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October 19^th 2019

Joel & Mindy had rescheduled their trip for sturgeon last month and today was the day! They were hoping to catch their very first one, but really didn’t know what to expect. If I could mark them, they would catch them!

We set up in an area that showed signs of life and although it did take longer than I wanted, Mindy managed to catch a juvenile. It was cute to see but not what I was looking for!

I had been contemplating a move, but held a little longer when I began marking more fish. Apparently it was a good choice too as we never left the area the entire day. Once the fish began to bite, we saw action all day long. The best period was definitely when the moon was setting as the bigger fish seemed to eat. They caught several quality ones that fought like champs. Most of them even jumped giving everyone a great view of their size.

Today was one of those beautiful fall days and I think everyone that owned a boat, was on the water. At least we didn’t have to deal with too many pleasure craft, as all the boats seemed to be fishermen!

As the afternoon passed, Mindy and Joel kept catching and plenty of great fights were had. The long runs were fun to watch as they struggled to reel these fish back to the boat. It seemed like each time they gained, it was followed up with another reel screaming run. Every time I netted their fish, a sigh of relief was had!

The last fish of the day turned out to be one of the biggest but the fight was definitely the best. Joel spent at least 20 minutes on the beast, before bringing it to net. There was no sense getting the lines back in afterwards, so we packed everything up and called it a day.

With each fish they caught today, Joel & Mindy gained more confidence on just what to do. In the end, they fought every sturgeon like they had been doing it for years. I’m pretty sure they’ll be talking about this trip for a long time and remembering all of the battles they endured. What a great day for fishing!

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Today was their last day so Vito & Al decided to go pound on the smallies one more time. They were more than happy to battle as many bronze backs as they could hook.

Soon after we arrived at the first spot, Vito wasted no time getting the ball rolling with several bass and one of them was a true giant. The bite wasn’t great with the fish barely biting and several bass were missed on the strikes. By slowing down their presentations, they were able to keep most of the fish pinned all the way to the boat. Unfortunately a few of the real big ones came off though from too much pressure. It was going to be one of those days!

From deep to shallow, they hooked fish after fish all day long! It didn’t seem to matter what they threw, as long as it matched the depth we were in. Plenty of the fish were quality along with many feisty smaller ones too. They definitely didn’t lack the numbers today!

We were scheduled to finish up right around 4:00 but a last minute spot held us for an additional 15 minutes or so. Both Vito & Al were getting into bass on almost every cast and I hate to leave fish biting! Al even landed the elusive fall fish on his very last cast ending the day on a high note. He had really wanted one of these things and previously been only able to watch as Vito boated many of them.

These past four days had passed quickly but we were fortunate to have had all of them with almost perfect conditions. I couldn’t have asked for better weather for this time of year! I’m sure they will remember the time they spent up north and hopefully I will see them again next season. It was definitely a pleasure, fishing with them as they brought all their own tackle and they were a couple of great sticks. I couldn’t have asked for anything more!

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Day three started out a little slow, but definitely turned around to become the best one so far! Despite the great number of boats everywhere, Vic & Al pounded on the fish once again. By slowing down and making several adjustments, they were able to catch plenty of quality bass.

We began with a drop shot set up and although they managed to get into a few fish, they weren’t the calibre I was searching for. I moved around some and picked the areas I wanted to fish, carefully! I actually let other boats fish through just so that I could concentrate on specific spots for Al & Vic to cast. This worked out fine, for the most part!

As the day got on, the fishing picked up with each move we made and both of them began catching many more fish. Some real quality bass came to net along with a nice walleye that Al managed to hook into. Although it was difficult trying to decide where to fish comfortably, I still got the job done without incident. My head was definitely on a swivel today as I kept a close eye on all the others nearby!

Al even managed to catch his personal best bass and backed it up soon after, with another of almost the same size. Big fish were plentiful but we really had to slow down in order to catch them too. A couple of the spots were holding both numbers and size and we took advantage of them for as long as we could.

