October 6th 2018

Iris and a couple of her co workers, Mike & Logan , were looking to catch some sturgeon today. The conditions weren’t the best to make it happen, but I had fished in worse. Winds were suppose to be out of the NE but as it turned out, they were blowing 15 to 20 knots from the east. Anchoring would definitely be a challenge today!

The run out to where we were fishing wasn’t very nice either, in three foot rollers! I had to be careful not to bury the nose of the boat as we were going with the wind and waves. We eventually reached the area and it didn’t seem too bad. After idling around for a while I dropped anchor and tried to set up. To my surprise, the wind was actually pushing the boat upstream, twisting us all around. This was going to be a two drift sock day!

Once we were finally set up I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to correct the angle perfectly and settled on fishing from one side. It was also going to be impossible to detect the bites with the rods in the holders so everyone was forced to fish with rod in hand. Even holding the rods wasn’t easy and several times when I checked their lines I saw that they had been bit by small fish.

We had been at this for a while now and had nothing to show for our efforts until Mike lifted up on something. It was a fish but nothing of any size as he reeled it to the boat. I was actually surprised to see that he had his very first sturgeon and not some junk fish! I normally wouldn’t have taken pics of something this small but shot a few regardless as he had never caught one before. The scoots were razor sharp as they usually are on juveniles and I warned him to be careful when holding it.

With lines back in, we waited again in anticipation of a big bite but it never came. Mike did however manage to land another small sturgeon almost equal in size to his first one and we were still happy to see it come aboard!

I made several moves throughout the day and each time the gusting winds caused the boat to change angles when we anchored. Although we were able to hold, it never seemed like we were positioned correctly and where I wanted to be. A couple of the areas saw good concentrations of fish below the boat, but not a nibble was had. I even thought of just changing fish species to salvage the day but really wanted to hook them up with a beast and decided to stay. We were all in!

With time running out, I hadn’t lost hope quite yet. Someone was going to have to pull a “Hail Mary” as we were down to the last 15 minutes in the day. As luck would have it, Logan felt something different on his rod and set into some weight. He had actually hooked into the real deal and lines were cleared in order for him to fight his fish.

My only concern through the battle was the anchor line. These fish like to get right under the boat during the battle and always try to go from one side to the other. I stayed on the rope and kept it straight down just in case! Logan was now feeling the power of these things as it took multiple runs, peeling line from the reel. As fast as he would gain the line back, it would go again! I think he had the fish at 40 feet 3 or 4 times and each time it ran out at least double that. This fight was all about strength and the fish was trying to wear Logan down! Despite not jumping, there were several times when it looked like it might happen. Each time however, the fish just took off and ran out more line again. After about ten minutes, Logan was finally able to bring his sturgeon to the surface and everyone was amazed at the overall size. It was definitely quality but I had thought it was much heavier by the way it fought! I slid the net under the fish and it was done. Or at least the easy part!

After resting for a couple of minutes in the net, I readied Logan for the pics and showed him how to hold his fish. This was going to be the painful part! As he was holding it, he realized its actual weight after about 30 seconds when the burn began. We tried to shoot fast but every second longer, the fish got heavier and he soon had to toss it back. Good job it wasn’t a real giant!

This day couldn’t have ended better with Logan landing his fish. We had endured all kinds of crap throughout the day and they definitely deserved to be rewarded. It was cold and miserable and for about an hour or so we had also been rained on. This group was dedicated! I only wish that I could have gotten everyone into fish but in the end, was thrilled just to have gotten one big one. This was the perfect way to end the day! Logan was finally able to get a picture, holding a sturgeon, unlike his last outing where the guide just released his catch! He now had an even better memory and photos to prove it too! This was a well deserved ending to a very difficult day. Never give up!!

October 5th 2018

Hassan, Julien & Joe wanted bass today so we did a road trip instead of the usual, local fishing. I was hoping to get them into some big ones and thought we’d try another body of water. Would this be the right decision?

We met up about 8:00 and headed to the launch to begin their day. Moments later we were on our way to the first spot in a pretty good NE wind. I started shallow with blades in hopes of a few active fish, but soon realized this was not the way to go. I had hooked into the only bass trying to clear a tangle on one of the reels and decided to move deeper instead. They would be working the bottom now and with any luck, getting into a few fish!

Despite missing many strikes, Joe finally landed a nice smallie on a drop shot rig. Hassan unfortunately kept missing all kinds of hits but at least he was having action! Julien wasn’t as fortunate as he hadn’t felt a nibble yet and was working the same area. At least he wasn’t missing fish I guess!

