Crazy Good Fishing Day

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Another great day of sturgeon fishing was about to unfold as Yacenty & Nick were going to experience fishing like they had never seen before! Conditions were perfect as we left the dock and headed to our starting spot. I just knew they would bite today!

After idling over the area in search of big marks, I was forced to settle on what looked like smaller fish on the bottom. I was also hoping for a quick bite but that never came as we waited a while for the first rod to move. I was actually getting ready to search again and had two of the three rods already reeled in when I saw the other one bouncing. I set into the fish and knew it had some weight. I immediately handed it off to Nick to do battle. It made several good runs and as usual, remained on the bottom the entire fight. Nick was instructed on how to fight the fish at first but instantly caught on. In under ten minutes he had his first sturgeon close enough for me to net and the battle was over. Several pics were taken after he finally got a hold of his fish for the photos. I don’t think he realized just how slippery these things were!

I reset all the lines after the release and was ready for the next bite. I had hoped it would be another four footer like the first, but unfortunately it was smaller. Yacenty took the rod and reeled in his first decent sturgeon. Good fight but not the right size! They were taking turns and Nick was handed the next rod with a much larger fish on the line. This thing had the potential of being a giant by the way it was fighting and I kept instructing him on how to do battle. When his fish breached, I knew it was quality! He was going to be a while!

The battle lasted over ten minutes and several good runs were made before I slipped the net under his catch. It was definitely longer than the first one he landed and quite a bit heavier too. This time however he knew how to hold it properly and we took several quick pics before the release. I wanted to get the lines back in fast because I had seen plenty of life all around and knew we would get more bites.

I’m not sure why but it seemed like every time Yacenty was up, his fish always seemed smaller. In fact he took a few turns in a row that all had smaller fish. Eventually however, he did have a big fish on the end of the line that unfortunately jumped and did an alligator roll in his line. Now he was forced to reel it in on the surface, backwards! I was able to untangle the fish once it reached the boat and Yacenty at least got a good fight from the sturgeon afterwards. This time he was going to hold a bigger fish for the pics!

We were definitely getting more bites now and I got the lines back in quickly after the release hoping for more. As usual, Nick was soon into another big one as I handed off the rod from the set. This one just remained on the bottom and never really fought like the others making me think it was huge! He could barely move it and the runs were slow and long each time it took line. Every time he tried to lift it off the bottom, the fish took more line and went right back down. It was definitely a big one!

After close to 15 minutes of a tug of war game with his fish, we finally saw what he was dealing with. It was close to 5 feet in length. Once netted, we wasted no time with the pics and release. We wanted more!

We spent some time with smaller fish afterwards and although fun to catch, they weren’t really what I was looking for. I made a couple of relocation moves and similar results were seen. Eventually the conditions changed and the wind started to blow. We had been fishing in almost flat calm conditions all day but now we were in waves. It was going to be a little tougher to see the bites with the south winds blowing!

The next fish was to be for Yacenty and when I saw one of the rods getting bit and set into the fish, I knew it was giant! Yacenty was about to get his! This one fought right out of the gate with a great long run and a breach. It was definitely big as we all saw the fish airborne! It was a dog & pony show with multiple runs and a powerful battle on the bottom. It also took over 10 minutes for Yacenty to bring it up high enough for me to be able to net. It was definitely the heaviest fish of the day! Multiple angled shots were taken and as usual, it was released to live. These fish need to be respected and preserved!

Nick had the pleasure of landing another big fish not long after and the number of good ones today was great. We stuck it out until the end and were rewarded with several other fish before we were done including a double header in the last couple of minutes. Nick landed another sturgeon and Yacenty a good sized channel cat! What a way to end a day!

Both Nick & Yacenty couldn’t have ordered a better day on the water with flat calm conditions, warm temps and overcast skies for the bulk of the day. It was definitely one of the most comfortable ones I’ve spent for sturgeon for quite a while! Hopefully there will be plenty more before the end of the month when it closes. I’d really like to take advantage of the quality fishing for these monsters as time is limited. After today, I can’t wait to get back out and have people do battle with many, many more!