Well the same ol’ same ol’ for me this weekend. 
A different day and the same results up on the pond. There was another nasty bug hatch Friday night that left a gazillion bugs next to the camper door Saturday morning when I opened it up to take a peek outside. YUCK!!! Then to make matters worse it was a calm and muggy day on the lake Saturday that left bugs every where. This was the 3rd weekend in a row I believe that had a calm day on the pond and the boat traffic was very high and crowded. However, the bugs, boat traffic, calm and hot was the bad news… The good news was……..The fish were still on the CHEW Saturday for us. 
See how this fish and many others came to the boat for us Saturday.
Stacie, invited a friend of hers up for the weekend. Corrin grew up fishing with a cabin on a Northern MN lake. However her Walleye fishing was limited. She boated about a half dozen of her biggest walleyes to date on Saturday and took a liking to this big fish madness. The fish seemed to becoming in bunches. We would net a fish, pop one or 2 more very rapidly (within minutes) and then it would be another 30 minutes before repeating taking another 2-3 fish quickly. We got on the water late but the action made up for lost time. Saturday there was a definite pattern for us and the fish would not touch a Reef Runner for us. They wanted a hefty dose of Firetiger and Perch Deep Tail Dancers seemed to be the ticket.
Saturday also brought some other bad news for me as an alarm went off on my Smart Craft gauges signaling the engine was not getting any oil.
Go ahead Kooty give me crap about ol’ Black 
So after limping around and back into shore on my kicker I got the boat out of the water and continued my investigation to possible problems. After looking at my manual, the alarm was telling me there was a problem with the oil pump and the engine was not receiving any lubrication Long story short, I found a hose where my remote oil fill is was leaking oil due to bad hose and hose clamp connection (installation error), causing an air leak and an oil suction problem. I fixed that problem, but was still having the same alarm sound on my smart Craft gauges?? So I called my BRF Guide Trip winner Ron (Slack) and told him the bad news and canceled our trip on Sunday. . Hopefully making that trip up in the next week or so. 
Sunday morning I went down to Lybacks Marine who is located just North of Isle. They are a preferred Mercury dealer and from what I have been told the best around. I told Gary (I think??) the issue I was having, what I did and found the day before and he said well lets take a look. We removed the cowling and he instantly saw the problem. 
The little reservoir tank on the Optimax motor needed to be bled out so the oil level would raise, to tell the computer sensor it was getting oil again. 5 minutes and the problem was fixed, thanks to Lybacks. My Mercury Optimax Motor and Smart Craft Gauges performed as a team flawlessly in signaling that there was a problem and not letting me run my motor properly until it was resolved. Which in return saved me from blowing it up, causing major damage, and loss time on the water. I took her back out for a quick spin on Sunday and ol’ Black is ripping like never before.
I hope to be switching things up next weekend on the pond and start chasing some Smallies and Muskies along with the walleyes. I had heard some reports of a tougher bite this past weekend from multiple people. A few people went out all morning and did not even boat a fish on Saturday?? 
I did not experience this, but I hope she picks back up, as I have one more weekend and the BRF trip before I take a month off from the pond . I’m still experiencing a good evening mud flat bobber bite on the edges until about 10-10:30 pm, along with a good rigging bite on the mud flat edges early morning and evening, good rigging bite on deep rock transition or break areas, and a good cranking bite all day. I have not pulled spinners here the last few weeks, but looking to do so this weekend. Everyone have a safe 4th of July weekend and remember there will be a ton of extra people out on the lake that are not used to operating boats, watercrafts, etc. and some might have had too many 
and should not be on the water at all. 
Have FUN and be Safe!
I again was talked into reeling in a fish this weekend. Well, I picked the right one because I did a solo job on this board fish as the girls were tanning and landed the Hogg shown here.
When I took a quick spin to make sure my Optimax was fixed on Sunday, I made a few passes on a new school I have not worked yet and this was the 2nd fish I pulled from the school. Sorry for the photo, I was alone on this run and took a self portriat, but it was the 2nd Hogg for me in 2 days! (27 7/8″ and just under 28.25″)
Nice report Rob….Good thing about the Smart gauges…That could have been long summer/fall without a boat!!
