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Eric had two of his sons out with me today in hopes of getting Ernest into a birthday sturgeon. The conditions had taken a turn for the worse with big winds out of the NE blowing up current. I wasn’t sure if we would even be able to fish for these beasts! Holding in the rough water wouldn’t be easy but we headed there to give it a try!

As I neared the area, I was in big 2 to 3 foot rollers from the opposite direction of the current flow. The boat was literally spinning around and I needed to throw a drift sock to even partially straighten out. Once the lines were in, it was next to impossible to see the rods and as usual the junk fish nibbled us to death and I spent more time re baiting hooks than anything! In fact we ended up reeling in one of those pesky perch at one point!

I had made several moves trying to get away from the nibblers and finally found a spot where I was able to hold for more than 5 minutes. It was here that we managed to get an actual bite and when I reared back, I thought it might be a small sturgeon. Ernest reeled in something other than what we were after with a red horse sucker! Not the species I was targeting but a new fish for him!

I realized after much frustration that it wasn’t going to happen and finally decided to pull the plug on sturgeon. If it layed down later, we might try fishing for them again!

I prepped some drop shot rods and told the boys that we were going deep for the bass. They would be fishing for smallmouth and although tough boat control would be happening, I was sure that I could get it done! I explained to Ernest & James what to do and almost immediately they were both locked up! Both fish came off however when they gave the fish some slack line after they set into them. It was going to be a learning curve for sure!

Eventually they were able to keep some of the fish pinned but still continued to lose more than they caught. One of them was giving slack while the other was winching them in like they were reef fishing in 200 feet of water. Finesse was the name of the game and with a little more coaching they were finally able to start landing more than they lost. Both of them landed multiple fish in a couple of hours including some real quality.

Sometime around 2:30 the winds looked like they had diminished some and I thought we would give the sturgeon another try. Instead of prepping all the gear I first wanted to see if I could mark anything. As I idled to the area I noticed a boat fishing exactly where I had been catching them all week. I hoped that he wasn’t right where I wanted to scout but unfortunately he was bang on several of my waypoints. It turned out to be a previous client that had seen me fishing there and I was unable to even search anymore. It sucks when you’re trying to make a living, but what can you do! I pulled the plug before we even got started and went back to deep smallie fishing instead!

The remainder of the time was spent with the boys catching and of course losing more bass. They both added several more smallies to the numbers before we were done. Even their father Eric was able to drop a line in and catch a couple as well. Shortly before 4:00 we packed it up and headed back to take out.

Although I wanted to get the boys into big fish today sometimes Mother Nature has other ideas. At least I had a backup plan with the smallies! They had a great time despite the miserable misty rain we had on & off throughout the day. In the end they all caught plenty of quality bass to make this a memorable end to their vacation. The boys will be heading back home tomorrow but with any luck I may see them again this winter on the hard water as they are interested in ice fishing. Hopefully it will all work out!

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Peter & Barry headed out with me this morning for a half day trip. We were going to start with sturgeon and see if one or two would cooperate. Afterwards I wanted to take them for deep water bass & walleye and hopefully complete the slam. With any luck, they would both have one!

The conditions changed overnight and a cold front moved in. The winds were out of the north and waves were 1 to 2 foot in height. I wasn’t sure what we were in store for but I wasn’t changing the game plan. As long as I could anchor, we were going to begin with the beasts!

I idled around and found an area holding some big marks. Time to get down to business! With 3 lines in, I was sure we wouldn’t have to wait long for our first bite. Unfortunately it was from a perch and they were just relentless. I had to move 5 or 6 times due to these pesky nibblers and even boated a couple of the culprits! Eventually I saw a real bite and set into a small fish. It turned out to be a juvenile sturgeon and Barry reeled it in. It was his first ever sturgeon and a few pics were taken of his catch.

We had been set back up for over ten minutes without being harassed by the nibblers when I saw one of the rods bounce. I wasn’t sure if it was just from the waves but grabbed it in case. I felt the bounce again and reared back into some serious weight. This was the one I was looking for and Richard was passed the rod. I immediately began clearing the area for him to do battle and saw his line starting to rise. I told them both to look behind the boat and we all witnessed the monster take to the air. To say they were in awe would have an understatement!

I was coaching Richard on what to do after removing a bunch of things when the fish came up and breached once again. The second jump showed its actual size and I knew this was going to be a long fight! Plenty of runs and bull dogging under the boat and another leap was made. Then the fish began to fight! It took out almost 100 feet of line on one run and all Richard could do was watch the spool unwind. The raw power of these sturgeon never cease to amaze me! Although Richard managed to get it back to the boat, the fish remained on the bottom. He had to do the sturgeon shuffle several times as the fish kept going from one side to the other. He was able to bring it up near the surface once and I actually thought I was going to get a shot at it with the net. Nope, it decided to take another 60 feet of line out and right back to the bottom she went!

