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I had the pleasure of fishing with an old tournament friend today. Patrick joined Christiane & I for a great day, filled with all kinds of fish. He even managed to catch a giant!

We all hit the lake shortly after 7:30 and decided that we would try for the sturgeon first. It had been a good early morning bite the last couple of outings and I hoped today would be the same.

With lines in and no wind, the rod holders really came into use as seeing even the lightest bite was no problem. Although we were plagued with the goby nibbles at times, I was on fish and didn’t want to move too soon. After re baiting several times, I finally saw a good bite on one of the rods and set into some weight. Pat was in for the fight of his life!

The dead weight of his fish confirmed that this was the one we wanted and he did battle for over ten minutes. Trying to bring the fish from the bottom was not easy as it remained deep and took several good runs as well. It had to be big because it was next to impossible for him to gain much line and keep it on the reel. Every time he was able to get some back, the fish took everything and more. After a while though, he wore the fish out and was able to bring it up for me to net. It was enormous!

Although Pat had previously caught sturgeon, I found out that he hadn’t landed anything this size before. He would have great memories and some truly great pics to remember his catch! As always, the fish was returned unharmed to fight another day!

We reset the lines and it didn’t take long for Christiane to have a fight of her own. It didn’t seem to be as big as the previous one, but fought great just the same. In fact, it breached soon after being hooked showing us exactly what she was dealing with! Several good runs were made and the fight was as always, great! In a little over 5 minutes she had it beside the boat for me to net and soon after, held it for some pics. They were both officially on the board!

The next several hours saw us making a few more moves and landing many more fish. Sturgeon, channel cats, Redhorse suckers and walleye were also added to the mix. Most of the fish however were the targeted species! We even wore our buffs for a pic, to embrace the Covid Times!

We had stuck it out until about 1:00 and were now ready for a move. I was going to take them for bass and hoped the fish would cooperate. The overcast skies from the heavy clouds and misty rain had me believing that the fish would still be somewhat shallow and I knew just where to go.

Christiane nailed the first fish on a blade and Pat wasn’t far behind. He was throwing a soft plastic and managed to get five or six others before we finished the run. I could have gone back for another pass but decided to hit a new area instead, looking for much bigger fish! I had also livewelled some of the larger ones from this place and took a few pics, before releasing the fish back to where they had been caught.

Our next area was covered quite thoroughly and Pat managed to land the only smallie from the entire place. One or two other follows were seen but unfortunately didn’t take!

With time passing quickly I decided to make a long run and hit one final spot. I hoped the action would be better there! It was beginning to load up for the fall and should be holding more fish.

It didn’t take long for a confirmation as Pat missed a bass on his first cast. I immediately set Christiane up with the same bait and between the two of them they probably had 15 or more chances at bass. Some were landed but most were missed before we were done!

Today was an interesting one filled with stories of old tournament times and plenty of action. Pat managed to get is personal best sturgeon and several other smaller ones as well. Both Christiane and Pat landed a good number of different fish through all the weird weather we had seen. We had clouds, rain and eventually plenty of sunshine to end the day. At one point, I even had to raise the roof to keep us dry! Throughout it all there was never a dull moment as everyone had a great time. Many quality fish were boated making this, another great day on the water!

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This was Rick & Danny’s final day of fishing for their trip and I wanted to keep the ball rolling. Unfortunately the waters we had wanted to go to had another tournament and there would be boats everywhere. I decided to remain on the same water and grind it out!

With winds expected to increase from the south this morning, I thought we’d give sturgeon fishing another try before it got too big. We set the lines and held in place with the electric motor, but still had to hold the rods due to the bouncing waves.

After a couple of moves due to only nibbles, I finally felt the first bite. As soon as I reared back on the rod, I knew it was a good fish just by the dead weight. The rod never moved when I came up, signifying a beast!

Danny was up, after Rick had landed the last fish a couple of days back and gladly took the rod. It was like he was snagged on the bottom! When the fish took a few runs, all he could do was hang on and let it go. There was no turning the fish or controlling it and I knew he was in for a long fight!

