After last week’s outing for smallies, Felix was back again today hoping for a big bite. He also brought Shane and the two of them headed out with me for an afternoon of sturgeon fishing. I only hoped the fish would cooperate!

We were set up before noon and despite the lack of fish marking I still managed to get the first bite, with only a couple of moves. Shane took the rod after I set into some weight and the fish quickly went airborne! A little coaching on how to fight the sturgeon and he was battling it like a champ. Another jump later it dogged on the bottom, under the boat. It never really took out much line, just held on the bottom. Shane had to do the sturgeon shuffle multiple times as the fish continuously went from one side to the other. It was definitely a strange battle but he was able to bring it up for me to net in about ten minutes. Some pictures were taken and the fish was sent back on its way.

I reset the lines in hopes of getting Felix into another one and we eagerly awaited the bite. Too bad it had to be a red horse sucker though and no pics were taken for this one!

Several moves later I did manage to set into a decent fish and Felix finally got his turn at battling a good one. His also took to the air and we could see that it was smaller than the previous one caught by Shane. This one however made multiple runs taking plenty of line off the reel. I think it actually fought better than the larger one earlier in the day! About 5 minutes later I slid the net under his catch and many pics were taken before the release.

I really wanted to get them into something much larger and spent a bunch of time idling around in search of big marks. I did find a few but they just didn’t seem to want to bite! In the end, we managed one more sturgeon but it was a juvenile and Felix had the honour of reeling it in.

Their trip had passed by so quickly as do all half day outings and after the last fish, we were done. I was thankful for the conditions and lack of wind but I would have liked a few more big bites. At least they both got to do battle with a sturgeon and some really powerful fights. Mission accomplished!!

Bruce, his daughter Lauren and her husband Jesse joined me today for a mix of fish species. We headed out in rough conditions, once again and I wasn’t sure if we would even be able to anchor up for sturgeon. I was going to head there to see and hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad. All we could do was try!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the waves were significantly smaller when we arrived and knew immediately that it was going to be doable. I quickly set up the rods and idled over the area searching for a few marks. It wasn’t looking great but I was able to find a few fish and settled on them, hoping for our first bite.

We had been trying for about 30 minutes without any luck and I had changed locations a couple of times before we finally got bit. I immediately set into a fish but knew it wasn’t big. Jesse took the rod and reeled in his first sturgeon and realized how strong they actually were. Even a small fish pulls hard!

We were hoping to get a few more and I kept moving to find the ones I wanted for them. Unfortunately they were scarce and I had to settle on smaller marks instead. The next fish went to Lauren and she battled yet another small fish that thought it was big. Although it pulled hard it was no match for the tackle we were using and came in quickly.

The weather conditions had taken a turn for the worse and I was forced to raise the roof when we were dumped on by heavy rain. Although it didn’t last long, it was intense and would have soaked everyone early in the trip. When it finally stopped, the winds began and I wasn’t sure how much longer we would be able to hold in this area before having to move.

I decided to make one more attempt at finding fish and idled once again in search of bigger marks on the sonar. I was able to find one and got the lines in hoping to get bit! About ten minutes later, one of the rods started to bounce and I set into some weight. I had high hopes that it was the one I had seen but the weight felt less than the usual heaviness when it’s giant. Jesse took the rod once again and soon found out what he was dealing with when it took to the air. It was a good one and he was about to feel the power of these fish. Multiple runs were made and another great jump during the battle. This fish just didn’t want to give up! After almost ten minutes I was finally able to net his fish and the show was over! Jesse held it for several pics and released the beast back to the depths from where it had come from. We all decided that with the winds and one final fish that we were done. I packed everything up and changed gears completely!

With the sturgeon out of the way now, I was about to focus on bass & walleye. I set up on an edge and had them throw a drop shot rig. The winds weren’t favourable but they managed to get into several fish in the time we were there. Both bass & walleye were landed and a few of the walleye even made it into the livewell for their dinner tonight. Once the action slowed however, I was forced to make a long run to another open water flat. The rain had also started up again, along with more wind and it was just getting miserable! I tried to outrun the precipitation and get set up before it hit us again!