I had them casting up current and bringing the baits back to the boat while anchored up with the electric motor. I would have usually drifted the area with the current but the winds were pushing us upstream. I had no other choice but to have them fish it this way! In one little area Hassan managed to hook many fish with one of them being a beautiful over walleye. The gold colors may have been the nicest I’ve seen all year! A few quick pics and she was right back where she belonged!

I eventually moved to another area and had them drifting baits in the current and apparently this was the right choice again. now they were all hooking fish and they were big! Hassan was into a fish on almost every cast for a while and some of them were even coming to net. Joe had gotten the ball rolling with a small bass but Hassan soon took over, putting on a clinic! All that was left was Julien to get his first fish!

We had been fishing the area for a while now, and by repositioning the boat at different angles I was able to keep them on the fish. So much so that Julien was finally able to hook into a really good one and get it into the net. The skunk was officially gone for him! He wasted no time getting into his second fish either when he hooked into a giant on his very next cast. This one was to be the largest of the day and I had to remove the anchor on the electric for him to land it. Not only was it the largest, but it was also his personal best. He had just landed back to back smallies that were both picture worthy and broken his previous record. It just doesn’t get any better!

For the remainder of the day I jumped around trying several areas but always had to settle on where to fish. There were so many boats out that it was tough to stop on any of the places I wanted. At one point while fishing an area, we even had a boat go between us and the shore that we were casting to. They fished it right through, the entire time they were moving too! Absolutely unbelievable! It didn’t seem to matter to the fish however as Hassan was back, putting on another clinic again. The other two also had a few fish as well before we called it a day and headed back.

Although we may have had a slow start due to the weather changes, it worked out in the end. The air temps had gone from almost 80 degrees yesterday to barely 50 today. Throw in a good N/E wind and fall was definitely here! Regardless of the cold temps, the fishing was hot in the end. Everyone had landed some good fish and as usual, Hassan had put a beating on them too! This road trip was definitely worth the time, despite all the other boats around. One might have even thought there was a tournament going on today!!

October 3rd 2018

Tom, Mike & Jean were with me today for a tough outing. We were going to try for sturgeon right away but the NE winds wouldn’t make it easy! Would they bite?

After anchoring up in the big winds, I found that it was doable but not easy. We remained in the area for quite some time with nothing to show for our efforts but one small walleye, one red finned sucker and an ugly eel. Although we had relocated several times, we were still not able to make it happen. One other boat was out there as well and never landed anything either. Time to cut our losses and head elsewhere!

I had figured that we would go for bass & walleye given that the dinosaurs weren’t cooperating and ran to an area to try. I wasn’t sure how it would be as someone was leaving when we arrived! A friend of mine was just pulling out when we were coming in and I knew there wouldn’t be much left to catch!

I set everyone up with a drop shot and showed them what was needed for presentation. I’m sure they all missed fish, but it was Tom that finally locked up first. He was into something heavy and I could tell by the way it was fighting that it was a good one. It turned out to be a big walleye and definitely worthy of a few pics before the release! The others weren’t fending as well and didn’t manage to bring anything to net so I shifted to another area strictly for bass.

A different presentation was needed here so after a quick demonstration, I had them back in the water in search of old bronzeback!

Tom was once again the first to hook up from the back of the boat and although small, it was the right species. After a quick release, he was right back at it with another one soon after. This one was a bit larger but still not worthy of a pic! Mike & Jean were having a hard time getting use to the new baits and missed a couple of fish each before finally hooking up on something. Jean managed to bring one to the net that turned out to be his only bass landed from here. He did have a couple of others hooked but unfortunately not well. Mike on the other hand was just having a hard time getting the hooks to stay in and lost 4 or 5 before he was finally on the board! Tom landed several more and missed a couple of others before we called it a day. We were officially done!

We might have had a tough time at the start of the day, but they rebounded in the afternoon with some good fish. Tom definitely had the hot hand bringing most of them to the net while the others missed most of theirs. In the end though everyone had a great time and the weather couldn’t have been better. Despite the lack of sunshine, the winds layed down and the air temps weren’t too bad either. We are technically in the fall and any day I can get out before freeze up is a bonus. Hopefully this year will take me into December again and I can take advantage of the late season bite. Only time will tell!!

