Guests Gone Wild: A July To Remember!

Alyssa from Barrie, ON getting ready to gently release one of her gorgeous, Georgian Bay smallmouth bass. She really tore them up on a couple spots!  

What happens when you get a week of good weather, the Full Moon Phase and a bunch of amazing guests in the boat every day? Lots of smiles and lots of fish! Guests of www.busheyangleguidedfishing.com have been having some great trips lately for smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, walleye and muskie. Weed growth, water temps and forage are all nearing their peak right now, and the fishing has been spectacular.  

Alyssa and Josh were winners of a Full Day guided trip with www.busheyangleguidedfishing.com, through a contest I ran with my great friends at the 705 Anglers Group, on Facebook. They came up and did an amazing job! If you're looking for first-class day on the water for your next special occasion, don't forget that I do specialized plans and pricing discounts for Couples, Anniversaries, Birthdays, Graduations and so on. Josh tagged this beautiful walleye on a jig and grub combo off a weedy shoal. Way to go buddy! Even in that clear water, bright baits are a great producer on bright days.   

Speaking of great deals on great fishing trips, Alex from Wasaga Beach, ON was up for a day of walleye fishing with me for his 14th birthday. Great gift idea, Dad! This kid made his day count, catching some beautiful Muskoka Lakes walleye.

​Every guest that books a trip for a special occasion goes home with a tackle pack, compliments of www.busheyangleguidedfishing.com. Alex with his lucky Reef Runner hat that I included in his pack. He released this nice walleye on one of the Reef Runner crankbaits I gave him, too! Hooked for life, now.

We fish a variety of fun, hands-on techniques for summer walleye. Alex kicked his Birthday trip off with this beauty! Walking 3-way rigs and dropshots through wood and boulders takes touch, feel and good patience. He did an amazing job landing this one on a Mepps Trolling Rig, baited with a leech.

​Being able to release and retrieve line fast-- while following the bottom with large weights--is one of the keys to staying on summer walleye. Super-light reels with the flippin' switch option are the only way to go. These Quantum Energy PT baitcast reels are the go-to for both me and my guests.  

At www.busheyangleguidedfishing.com BIG largemouth bass are a way of life! You can expect fish over four pounds daily, with plenty of fish over five pounds in the mix. We target the biggest largemouth possible, using a range of casting, flipping and pitching techniques. Monster frogs, like Live Target's 3/4oz model, flippin' jigs in the 7/8 to 1 oz size and big, 5" Bass Magnet Flippin' Tubes are the tools. Greg from Barrie, ON was looking to learn how to frog fish and I was only to happy to show him the ropes. Think he figured it out?

​Greg with a pair of back-to-back giants he scored, before a quick release back in to the slop. Those are really big bass, friends. Greg's a gigantic dude, his hands are the size of my landing net. Big rods, big line and big frogs are a good way to turn any monster bass into a biter. They'll spawn next spring and make more big ones!  

Dan joined me up on Georgian Bay all the way from Markham, ON looking for his shot at some monster bucketmouths. He brought his A-game with the flippin' stick and big plastics, let me tell you! Big tubes were the play that day. The hot, bright weather had some real good fish buried in thick, mixed vegetation. These Georgian Bay largemouths really do set up shop in some predictable, prime spots---and they run these spots like a king on his throne. Anything that makes an appearance is getting inhaled, crushed and swallowed. Here's a few of Dan's better fish!

​Easily my most productive flippin' tubes are these 5" monsters, from Bass Magnet Lures. Locally produced right here in Ontario, they've just got it all: the perfect profile, unreal colours and they're really durable. I play around with trimming skirts and adding a little extra scent/colour with Spike It dyes. These 2 here are real killers on both largemouth and smallmouth bass. And you won't find a better company to deal with, either!
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Last and certainly not least, my Editor at Ontario OUT OF DOORS Magazine, Ray Blades came up for some fishing and filming. If there's anything more fun than casting crankbaits to walleyes on deep humps, I don't know what it is! Ray's a great guy and we look forward to getting the boat whenever we can. Here's a beauty he tagged on a firetiger Rapala Rippin' Rap. Rapala introduced that bait a few years back and between ice jigging, spring pike, summer bass and summer walleye, this thing is a complete machine. Outstanding lures! We released all of our walleyes that day, talk about fun! Overcast, breezy weather gets those fish snapping, and bombing crankbaits is one of the best ways to catch 'em.

​Want to know the best part, friends? August and September are ​by far the best months of the summer for multispecies fishing. The bite only ramps up, from here. Come take your shot! The best fishing is still yet to come...