Although this fish never jumped, the battle took place entirely on the bottom, with strong runs. Fifteen minutes after the initial hook up Danny was actually bringing the monster up, or so he thought. Each time he was able to gain line, the sturgeon took it all back and more. It was a really strong fish and didn’t want to give up!

We were pushing the 20 minute mark before he actually raised it to the surface and even at that, the fish still made a few more runs. Eventually I slid the net under the fish and ended the battle. Surprisingly it was a male and not the female I had thought by the fight. If it had of been, it would have been a real monster. Instead it was a male and one of the longest ones I had ever seen. It was still a big fish and really heavy as Danny found out during the pics! I never really got any great shots as he wasn’t able to hold it for very long. He was happy to release it as quickly as possible and end the pain! As it turned out, this was his largest sturgeon to date and the only one we were to get for the day. I guess if you only get one, that was the right one!

We stayed a little longer but the winds really picked up creating much bigger waves, forcing us to pull the plug on this area. They were only fishing a half day and I thought we would take advantage of the conditions and try for walleye instead. They gladly agreed and we packed up and made the long run to where I knew they would be.

Within minutes after arriving, Danny & I were hooked up on a couple of good keepers. The place was loaded by the looks of the screen and I knew there would be many more! Drift after drift, fish were being hooked and after a couple of hours, they both had their limits to take home. I held out a little longer and managed to put a few more in the boat for me as well. Our day was officially done!

The three days spent fishing had produced some great fish each day. Today however was like the icing on the cake with the largest sturgeon and perfect timing for a couple of limits of fish. I was glad Mother Nature had somewhat cooperated and not killed us with either a monsoon or hurricane winds! Overall, she was quite pleasant at times, providing us with some great fishing and absolutely beautiful weather. It actually felt more like mid-August than the end of September! Another great trip in the books, once again!

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Rick & Danny were back with me again this morning for a day of bass fishing. With little to no wind and temps expected to be in the 90 degree range, I knew it should be good.

Our first spot produced many bites but unfortunately none of them actually got hooked. I was surprised to see this but it happens I guess. We eventually headed to another area in hopes of better success after working it thoroughly.

There were plenty of boats on the water today and I had to fish faster than I would have liked to get to certain places. Covering water seemed to be the ticket though as both Danny & Rick managed to catch many quality bass on soft plastics. With each section of the areas we fished, big bass were present! It was definitely a lot better than where we had started!

We made several moves to different spots today and saw lots of boat traffic along the way. I think anyone that owned a boat was on the water due to the amazing weather!

Late in the afternoon I decided to hit a spot that was literally in the middle of nowhere and Rick managed to get into several more quality fish both on soft plastics and blades. He even brought to net a nice walleye that was unfortunately over the slot limit.

With time getting on, I hit one last spot and we managed one more bass before we were done. Although they struggled today, the fish they caught were big! Quality over quantity is sometimes better and that’s exactly what we had. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but I’m sure it will be equally as good. They will be fishing a half day and I’ll have to get the job done in less time. Challenge accepted!

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Rick & Danny were here for three days and today they were looking for some giants. Hopefully the fish would cooperate with the winds from the NE. We were about to find out soon!

The run to our starting spot was a roller coaster ride! Waves were 2 to 3 footers and rolled like Lake Ontario. It was going to be interesting holding in these conditions as they were opposite the flow.

Once I located some fish, we used the electric motor to anchor up and surprisingly it was fine. We had to hold the rods however as the boat was bouncing way too much to use the rod holders.

Not long into the day I felt a bite and set into something. Danny was up first and took the rod only to reel in a massive drum! It was definitely bigger than any other he had caught before. Rick was up next and his brother set into something a little more substantial in weight. Danny gave the rod to him and he did battle for quite some time. Although it never jumped, it did put up a great fight making 8 long runs. This was the most any sturgeon had ever taken before! I eventually netted the fish and despite not being thick it made up for it in length. It was a really long male and definitely worthy of several pics before the release!

We reset the lines awaiting our next bite and Rick returned the favour, by setting into another beast. Danny was about to do battle with one even larger than the previous fish he had hooked!

The males always seem to hug the bottom while fighting and this was exactly what his fish was doing. The fight lasted almost 15 minutes and had a number of long runs as well. When I was finally able to slide the net under the sturgeon, we realized why. It was a real long fish! Danny held it for a few pics and off she went to fight another day. I still don’t know why anyone would want to kill one of these creatures!

