For this year’s opener, I was only able to get out on Sunday with my father. Our “Opener” tradition started some years ago with myself and my 2 brothers fishing with my father. We have always had an issue with fishing on Saturday due to my father owning a retail outlet that did not allow him to get away on Saturdays (Liquor store… go figure). Anyway, our tradition has been to go out fishing on Sunday. Well, as of this year, the tradition has decreased to just myself and my father fishing. My older brother, a CPA, has decided that Golfing should take up a majority of his life. So, about 3 to 4 years ago… he ditched us. Up until this year, my younger brother kept the tradition on until he decided this year that his wife deserves the “mothers day” attention. I can’t say that I blame him. Personally, As much as I appreciate mothers, I also believe that it is a holiday created by Hallmark. I send my mother a card and a gift. For my wife, I help my daughter pick out a gift (and pay for it). Other than that, I have a tradition with my father. My mother understands…
On to the report
T’was a WINDY DAY out on the lakes. Sustained winds from 20-25 miles per hour. If you have ever been on Clearwater… you know how that lake is structured. Well, that lake a pain to troll on a CALM day… let alone a day with high winds. The cards were stacked against us for today. Just too much wind. We tried trolling. We tried drifting. On Clearwater, it was just too difficult. My father likes to relax a little bit more than he likes to put in a ton of effort. So we didn’t stay out on the big lake too long. We started out on clearwater at about 8:30 am. It wasn’t a complete waste, however. My father actually landed a small Northern before I ever got my line out. He no sooner got his line in the water when he pulled up a small toothy. He immediately started on bragging rights of the first fish. He was soon silenced…
After running clearwater for a while and dealing with the wind, we took the channel in over to Augusta where my father’s park model camper sits in the campground there. We went over by the river on the far West side and trolled the weed edge. My father was using a Sucker minnow. I started out using a spinner rig with Sucker, but I soon moved to a FireTiger Rapala. Rather than just sitting back trolling, I tried to cover some ground by casting the rap out… starting shallow and increasing the crank speed as I got deeper. Not too long after switching over did I have my first fish of the day. Another Pike not too much larger than the first. This fish decided to be the pain in the 
fish. Not only did he shake enough to gouge a hook into my thumb… but he went and got another Treble hook barried into my pants. Uhg. Well, I gave him another chance at life after releasing him and ended up with 2 more for the day. We released all fish caugh. All in all, it was a good day. A little windy… causing us to adapt and change strategies… but a good day none the less.
Good Fishing!!!
The chop has been huge this year so far as well.. Have not seen chops like this for quite a few years on some of these lakes.. 
