Mike & Cory were with me today for smallies. I was going to take a break from the giants in pursuit of only bass and maybe a walleye or two. Hopefully the change in wind direction would allow me to fish the deeper water, but the SE blow wouldn’t make it easy. All I could do was try!

Our first spot that should have seen both bass & walleye only produced one smallie and another lost walleye. I decided to try deeper water and we hit the nail right on the head! Each time one of them hooked up, the other followed immediately after. Doubles were the norm but several of the better fish fell off on the way up. Slack line was the cause as it was hard to catch up to the bass!

I had made a few passes over the productive area but the fish just seemed to quit biting. We decided to move and try our luck somewhere else. This time however we decided to give the shallows a try and headed to a reef to cast soft plastics.

In the next few hours there were several more smallies brought to net but it was from many spots. The shallow bite didn’t seem to be great. These fish just weren’t active as we saw plenty of them swimming around. Time for another adjustment out in the deep!

I ran back to the area where we had started and Cory was into fish almost immediately. Some of them were decent but not the giants I was looking for. We made a couple of drifts with similar results but the action was still slow. The winds had died completely now so I thought I’d give another shallow area nearby a shot. We didn’t have anything to lose!

The last 90 minutes saw probably the best action of the day for numbers. Both Cory & Mike landed many smallies on soft plastics and we ended on a high. At least the fish were eating somewhere!

Today was an interesting one as I covered all the depths and found fish in each one. Unfortunately the SE winds caused the drifts to be a little tricky, but we got it done regardless. In the end the rally they had was definitely a bonus with many more fish being caught. Although tough, it was still a great day for fishing!

Dave and his son Mathieu had booked a half day morning trip in hopes of catching a sturgeon. He also brought his mother Dale along as she just loved being on the water and spending time with her family. I hoped that the big fish would cooperate with the full moon!

We set up in the usual area and waited in anticipation for the first bite. I had marked a few fish and hoped for one of them to eat and it didn’t take long before we were hooked up. I set into a decent fish and knew immediately that it wasn’t the one we were looking for. I passed the rod to Mathieu and he fought a good sized drum. Not what we were looking for but still nice regardless!

We reset the lines after the release and unfortunately I missed the next bite. It felt heavy when I set into it and for a couple of seconds it was on the line. Then the hook pulled free and it wasn’t! This was the first fish I had missed all season so far and I wasn’t happy. My hook up ratio when they bite is almost 100% the way I fish, but this time it just wasn’t meant to be. I shrugged it off and reset the line hoping that we would be able to get another shot at a giant.

About 15 minutes had passed before one of the rods began the bounce and this time I set into some weight. I immediately passed the rod to Dave and he was locked up on the one we wanted. He fought it for about 5 minutes before the fish went crazy under the water and completely wrapped itself up in the line. So much so that I had to release the anchor and drift down to the fish in order to gain any line. He was now fighting dead weight! I was able to untangle his fish and passed him back the rod to do battle for a few more minutes before I finally netted the sturgeon. This was definitely the one we were after! Dave held it up for a few shots before releasing his very first river monster!

We resumed fishing and Mathieu boated another small fish soon after. It was a channel cat and not the sturgeon he wanted. It was still a good fish and deserves a few pics before being let go. His mother Dale was passed the next rod and she actually landed her very first sturgeon. Although not the size of the earlier one, it was a species that she had never caught before. More pics and another release!

We had made several moves throughout the morning due to the pesky nibblers and Mathieu lost what I believe to be his first sturgeon. I was hoping to get another one before we were done and anchored up on one really big mark. With any luck we might just catch this one too!

It didn’t take long before the fish bit and I reared back on some substantial weight. There was no way Mathieu would be able to bring this thing in so I passed the rod to his father once again. It just felt like dead weight at first and then it started to run. It peeled plenty of line from the reel and Dave managed to get most of it back until I saw it starting to rise. I let them all know to watch as it breached and showed us that it was quite a bit bigger than the previous one he just caught. Let the fight begin!

Dave had been battling this fish for over ten minutes before it started to show signs of tiring. We could see it on the sonar under the boat and I knew it was nearing the end. Soon after, he brought it up and I slid the net under his fish, ending the fight. Dave’s arm was really tired after fighting the second fish and I think a third one would have just taken him out. It was difficult for him to hold the fish for the pics but somehow he managed long enough for me to snap a few quick shots. It was quickly released unharmed back to the depths from where it had come from.

We made another attempt at getting into more fish but with no luck. The sun was high now & the heat was intense and it was time to go. More boat traffic was on the water too and it was starting to become harder to see the bites. It didn’t matter though as we had accomplished what I wanted and everyone had gotten into fish.

Today may have been a short one but Dave finally landed what was his biggest fish ever, twice! He had wanted to fight a sturgeon and had done battle with two great contenders. Overall, I call that a success!!

Mike, Tony & Juliano began their day anchored up for sturgeon and managed to catch a few. They also landed drum, eel, bass, and perch all from the same spot. About the only thing we didn’t get was a channel cat!

After almost the entire morning we decided to switch to casting soft plastics in hopes of getting into more bass. I headed to an area that I was sure would produce and instructed them on how to present their baits. It didn’t take long before Juliano hooked into the first bass on this spot. It wouldn’t be the last though as I was sure there were plenty more!