We remained in the same general area and made a couple of moves trying to locate more active monsters. Four more of them came out to play but they were all somewhat smaller than the first two dinosaurs! Eventually we decided to leave as the winds had increased and we wanted to try for other species before the day ended.

Well the last 90 minutes didn’t turn out as I had planned with only a few fish biting. I was marking plenty of walleye on the bottom but with the big NE winds, was unable to get anything going. We eventually ran out of time and called it a day! Tomorrow we will likely focus our attention on smaller fish, but maybe we’ll drop the sticks in and try for a different kind of beast as well. We’ll just have to wait and see what the day brings. Today was a success and I hope the next two are equally as good as the first!

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Val was back with me today, so that meant a big windy one once again! He definitely has a track record for being lucky with the weather when it comes to windy days. Oh well, we were both use to it and I would make it work regardless!

We headed on the water around 8:30 along with his faithful companion, Britney. Three footers were coming from the west making our run to the first spot quite bumpy. Even once we arrived, I realized that it would be difficult just holding while he fished the area. Boat control & presentation here was key and I really had my work cut out for me!

With Val covering the water, I slowly made my way downstream, while trying not to slide away from the fish. It didn’t take long for him to hook up and on a lure he never had confidence using. He landed a quality bass on a blade! In the past, he never wanted to throw this lure because of how well he had done. Today would be different however as he was about to gain the confidence he needed!

He fished thoroughly over this spot and only had one bass to show for his efforts. Even after trying a few other presentations, he still wasn’t able to hook up. Just before we were to leave, I made a cast with the soft plastic he was using and slammed into a real good one. I passed the rod and readied the net for the beast! We spent a few more minutes in the area after the release but were unable to hook anything else and decided to leave.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to do next in these big winds and started running blind. As I neared the other shore, I realized that the wind didn’t seem so bad. Thoughts of anchoring up for sturgeon crossed my mind and I began searching for them. After idling around for a bit, I decided to give it a try! With both the anchor and the electric motor holding, we were able to make it work. The only thing was that we had to hold the rods as they were bouncing too much in the holders to detect any bites.

We hadn’t been set up for more than ten minutes before Val hooked the first fish. I could tell by the lack of fight that it wasn’t very big. Regardless, it was the right species and put us on the board! Not long after we reset the lines, Val had another bite. This time however, when he reared back, there was weight! It was definitely bigger than the first! Somewhere during the fight it must have rolled and managed to tangle itself in the line, causing it to be reeled in backwards. Not much fight again but once untangled, it went insane! Too bad it was already at the surface because it would have been a much better fight down deep!

We decided that we would stay a little longer and set the lines back, hoping for a third bite. In less than ten minutes again, we had another bite. This time I reared back on some definite weight. Val took the rod and began to do battle with what turned out to be the biggest sturgeon of the day! This one also rapped itself in the line and when he untangled it at the surface, it went straight back to the bottom in a line screaming run. At least he was having a longer fight on this fish! Several pics were taken and I reset the lines back, after the release again. Unfortunately we never had another bite! We had only fished for about an hour and managed to get three sturgeon but that was all she wrote. After almost 30 minutes of nada, we decided to pull plug and go for bass. The winds had built up and it was now harder to feel anything in the bouncing waves.

I had hoped on getting Val into a few more active smallies on the blades and headed to a couple of shallow areas to try. The second spot was pretty good with him landing about a half dozen big ones and missing a few more too. He actually caught all of them on blades and is now a believer!

With not much time remaining in the day, I headed to an open water shoal to see if we could get into a few walleye for his dinner tonight. With a good roll on the water, I was pretty sure we would!

Once I located the fish, we were able to land several good keepers and he managed to take a limit from this area. We also lost a few others and landed a couple of big northerns from the same spot too!

Today may have been a little rough at times and getting around was not very pleasant. Fortunately the fish cooperated making this one of the best days for Val, so far this season. We definitely ended it on a high with some tasty fish for dinner. Hopefully the fall fishing will continue to improve even more and this will become the norm for the remainder of the year. Great day to be fishing!