Once I arrived I realized that the area was loaded with fish and the drifts would be great with the wind we had. We did also manage to get ahead of the wet stuff, but only briefly as it eventually caught up, shortly after.

With every drift multiple fish were landed. Everyone was catching both bass & walleye and several of the keepers were tossed into the livewell for them. A few of the larger ones were released as well after several pics. This went on for over 2 hours, in a misty rain. It didn’t seem to matter however as they were catching fish! Eventually all good things come to an end and so did the bite. The wind diminished and the fish had stopped biting, so it was time to go. After one last fish, we were done!

Today was a great one filled with plenty of action and multiple changes in the weather. In fact I thought we were going to beat the rain again, but found out that it wasn’t to be. As soon as I neared the dock, it let loose, dumping more wetness upon us. It was just one of those days I guess! Overall the outcome was great and another successful trip was made. They were even taking a bunch of fish home with them and would be eating well tonight! Best thing of all was that there were no sailboats out there, thinking that they own all the water again! Definitely a win, win kind of day!

This morning saw Sam & Garret back with me again but not for sturgeon like the previous outing. Instead, they were going to fish for bass & walleye, if the winds weren’t too bad!

I began on an open water flat and the waves were pretty big early in the day. The drifts were also fast and after only one walleye in several passes, I decided to make a long run to another area. I knew it would be much more sheltered there!

We ran in some nasty rollers but eventually made our way to a calmer spot to fish. Here both Sam & Garret managed to get loads of keeper sized walleye and some really nice smallies in just a couple of hours. It even felt like the winds layed down a few times while they fished! When the action slowed, I made another short move and realized that the winds hadn’t gone, we were just concealed from their fury. This place gave up a couple more smallies before we had to run back. Another group was waiting for the afternoon trip!

I made my way to the dock, running in two & three foot waves and wasn’t looking forward to the afternoon. Hopefully the winds wouldn’t get any worse!

Frank & his son Nick joined me as we ventured back out on the windy waters. The waves were much bigger than they thought but seemingly smaller than this morning. I decided to try the area I had started in to see if we could have a slower drift and was pleasantly surprised. It was doable! Or so I thought!

We had done a couple of passes and Nick had landed one good smallie when things took a turn for the worse. There was a sail boat race going on and all was good with where they had placed their float markers. I was able to drift exactly the line I needed and was nowhere near them. Then the marshal boat decided to move the floats to the area I was fishing. This tends to be a common occurrence at this time of the year for me and confrontations always happen with them! I decided to find out why and headed over to the boat to talk to him. He said that they wanted to change up the course and this was where he planned on doing it. Right where I had been fishing for an hour! I don’t know why they feel that they control the waters and can do anything they want, anywhere they feel like! Well our next drift turned out to be our last one and I never even finished it. There were boats charging us from all directions and even a few yelling matches between us! It’s not worth the agony of having to deal with all of this shit so I pulled out and let the blow boat babies have their way! Regardless that I had the right of way as I was not under any power and they were! Very nice etiquette!

I decided to go to the area I had done well this morning and made one demonstration cast and locked up. A big smallie fell victim to my offering and I hoped it wasn’t going to be the last!

We stayed on this spot for the remainder of the time and plenty more walleye & bass came aboard . Although Nick was having a tough time, his father was putting a beating on the fish. They both had many missed opportunities and could have fended much better but that’s fishing!

The winds had built up even bigger when it was time to leave and even switched from a west to a SW. This made for a lovely run back to the ramp! As we got closer I was forced to tack again in the three & four footers we were running in. Fortunately we made it back safely and with very little splashing!

Today was an interesting one to say the least. Both parties had good fishing and except for the run in with the sailboat racers it was actually a great day! Hopefully I won’t have to contend with them again this year but something tells me that it’s not over! Either way, I will be back out and clients will be catching plenty more fish before the season is done!!

This morning saw a much better start to the day for Jim & Marie. The winds were totally gone and I knew we would be able to get around a whole lot easier! Hopefully I would be able to fish some of the areas I wasn’t able to go to yesterday and land more fish.