For the last hour or so in the day, I had to resort to using the small engine for boat positioning. The wind and current had killed my batteries almost completely. This was the first time this year that I had run out of power! It didn’t matter though as I was able to hold the boat stationary, just like I was anchored. They even managed to get a few more good quality fish before we were done!

We ended the day before four o’clock and headed back to take out. The winds were deceiving but as we got more to the open water I saw just how big they had gotten and understood why my batteries had died. The waves too were quality!

Tomorrow we will be back out and although I’m not sure where I will be, I’m sure the fishing will be great. I really want to end with a bang so maybe I’ll just have to go and anchor up for a couple of those dinosaurs once again. One way or another, they’ll be catching plenty of fish!

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This morning I decided to try for the sturgeon with Vic & Al, to see if I could get them a big bite. Unfortunately after a few hours of just washing baits, we called it quits! We never even had a bite and with all the traffic in the area, I told them we would be better off doing something else.

I decided to head to a spot with smallmouth and Al hooked a nice one almost immediately. Several more were also landed but their size wasn’t great. I definitely wanted to have them battle both quality and numbers today. Time for another move!

I had idled around looking for one of my spots and with less wind and bright sunshine, found it quickly. It was about to get interesting as Vic hooked into a fish almost immediately. For the next couple of hours, or more, they both pounded on one bass after the other on a variety of baits. It was just insane how many fish were in this area and some really good ones too! At one point, Vic was just putting on a clinic! Eventually all good things must come to an end however and when the action slowed, we moved to one last spot for them to catch a bunch of walleye.

With the lack of wind and bright sun, I wasn’t sure how we were going to do. Al confirmed it quickly though as he hooked into another smallie on his very first cast. He followed it up with big perch, a pike and finally a walleye giving him a grand slam in less than 5 minutes. After this, they both started putting the beat down on a bunch more walleye. We could have taken a couple of limits back if we had of wanted but instead released every one to fight another day.

This last spot had produced plenty of action before we called it quits. Despite the lack of sturgeon cooperation, the rest of the fishing was fantastic. They had caught all kinds of bass & walleye as well as a few other incidentals. Overall it was a great day for fishing and the weather was absolutely perfect too!

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Vic & Al joined me today for their first day of a four day trip. We decided to remain local and go for bass & walleye due to the big NE winds once again. It was going to be tough, but with enough areas to fish I knew I’d get them into some good fish.

Running to our first spot in 3 footers wasn’t nice, especially with the wind against current! It was going to be one of those difficult days with drifting deep water almost impossible. They would be casting everywhere instead! They both managed to land a couple of bass from this area but the action was slower than I had expected and we moved quickly. The second stop had a couple of good sized walleye landed by Vic that went directly into the livewell for dinner tonight. Along with the walleye, they also managed to catch several more smallies, but nothing of any size.

We had made a small move again and Al hooked the only bass from this spot, but at least it was a decent one. I figured there would be more after seeing this but unfortunately, that was all she wrote! Time to move again!

This time I made a longer run to a shallow area that I was sure would be holding some better fish. Although it had plenty, they were all on the small side and after 30 minutes or so of pounding on this day care area, we moved off to slightly deeper water nearby.

The next few hours saw us jumping all over and they continued to catch more bass from almost every one of them. Too bad most were in the two pound range! Time for a complete change!

I had decided after stopping on a small area and seeing only one more bass, to go off shore and try something new. They spent the remainder of the day targeting mostly walleye and landed several good fish. Al managed to catch the biggest one at almost 24 inches in length and at least he got to have his pic taken. Mixed in with these walleye there were also a few smallies and some really jumbo perch. If I had of wanted, we could have filled the boat with these monsters! Maybe the next time out I might just have to keep a bunch!

Although today didn’t go nearly as well as I had hoped, there were at least enough fish to keep everyone busy. The last spot was definitely the best with plenty of action! Maybe tomorrow I’ll start with a couple of monsters just to get the ball rolling. Hopefully the conditions will be in our favour and I can make it happen with bigger and better fish of all species!