The guys were back again today, for their annual fall fishing trip! Scott, Manson & Corey were supposed to fish with me yesterday from their boat, but that didn’t work out too well. Scott had brought his Nitro with him and the three of them had got an early start on Sunday. They fished in the afternoon when they arrived and caught a few bass too. This went off without a hitch but when I met them on Monday, it wasn’t as simple! Once we got on the water, things started to happen!

We launched without any issues and were about to head out when Scott began to have issues with his trim going up. It just wasn’t working! He also had another issue with power when he tried to go over 25mph. It felt like he wasn’t getting fuel. We immediately turned around and headed back to the ramp, to check things out. I had to release the pressure on the trim and we lifted the motor up high enough to get the boat out of the water and onto the trailer. Thoughts of a trim relay gone bad were my first guess so we headed somewhere to get it checked out.

It didn’t take long for Tim to troubleshoot the problem and it wasn’t the trim relay. As it turned out it had something to do with the magnet at the top end of the piston head on the trim. A small pin held on with a screw head must have fallen out and this was causing the trim to malfunction. Not a big problem but also not in stock! Without it, he could have done serious damage if the piston fell out. Not a great idea to use the boat today! The other problem was probably a filter and that would get taken care of when Scott got home at his dealer as the motor was still under warranty. He had also gotten it serviced less than a week ago and wasn’t sure why it wasn’t changed!

We made plans to return the following day and this time I would bring my boat. Today may have been a bust but it all worked out in the end and not very costly either! A rare thing when you own a boat!

The next day I arrived with boat in tow and it was game on. These guys had gotten a good night’s sleep and were all fired up to go. Despite the light mist from fog, it wasn’t a bad looking day. Temps were good and there wasn’t any wind for the run to our first spot.

Corey was first to get on the board but the other two were quick to follow and they were great fish. Bass after bass were coming aboard by everyone but it seemed like Corey had the hot rod. It didn’t seem to matter where he casted. Every time I looked back, his rod was bent!

After spending hours in the first location, another boat slid in below when they saw us hooked up and began to fish the same area. Not surprised, I finally made a short move to another spot and we started all over again. This time however, Manson managed to get lunker with a real giant. Surprised that this was the only one I moved all over the area as they landed many other smaller fish. I was searching for bigger bass but came up short. Time to relocate again!

I idled over areas that I knew should be holding fish and most of them were void. Water temps were warmer than they should be for this time of year and the fish just weren’t there. With this being present, I knew exactly where to go and headed there next!

Almost as soon as I dropped the motor in and anchored us in place, rods were bent. We had multiple double headers from here and someone was always locked up. This went on for over an hour before that same boat once again stopped below us and began to fish. I was beginning to see a pattern developing here! This time they would be watching a show as the guys weren’t letting up! Scott even landed another beast from this area that was in the same class as the one Manson had caught earlier in the morning. I would have liked to cover this area thoroughly but was handcuffed by the other boat when they spot locked below us. Instead I got another angle further away and we continued boating fish. Manson managed to land one even bigger than he did earlier along with plenty of others as well. Everyone was catching fish and the other boat tried to duplicate what we were throwing without any success. Before they were totally educated, I pulled out and went somewhere else to end the day.

Our last spot saw some sunshine, for the first time in the day and they hooked into another half dozen fish before we were done. They literally caught fish all day long! The numbers were high, the fish were big and everyone had a great time! Who could ask for anything more?

Jim & Matt spent the day fishing sturgeon with only a couple of days remaining in this season. We never really had a great bite going, but managed to pick at them throughout the day. With plenty of boats all around, it wasn’t easy searching for bigger fish! The best bites came near the end of the day when both Matt & Jim landed a couple of monsters. The fights were just spectacular!

This was the last day for me this year as tomorrow I will be taking a road trip for a different species. At least it ended with a bang and Jim & Matt got to fight some strong fish once again. Looks like I’ll be seeing them again next year too as plans have already been made to return for more of these prehistoric giants! I look forward to their company once again!

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!

Herm’s second and last day here had us taking a road trip to a different puddle in search of walleye & bass. Unfortunately the walleye bite was a little slow and we only managed a few keepers before switching over to the bass. This bite however was on fire and very little time between fish was had! Plenty of big ones were caught along with lots of other good sized smallies before we were done. Great day on the water and we actually fished in T Shirts today! Insane weather for the end of October!

I was back on the water for sturgeon again, with Herm & Christiane today. We spent the entire day targeting the giants but fell a little short, catching only the small and medium ones. Plenty of moves and fish caught but unfortunately I couldn’t get into the monsters today. Despite all of that, it was another unbelievably beautiful day!