With the nice weather it also brought out the weekend traffic and our first stop wasn’t to be! There was already a boat on the small area I had planned on starting and I had to hit another place instead. I decided to try a deep spot and immediately Jin was locked up on a small bass. Shortly after, Marie brought in a sauger which was the first for me this year. Several passes over the spot produced more fish but they were mostly small. Jim however did manage to get into a really big one that somehow got off soon after he hooked it.

I decided to hit a shallow rocky flat next and had Marie toss a blade bait to see if there were any active fish nearby. Jim was throwing soft plastics and they both covered the area thoroughly without even a touch. I moved in even shallower and changed Marie to another soft bait as well and she hooked into a big smallie. It was definitely worthy of a photo! Unfortunately it was the only fish from here and soon after, I relocated again.

I shifted to another rock shoal nearby and they caught a few more fish. There didn’t seem to be any sort of a concentration here, so I decided to move on. Off to another shallow area and here they both managed to get into many more bass, but no real big ones were seen. A combination of soft plastics and jigs accounted for the bulk of the hookups but Marie did get a few on a drop shot as well. Jim definitely had the big fish of the day when he snagged a sturgeon while fishing a jig. What he had thought was bottom soon started moving and I immediately knew what he had on the line. We spent a few minutes chasing it down but eventually pulled the hook out so that we could resume fishing.

Today was a day for moving and I decided to make another one when the action slowed down. I ran to a distant place in hopes of some bigger fish. They tossed the soft plastics to weed and rock patches and both land bass quickly. Marie’s however was the only one that was picture worthy! I covered plenty of water afterwards and despite our efforts, came up empty! We did see several huge bass cruising the water, but never really got any of them to take. Time to move on!

It was now midday and I decided to hit an area that I was sure to be holding. We had fished it yesterday in the hurricane winds and managed to get all of the fish from there. I hoped today would be even better with the lack of wind and ran there to give it a try.

Jim was the first to hook up and his fish brought in about 4 others even bigger. Unfortunately none of them were hooked into while he was fighting his! Marie had tossed her bait into the group without any luck and eventually they just dispersed. We spent a couple of hours on this spot continuously moving around and both Jim & Marie landed plenty more quality bass from here. Just like yesterday, this place accounted for the bulk of the big bites! When the action died, I decided to make another move. I wanted to run to an open water area and try our luck at some bass & walleye.

The next stop was to be in the middle of nowhere in deep water and as luck would have it, there was a boat right on the spot. Not to educate them, I decided to go to another area instead. These places are too hard to find and I wasn’t about to let them see us catching fish from there!

Weekend traffic is always a problem and I had to make another change when I was running to our next spot to fish. Just like the previous one, there was a boat fishing close by and I didn’t want them to see us hooked up either! Plan C it was going to be!

This was to be our last stop for the day with limited time remaining and I hoped it would be a good one. Once I arrived, I had Marie toss a blade bait and Jim was back on the soft plastics again. I decided to drag a jig while we were drifting to see what the fish wanted. Once I neared my waypoints, Jim slammed into a nice bass telling me that they were definitely here! As he brought it to the boat another one followed and it was even bigger! We tried to get it to eat as well but the fish wasn’t interested and just swam off instead. I immediately spot locked the motor and held here while I netted Jim’s fish. It was another picture worthy one and I knew there were going to be more!

In the last hour we adjusted our position several times and many more quality bass were landed. There was even a good keeper walleye that was added to the tank for me tonight! Both Jim & Marie managed to catch some really good fish but it was Marie that had most of the pics before we were done.

The last couple of days were interesting to say the least! One was like an ocean and the other one was just thick with boat traffic! I guess everyone is trying to get that last day of summer in before the cold weather chases them off the water for the season. Who could blame them though in this crazy Covid Year! All I know is that I will be sticking it out until Mother Nature tells me different. It’ll take ice on the ramp to keep me from fishing and hopefully there will be plenty more time left before I am done. Lots more great days of fishing ahead!!

Sam & Garret were with me this morning looking for a few big bites. We were going to try our luck at sturgeon and hopefully it would all work out! We headed to the area in a very light mist that fortunately was about to end. All I was concerned about was the winds that would be following and hoped we would have enough time to get it done!

