutes for a large pike to make a go at the Silver Minnow. We switched George to a Glide Rap as the pike were missing the silver minnow or hitting short. The Glide Rap put a 36" pike in the boat for George. Chase had the buzzer going good. He was catching small pike and then a good one hit the buzzer, Chase set the hook and the rod broke right in half at the butt.
Chase is an ardent smallmouth fisherman and proved his mettle with a Husky Jerk. We found bass starting to hang around their spawning beds. A perfect cast behind the nest and a couple jerks into the nest and fish on.
We were supposed to fish again today. The weather caught up with us, 20 plus mile and hour wind and heavy rain. George politely asked for a rain check, first time ever. I will be out every day for the next eleven days. We have the F.B.I. from Le Mars Iowa for the next few days, I will be guiding them the next three days. Fishing just keeps getting better and better.