Great report and nice fish
Nice fish rob. I need to get up there.
Great report Rob. I hope to be on a bite like you have been when I’m up there for 5 days next week.
Rob:
Thanks for the report. I hope to get up to the pond in the next month. If I remember correctly, you’re trolling some deep water picking up fish suspended 20-25 ft. down, correct? To get those cranks to depth, is it just a function of line out (depth curves) or are you using lead or snap weights to get them down?
Thanks,
Eric
Thanks Guys.
Yep Calvin, it only had me off the water for a morning until I could get it totally fixed. I went to Lybacks @ 10:30 am and was back on the water by 11:30 am.
Mike, When you coming up????
Ben, What days will you be up?
Cougar, I’m just long lining them out the back on boards and with out using simple dive curves.
I found some real cool dark (Canadian) colored fish this past few weeks. Then others I have had had been light colored???? Not sure the big difference, unless some of the darker ones have just moved off from deep rocks out to the mud???
Great report as always, Rob! Keep it up!
GREAT REPORT ROB ,
Last 2 times up have just been unreal !
My 5 year old son got his first eye with me on Fathers day (Couldn’t ask for anything better) and it went 26 inches and 5 pounds.. Gotta love the pond…
Keep the reports coming ,
Nice report Rob. I need to try those TD’s more. I used them and have went away from them.
I’d get fired if we had a lake like that anywhere close down here!
T
Another great report Rob!
And you just reminded me I got to get some oil for my piggy (reservoir is getting low again) Keep up the good work sir! 
Joel
How true is that!? Its nice living in central Iowa, it takes 2 hours to get to anything that even has walleyes in it. You guys get the Miss. and Mille Lacs.
Rob,
Were you using 9’s or 11’s? I didn’t have as much luck on the big baits this weekend. Nice report. You have a knack for the piggies! Are you getting many eaters while trolling?
Thanks for the report Rob. Yep….. Summer is finally here.
Thanks Guys!
Yes, it is tough sometimes only being a 1.5 hours from the lake, good and bad.
Mike, I was running #11’s. I have the 9’s but do not know the depth curve on the new deep #9’s, so I have not ran them much. I could not buy a bite on a Reef Runner this weekend, but no problem with the #11 Deep Tail Dancer.
This Summer I have only picked up 3 slot fish doing this. 2 fo them I had snagged in the back/dorsal fin??? I’m not sure if they are not out there in numbers like the biggger ones or perhaps if I down sized the bait I would pick up more. Either way I’m not complaining.
Awesome Report, Rob!!! Thanks!!!
Another good showing Rob
Stacie, Your going to get tired holding up all those big eyes for the camera!
You need to conserve your strengh for that Big Ski your going to catch this summer!! 
Awesome report Rob!
And congrats on your personal 28+ fish! 
Now go and find your own school of fish! 
I too have noticed some very dark colored walleyes coming out of Mille Lacs. I’ve never seen that before. One fish we caught last weekend was really dark green in color with a yellow belly (like you see in Canada). Not sure what that is all about???
Glad to hear you got the Ranger fixed before you had some big problems. BTW, when am I going to get to see that baby. I think I might be in the market for one next year.
Congrats again on another successful trip
and keep the reports coming!
Brad, just go to the service dept. and have a look!
Couldn’t resist!
You don’t want that Ranger. He’s used up all the big fish it has. I know a Skeeter that wouold be perfect!
Tuck, I don’t think it’s the Ranger… Didn’t Rob have a lot of problems with his Crestliner as well???
Maybe it’s operator error! 
Mike, of course I don’t want Rob’s Ranger – he forgets to put oil in it!
I know… I know Rob, that had nothing to do with your problem. 
Sweet report……keep the pic’s comin’….LOL
Rob,
Great report and fish,
and IN more ways than ONE, YOU are a lucky MAN..
Jack..