Richard had been battling this monster for about 15 minutes and finally reeled it back up near the surface. I guided him to what to do and readied the net as he pulled it closer to the boat. Right as I was about to dig down into the water the fish decided to do another leap and went straight into the big bowl of the net. That was the easiest fish I have ever netted! Why can’t they all cooperate like that? This fish looked so big in the net that I decided to lay out the tarp for its protection. Minutes later I was heaving it into the boat and shortly after, Richard held it for several pics. He torpedoed it back immediately after and we watched on the sonar as she went straight to the bottom. Perfect release!

Now they had both landed their first sturgeon and wanted to change to something smaller. I packed everything up and readied the rods for bass & walleye. We didn’t have to go far and I had them fishing with a drop shot rig in deep water. There were fish marking and soon after, they both hooked up. Too bad they also both lost their fish!

I decided to do a long drift along an edge and several more fish were hooked and also lost. It was getting sad not seeing either of them boat any of the ones they had on their lines! Fortunately this all changed when both of them landed their first smallie. As we drifted along, they began to keep most of their fish pinned and the numbers began to climb. At least until the next double header when Barry couldn’t control his fish! It went under the boat and jumped right in the backwash and came unpinned. To make matters worse, he snagged the line in the big engine when he got off!

We kept covering water and several more bass came aboard before we ran out of time. I almost wish that this was a full day as these fish were really biting where we were fishing. Oh well, next time perhaps! In the end, they both managed to land their first ever sturgeon and Richard‘s was a beast! I don’t think he ever thought that he would be catching anything that size this close to where he lives. This was definitely a great day for fishing, times two!!

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Robert and his son Steven joined e this morning for a half day of fishing. I wasn’t sure how the trolling bite was going to be, based on the winds, but I was going to try. They were blowing from the west and a good cop was on the water, making the conditions almost perfect. The only issue I might have would be the 78 degree water temps!

I ran to an area and set the lines over slightly deeper water hoping for a quick bite. What I received however was anything short of that! I spent almost 30 minutes before the first reel fired and Steven brought in a small pike. About 15 minutes later another reel went off and the fish was gone before I could even hand him the rod. I was a little disappointed as I was sure it was a walleye!

I had covered plenty of water with only a couple of bites and decided to troll to another area further away. We should have had multiple reels firing from here but were only able to scratch up one more northern. As I had already wasted a couple of hours with dismal results, I pulled the plug on trolling and headed to deeper water to try for some bass.

Dropshotting was going to be the technique being used on this spot and after a quick demonstration of what to do, they began the vertical presentation. First drift, they both had chances but they lost the fish due to not enough pressure. They were new to this and I wasn’t surprised! We kept drifting and unfortunately the same thing kept happening. They would have the fish briefly hooked and seconds later it was gone. Multiple drifts were made and each time the same results were seen. I decided to hold Steven’s rod on one of the passes and nailed a fish seconds later. Once I was sure it was on, I passed him the rod and he did battle with the smallie. A quick pic and a release and we went back up for more!

Time was passing by quickly and although they were getting multiple hits in the area, they were still missing fish. I think Robert had a dozen before he actually held on to his first bass. It was ironic too as Steven was locked up as well and I had to do a double net job!

We were almost done and after one more fish by Steven, I called it. I headed back to the docks in much bigger rollers than I had started in and was glad it was only a half day. The winds had increased out of the west and getting bigger by the minute. This afternoon wouldn’t have been pleasant!

Overall it may have been tough but a few adjustments saw several good fish being landed. I only wish that they could have caught everything they were bit from but that’s fishing! They did however leave with a better understanding of the deep water dropshotting technique and hopefully will be able to use it on their own, on future fishing trips. Only time will tell but I’m sure they’ll give it a try!

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Zach, Andrew & Gabe wanted to fish for sturgeon today and what a day it was. We went to the area that had been putting out big fish and it was a waiting game. The junk fish and gobies totally destroyed me causing so many moves throughout the entire day. Despite seeing all kinds of fish on the sonar, I was forced to relocate at least a dozen times before we actually got our first bite. Hunting these big dinosaurs requires patience and these three had it in spades!

We had been fishing for over 6 hours when I actually saw one of the rods begin to bounce. I thought I was just imagining but when I picked it up, I still felt the bite. As I reared back it was dead weight and I immediately knew that this was the fish we had been waiting for! These guys had picked a rod at the start of the day and Andrew had just won the lotto! I passed it off to him and readied the area for the battle. Within minutes, the beast took to the air and I knew it was going to be a long fight. She was a giant! Many runs were had and one other breach was made with everyone watching in awe. Each time he thought he was gaining, the sturgeon took out more line with another run. This went on for over ten minutes before it started to show signs of tiring. Andrew fought it great and after remaining on the bottom, under the boat, for another 5 minutes, he finally managed to bring her to the surface. As I slid the net under his fish, a sigh of relief was had by all as this was the biggest thing they had ever seen on the end of a line.

