Nearing The End
October 30, 2022
Eddie & Dan joined me today for their annual, late fall sturgeon bite. The last couple of years had been a bust with giant winds but this one was definitely a go! I just wasn’t sure how we would do with all the other fishermen in the same area!
Once we arrived I knew we were in trouble as I counted 9 other boats anchored up in the same areas we wanted to fish. It was definitely going to be a challenge today! Multiple moves were made throughout the morning just trying to get into a good spot. My key area was locked up with a boat I had seen several times before and apparently he had taken notice of me too. I had pounded on many big fish from here, but unfortunately he had arrived first this morning!
We spent most of the morning without a single legit bite but a big move was about to change everything. I relocated to the area that had produced for me late last fall that nobody knew about. As I idled over it, I started marking some good fish and immediately stopped after seeing a few of them. Hopefully our luck was about to change!
We began with a few false strikes as the fish ran into our lines, but soon had our first real bite. Eddie took the rod and finally got the skunk out of the boat with a decent fish. Dan followed soon after with another slightly larger one and I knew it was only going to get better!
The afternoon bite was on fire with many other fish being landed and some of them were really good ones too. We even had a double header later in the afternoon that made for interesting battles. Dan seemed to have the right rotation as he saw the 3 largest fish of the day. They had been taking turns at the rods and he definitely lucked out with his!
We fished right up till 4:00 before pulling the lines and heading back. It had been a long day and I ended it with a bang. Dan had managed to land yet another big fish only minutes before we were to go. It was a perfect ending to a challenging day!
With sturgeon fishing closing in just a few days, I think that everyone is trying to get that last kick at the can. The number of boats out is much more than I am use to seeing and this is making the fishing somewhat harder. By moving around and using the electronics I am at least able to set up where no one else seems to be. Hopefully I will be as successful tomorrow as I was today with another group of clients, on my final outing. Ironically I will be targeting bass on the final day of the 2022 sturgeon season! It was definitely a short one for me!