After over an hour of fishing the area, I decided to make a move to another spot nearby. Thy had all landed smallies from here and I wanted to see if we could get into more elsewhere. With no wind and high heat & humidity, they fished through the pain. It had to be in the 90’s for sure!

As it turned out, this was to be our last spot of the day. Once again everyone landed bass from this area but it was Juliano that managed the most. Sometime after 2:30 they decided to call it a day! I think we all needed the break from this insane heat wave, again!

The run back felt pretty nice because it was the first breeze we had since the morning run. The waves however weren’t as nice as every boat was out today. Eventually we made it back to the dock and I was able to take the boat out without much trouble. The weekend warriors were out but I managed to work around all the stupidity!

Overall today was a great day with some nice fish being caught! We may not have landed the dinosaur we had hoped for but the two drum were the largest ones of the season so far. They even fought like sturgeon for a while with their long runs. The bass fishing was also on fire with loads of them being caught as well as lost! Just another great day for fishing!

Mario brought his kids fishing this morning after rescheduling another fishing trip elsewhere. Julian, Gianluca and Arianna would be treated to a mix bag day starting with sturgeon. Hopefully it would all work out!

Well after spending over 2 hours anchored for the beasts, all we had to show for our efforts was one small sturgeon. Arianna had landed a juvenile, but that was all we caught. Time for a complete change in fishing and another species!

I prepped the rods for them to drop shot and hit an area further away. Both Arianna and Julian were hooked up almost immediately on their first drop. They both managed to get into a few fish from this place before it just went dead. The others had chances as well but were unable to keep them pinned.

I moved around a bit and hit a few more areas with similar results. Arianna seemed like the person with the most luck as she managed to catch a few more. Our last spot produced a couple of really good fish and it was here that we ended the day. Julian landed the biggest bass of the day from here too! He had been having a hard time keeping the fish pinned but finally managed to get one in the boat.

I would have liked to land at least one big sturgeon this morning but unfortunately we had to settle with a juvenile instead. At least the bass fishing was more consistent with many more fish biting. Mario and his kids still had a great time and hopefully they will all be back out again this season. Who knows, maybe next time the dinosaurs will actually bite!

Hughes & his son Olivier were out with me today for another shot at a monster fish. We headed to the area in flat, overcast conditions that had a slight fog as well. The forecast was for light rain and a SW wind increasing throughout the afternoon. I was going to start with the sturgeon and move to walleye later when the winds picked up, as I preferred the waves.

As I idled over the area I marked some good fish and settled on our first stop. Too bad it didn’t produce what I had seen! Instead the first fish was an eel that Olivier reeled in. I quickly released the slimy snake and resumed fishing. We weren’t getting the action that I had expected and were plagued by little fish nibbling on the worms. I had to make a move to get away from them as all I was doing was re baiting the hooks!

The next area saw one small sturgeon coming aboard and it too was brought in by Olivier. His father was awaiting the big bite! Too bad his fish turned out to be a catfish, but it was the exotic species of the day, so far.

Several moves were made due to all the small fish and we even managed to catch a couple of perch and one bass in the process. Eventually we did find an area where I was able to leave the lines in the water for more than just a minute. It was here that we had better action and managed to boat a few more fish. In the mix were some sturgeon and one big drum that Hughes reeled in. I think it was even his first one too! Olivier was lucky enough to get the rod for the biggest fish of the day with his last sturgeon but Hughes only managed another exotic species with the sheep head!

We stayed on the sturgeon for probably longer than we should have but I was seeing plenty of activity both above and on the bottom. In fact we had several drive byes from some of the fish that resembled bites giving me even more confidence that we were going to hook up again. Too bad it never happened!

Sometime around 1:30 we decided to pull the plug and try for some walleye. I headed to another section of the water and set up a few drop shot rods hoping to get bit. I was really waiting for the forecasted winds to start but it didn’t look like they were going to happen. We had to settle for a slow drift in deeper water and see what would happen.

I made several passes across an underwater point and each time someone was bit. The only problem was that they never stayed pinned long enough for me to get them in the net. Both Hughes & Olivier weren’t lucky as every one of the fish was missed! I eventually moved to another spot further away that I knew they would catch fish from, or so I hoped!

Drift after drift was made through a deep slot and a few more fish were missed. I even got in the game and despite hooking into a nice walleye, it too came off before the net! I did however manage to bring a smallie aboard but this wasn’t what we were after. Time for another move!

Desperate to get them into fish, I decided to try where I had hoped to, if there was wind. The forecast had called for a decent blow in the afternoon and I was saving this place for just the right conditions! As usual the weatherman was bang on again!

The sonar wasn’t looking great and I was only seeing a few marks in the area, but we stopped and fished for a short time regardless. The drift  was so slow that I had to use the electric motor just to move the boat. It wasn’t long before I pulled out of here and headed to another spot nearby. This place at least had a rocky bottom and did produce one nice bass. Unfortunately it was alone so we moved again!

Time wasn’t on our side but I did hit a couple more spots before we were done. Only one keeper walleye was brought aboard in the time remaining. The lack of wind had definitely caused me problems on all the open water spots we fished. Without movement, the fish feed very little and this was definitely proven today. They had managed to catch a bunch of fish anchored up for sturgeon but the walleye bite was practically non-existent. I almost wish I had opted for bass instead as I know we would have had a much better bite in the shallows. Despite the difficult conditions, they did land some great fish today!