All three of these guys held the fish for the pics and then something different happened for the release. Zach had said at the beginning of the day that he wanted to do a live release in the water with the fish, if we caught a big one. With the temps being 77 degrees, I had no issues with that and he jumped in and held the sturgeon by the tail. Soon after he was going down with the fish and literally swam with it as she headed to the bottom. What a great release!

We set up for the remainder of the day once again and unfortunately that was the only legit bite we had today. If you’re only going to get one, that’s the one you want! It may have been slow but hunting big fish is sometimes like that. I was focussing on larger marks on the bottom and eventually one of them made a mistake and ate. These guys wanted big fish and that’s exactly what they got! A true river monster! It may have been a slow day but catching that one giant made it all worthwhile and the release was spectacular. It was a slow, but very rewarding day!

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Karen was back with her father Richard again and her son Liam as well. Liam had just turned 14 and was hoping to catch a big sturgeon. If the conditions allowed, we should have no problem!

The run to our area to fish saw a bigger chop than I had hoped for, but it was still doable. I set the rods after locating a few fish and waited for a bite. Unfortunately our first of many bites were from small fish and all they did was nibble on the baits. I had to constantly check the lines and the worms never really had a chance to stay on the hooks for very long. Although I was on some good fish, I had to make a move!

The second stop wasn’t much better, but Richard did manage to reel in a small sturgeon from here. It was a real juvenile with sharp scoots and I warned him to be careful for the pic. The second fish went to Liam but it too was small and only a bass. We even managed a third fish, but once again it was small and a walleye. Another move was definitely in order!

We were getting on in the morning and all we had to show for our efforts were a couple of small fish and tons of nibblers. I had re baited so many times that I was wondering if I had even brought enough worms! Fortunately the next bite was substantially heavier when I set the hook! Liam was officially into the fish he had come for and was about to feel their power. I instructed him how to fight the sturgeon as he never had anything this big on the line before. He was only use to catching panfish and occasional bass. He was about to do battle with the beast!

This fish fought mostly on the bottom with short, powerful runs but did come to the surface once to jump. I knew right there that it was a decent fish but not a true giant. He should have no problem reeling this one in! About 10 minutes later he had it close enough for me to net and the fight was done. I told him that it was only going to get harder as now he had to hold it for the pics. As difficult as it was, he still managed to prop it on his lap for a few shots before releasing it back to the water. Now I wanted more!

The second fish came quite a bit later in the day after Liam’s big bass. We were set up for sturgeon and he brought a nice smallie aboard. On heavier tackle it really didn’t fight that great but it was also his biggest smallie to date and worthy of several pics. I reset the line and soon after was rewarded with a true bite! It felt heavy when I reared back and I knew this one was going to be big. Liam took the rod and held on as it screamed line from the reel. I had no idea just how big it was yet and cleared the area for him to do battle. The fish breached while I was moving everything and I never really saw the size, but the splash down afterwards was pretty loud. The others did however and all said it was definitely larger than the previous one he had landed.

This fish took more than ten minutes to get to the boat and made several good runs while fighting. At one point it went under the boat from side to side, multiple times. I call that the sturgeon shuffle as you are always reaching around the motor not to get cut off. Liam did a great job with his fish and eventually brought it close enough for me to net. The battle was over but the pain was about to begin! Now he would have to hold it for the pictures. I layed the tarp over his legs this time making it easier for him to hold and shot several from various angles before the release. Now we were going back for more!

We had been set up for a while with very little breeze but that was about to change. It began to blow from the SW putting a nice roll on the water and I wasn’t sure if we were going to be able to hold much longer with the electric motor. We had already been fishing for over 5 hours and I didn’t know if the batteries were still strong enough with this wind. I had the cover up for shade and this too was putting more strain on them as well. We could only try!

Well we managed to hold for about 30 minutes longer, but the fish weren’t cooperating. I decided to pull the plug with about an hour remaining and packed everything up for a move. We were going to try for bass and walleye for the last hour if I could find an area to fish. The waves were a couple of feet now and would be bigger where I wanted to go, but I still wanted to try.

When I arrived I realized that it was doable and angled the boat for everyone to fish. Although I was marking both bass & walleye on the bottom, nothing wanted to eat. After 5 or 6 drifts, I decided to pull the plug and call it a day! We were out of time anyway and nothing was cooperating!

Overall today turned out to be a success with Liam catching a couple of big fish. He managed to learn how to fight something larger than a bass and now knows what to do. I would have liked to get Richard into something big again but unfortunately it wasn’t in the cards today. He has done battle with a giant with me before and landed a true dinosaur! Today it was Liam’s turn to catch them instead! Regardless, everyone left completely satisfied on this beautiful summer day!!