A Slammin’ Day

With a terrible wind forecast scheduled for today, I had mixed thoughts about where to go. Danial, Saaid and James were fishing today and I really wanted to make the most of a possible short day. I eventually settled on a local lake in hopes of several hours of wind free fishing when I saw the conditions. We would start out for sturgeon and hopefully get a couple before the hurricane arrived. Reports of 20 to 25 knot winds with higher gusts were expected from the SW and I knew if they came, I would be scrambling to find areas to fish. As luck would have it, the start had us in flat calm conditions and it was a pleasure. I set the lines and awaited the first bite from these prehistoric beasts! They were jumping all around us and I was pretty sure we would get bit. First rod to go was Danial’s and he battled the fish in record time. When we saw it, I knew why too as it was the smallest one I had caught from this place so far. A couple of pics later we were back in and a lengthy wait was finally ended when Saaid got his turn. This time I could tell that it was considerably larger and coached him through the battle. As he had never fished before, this would definitely be his personal best. What a fish to start with! When everyone finally got a glimpse of it they couldn’t believe it’s overall mass. Once in the net and aboard they didn’t know what to do for the pics. I had to give him a hand just to hold it and quickly returned her to the depths from where she came. We actually saw her heading back to the bottom on the sonar! By now we were late morning and unfortunately the weather was starting to turn. The winds had begun, making it next to impossible to fish here any longer. We pulled the lines and opted for a smallmouth bite nearby. In the next hour or so we attempted to fish over shallow rocks in hopes of a few smallies. They managed to get about 10 or so small ones on plastics. Trying to control the electric motor was becoming a challenge in 2 to 3 footers and I finally pulled the plug here to try something new. I made a long run to another area in hopes of trolling northerns and walleye, as this was our best option. At least I would have some control with four lines in the water all the time. Floating weeds were our only problem and there were plenty. I had to check the lines frequently and clean the carpets from the rods! We did manage to catch a pile of fish from the area with most being northerns. Several walleye were taken as well and ironically they were all big. It didn’t matter though as nobody wanted to take any home to eat and the big ones were better for the pics anyway. It was so hot here that I decided to put the bimini top up just to get a reprieve from the sun. As luck would have it, the sun became blocked by heavy clouds soon after and it came down just as quickly. Waves were pretty big even where we were and boat control became an issue in the 3 footers. A downwind troll was definitely much easier as everyone found out. For whatever reason, the winds eventually laid down some making me rethink returning to where we began the day. I had a backup plan should it be impossible but to our surprise it was almost as calm. I set the lines and within a few minutes Danial was into the first fish. This one was much larger than the one he had landed this morning and he thought that one was big. Boy was he in for a surprise as I knew the battle would be a lengthy one. It seemed like every time he brought it up, it sounded back down again. This went on for four or five times before I finally was able to get it in the net. His arms were quite sore and I know he was glad to have it ended as well. It was probably three times the size of the one from the morning and made for some great pics before returning to the water. Saaid had the next one and although he did battle it for a while, it eventually came unpinned. We resumed the fishing and quite long after, Danial hooked up again. This time he decided to give the rod to James as he was the only one that hadn’t landed a fish. He had a couple of chances earlier but they both ended in disappointment. This one wouldn’t though and about 10 minutes later I scooped his fish up in the net. He was exhausted from the fight and also glad it was over. This would end it with a bang and after several pics, we were on our way. I had definitely made the best of this day with many different changes for fishing. Mother Nature hadn’t killed us today and we adjusted locations and species accordingly. It was one of plenty and everyone had slammed from all the changes. No wonder everyone went home completely fulfilled! Great day for fishing!!