September 30th 2018

A double trip today had me heading out in the morning with Ted & his two sons, Sam & Ben. We were looking for sturgeon and fell short despite all the fish in the area. The winds weren’t helping as they made it difficult to feel the bites. I’m sure few fish were missed but all they could come up with were a couple of red finned suckers, AKA junk fish to me! A little disappointing but they’ll be back to try it again soon!

The afternoon trip had me back out with Francisco and his family, but only for a short time. Although we didn’t fish long, we were able to get into a nice sturgeon within 5 minutes and he boated his very first one, ever! The winds were quite a bit bigger and the water a whole lot rougher, causing us to cut the afternoon short. Again a little disappointing but successful nonetheless!

September 29th 2018

Tino was back with me today, for the fourth time this season. He had fished for largemouth, smallies, pike & walleye and was now going to tangle with some beasts! Not having ever caught one before, he was looking forward to fighting his first sturgeon.

Shortly after 7:00 we met up and I wasted no time getting to the place to fish. A short idle had me setting up in the usual area, in anticipation of our first fish. With the winds pretty big from the SW, I needed the aid of the electric motor to hold. I can’t believe the difference it makes! With everything in place, we waited with rods in hand for a bite.

I had informed Tino on what to expect and after quite a while, he finally got to set into his first sturgeon. I was checking lines when he began to bring his in and hooked up. The fish must have bit at the same time he started reeling as the rod doubled over with the weight. He was officially locked up!

Tino had caught salmon from out west in the ocean before and said this was the first time since then, that he had felt so much power. The fish did the usual long runs and dogged under the boat from side to side. He even caught a glimpse of what he was battling when the fish breached near the boat. You couldn’t have asked for a better fight for his first fish!

After about 5 minutes or so, I slid the net under his catch and prepped him for the pics. He soon realized just how big it was when he had to pick it up and hold the beast. I quickly shot several photos with both cameras and 30 seconds later it was returned unharmed. Now I wanted bigger!

With lines re set, we continued our wait and to my surprise the wind had layed down enough for us to put the rods in the holders. I showed Tino what to look for and not long after, I noticed that his side was getting hit. He never would have thought it was a bite and loaded the rod once again on another big fish. This one was substantially larger than the first and he was about to feel the pain!

After a couple of long runs, his line started to rise and I told him it was going to jump. Almost on cue this behemoth took to the air in a spectacular display that ended in a vicious alligator roll when it re entered the water. From there, it just sounded to the bottom, remaining there like dead weight. It had rolled in the line and tangled itself up, but fortunately not for long. Tino was able to raise the monster from the depths and it rolled one more time freeing itself for an even longer battle. This thing beat him up for over 10 minutes before I finally put it in the net. That was the easy part though as now he was going to have to pick it up!

After a few minutes resting in the water, Tino lifted his fish with difficulty and I shot fast. This one was definitely a whole lot heavier than his first and he knew it as soon as he got it from the net and held t for the pics. Seconds later it was released and headed straight to the bottom as we saw on the sonar.

The third fish wasn’t as quick as the first two and required more patience and several checks on the lines. Tino once again was bit lightly and I told him to grab the rod again. This time when he set, the fish didn’t move. A sure sign of serious weight! It soon started to rise and we were about to see why. Within seconds after the hookset it breached and went insane. In fact it jumped twice simultaneously and went into another roll that was the wildest thing I had ever seen. Then it just went right to the bottom and screamed line from the reel. I had a feeling I was going to have to chase this one and readied the anchor just in case! Surprisingly, Tino managed to turn his giant and gained control enough to do battle properly, closer to the boat. It still remained on the bottom but at least it wasn’t two hundred feet away!

This fish took almost 15 minutes to tire, but eventually it came to the boat for me to net. It was slightly shorter than the last but a whole lot heavier as well. It was going to be a challenge for him to hold!

Tino struggled to get it out of the net but once he had a good grip, he was able to hold it for about 30 seconds before it had to go. The weight was just too much to hold any longer, but I had shot fast.

Totally exhausted, he relaxed while I reset the lines and now the wait began again. Too bad we never had any more bites but at least he boated 3 beauties. We packed it up around 3:30 when the winds got too big and headed back. This day was done!

Tino had experienced another great day of fishing with one of the strongest freshwater fish around. He had caught his first sturgeon and landed a couple more afterwards that were even larger. This was just another species for him to add to the list of the ones he had already caught with me this season. I can only wonder what’s next! Bigger is all we can hope for now!!