August in canoe country has typically been a mixed bag for me as far as fishing is concerned. Typically the shallows are vacated and the larger fish have relocated, become concentrated and are fat and sassy due to the abundance of grocery choices.

In my experience in fishing the shield country of Canada for some 25 plus years late summer means the bigger fish are to be found starting at 25ft and going deeper, often much deeper. I remember one 8lb walleye coming off a spike in 55ft on a yellow jig and minnow combo......

But this past August was a contrast in style with KF generally fishing smaller lures and fishing shallower. I should of handed him his head on a platter but the truth was that I took a thumping and not just in numbers but also in size.

While I did OK with several eyes caught each day of respectable size (22/24) I only caught 1 over 26. 3 decent pike in the 33/36" class also made an appearance, but none over 40. kingfisher on the other hand put in less time and caught not only more fish but more quality fish than I did.

So what gives? I fished 25/30 and he fished 15/20. I can only surmise that water temps are a bigger factor than I previously contemplated even in August. This past summer was especially cool. Even the bigger pike were shallow as I had my chance at a whopper which towed the boat (and eventually broke me off) which ate in 15ft.

Contrasting styles. It was interesting and broadened my perspectives a bit.