I idled over the spot and found a few smaller marks where I thought we’d see big ones. Desperate to get them into sturgeon, I decided to try regardless and set the lines to await the first bite. As predicted, it was a small sturgeon and Garret reeled it in. He also managed to get another fish but this one was a walleye. Shortly after however I set into a much heavier fish and Sam took the rod to do battle with a bigger one. This fish peeled line from the reel like it was a giant but I knew better. Five minutes later it was in the net and Sam had officially added another species to his list.

We made a move and were set up on another place when I noticed one of the rods getting bit. I cranked down on the reel and was immediately tight to a good one! This time Garret took the rod and began the long fight! This fish didn’t want to move much at first but soon after, it took to the air and I knew it was big. He would have his work cut out for him on this one!

Plenty of runs were made as the fish wanted to remain on the bottom. Too bad it couldn’t make up its mind as it went from one side of the boat to the other multiple times. Garret had to do the sturgeon shuffle often so as not to hit the motor with the line. Eventually after ten minutes or so, he managed to bring the fish up for me to net. It was going to be a tough one to hold!

Fortunately Garret was able to pick up the beast and we shot several pics of his catch before releasing it back into the water. I was glad that they had both landed a good one but wasn’t sure if we would be able to remain here much longer. The winds had started with the clear skies and it would only be getting worse!

We hadn’t been set up for more than a few minutes when I realized that it wasn’t going to work. I quickly packed everything up and switched to another species and technique to finish off their trip. We were going to try a little open water drifting with these winds and hopefully catch a few more fish!

The lake was getting big now and the drifts we made over the open water were fast. Fortunately they were able to hook into a few fish before we had to head back. Garret nailed a nice walleye that unfortunately fell off right at the boat and Sam managed to get a good sized pike. He also had a few other bites and something with substantial size that came off as well before we were done. I had an afternoon couple next and needed to pick them up soon!

As we ran back I realized that the winds had gotten much worse and wasn’t looking forward to the afternoon. It wasn’t going to get any better!

Sam & Garret had a great time this morning with their first ever sturgeon and finished with a bang! Jim & Marie were next and I only hoped that they would be having as much luck with the bass in these giant winds. I told them to put their rain gear on and we headed out in the big winds and waves to an area far from the ramp. I thought we could be somewhat protected where I wanted to go and made the long run first!

They began by tossing blades to find the fish but this definitely didn’t seem to be what the bass wanted. Several followers and short strikers were all we could find. I soon switched them to soft plastics and slower moving baits to finally get the first fish on the board. Marie landed a two pounder that was quickly released! She soon followed it up with a fish over twice the size and this one was photographed before being let go. She was in the zone now and managed plenty more bites as well as fish from the same area. Jim on the other hand was having a much harder time getting bit but that was all about to change!

I held the boat spot locked in the area and tried several different baits. The cold front conditions had the fish in a very negative mood and the slower they could fish, the better it was. Eventually Jim got into a few fish and all was good!

I really didn’t want to leave this area where we were and covered it thoroughly with slow moving baits. Both Jim & Marie managed to get several more fish from here before we were convinced that it was time to go. With not many options or time left, I decided to hit the open water and see if they could catch a few fish from the deep spot I had tried earlier today.

We ran in bigger waves than we had come out in and I had to tack a few times in order to get there safely. They were three to five footers at times and it looked more like Lake Ontario! I was going to attempt a drift in the adverse conditions regardless!

We made 3 or four passes, quickly and despite our attempts at catching more fish, it wasn’t to be. Jim did have several shots at something but wasn’t able to keep them pinned. It was officially time to pull the plug on today!

The run back to the ramp was epic with giant waves from the wind. I’m sure I would have swamped the boat several times if it wasn’t the Ranger! Fortunately we stayed safe & dry all the way in!

Both trips today were successful, despite the weather and everyone had a good time. I only with that the winds could have been a bit lighter, so that I could have moves around more. With any luck tomorrow will bring better conditions and I’ll be able to get to all the places I couldn’t today. I know it couldn’t get much worse!