A Little Bit of Everything

I had a father & son join me today all the way from the State of Texas. It would be easy to remember their names as they were both the same! Chris & Chris were up for everything so that was exactly what they were going to get. We began in a smallie area that had become a community hole lately. It would be the first time that I was able to get in without multiple boats fishing it too! Chris Jr. was dragging a jig and his dad was tossing a stick bait to try and pluck some of the more aggressive ones. As soon as I showed them where to throw, it didn’t take long for Jr. to connect with a decent fish. Too bad it didn’t last as it jumped and was gone! A little heartbroken but not to worry as I was sure there were more here. Sr. managed to get one to commit suicide as he never even felt the take! All of a sudden it was there and leaping in the air to toss the hooks. Eventually he brought it to net and a chunky 3.5 pound fish was his catch. As he admired his prize, I shot several shots before it was returned to the water. A little trash talk was heard and it was only going to get worse! They both went right back in there and not long after, Sr. was locked up again. He battled a clone of the first one to the boat and I netted his second smallie of the morning. After seeing this, I rigged another rod for Jr. and got them back in the game. Unfortunately after about 30 minutes of nothing, I decided to pull the plug and relocate. I had another area nearby that should produce walleye and bass and wanted to give it a try. They both tossed jigs to a drop and unfortunately came up empty. There were plenty of missed strikes but nothing was boated so we just moved on. We were heading for the big girls now and I knew they were in for a treat! Once we were set up, it took a little while longer than I expected for the first one to appear. Chris Sr. was into a good fish and about to feel the pain! I instructed him on what to do and we watched as the fish took control. It was like trying to reel in a Greyhound Bus on the highway! He could barely gain 5 feet before the sturgeon would take back 10. I knew this was an endurance thing and informed him that it was only going to get worse. Once the fish settled down, it began to come in and Chris was finally starting to gain line. A few minutes later, it was in the net and they were shocked. It was definitely the largest thing they had ever landed and needed proof of the catch. As with all these dinosaurs, it was released to fight another day! The second hookup was much quicker and this time it was Chris Jr. that was going to feel the burn. He could barely move this thing for the first few minutes and just held on. Eventually he began to reel some line back and was able to get it closer to the boat. He felt what his dad had earlier and fought through the pain to land another huge fish. When he tried to pick it up for a few shots, I think he finally realized the actual weight. Somehow he managed to hold it for the pics and back it went. We regrouped and were back in and Sr. was tight lined almost immediately. This fish went ballistic and took to the air as soon as it was hooked. For whatever reason, it also went into an alligator death roll and tied itself up so bad that it just laid on the surface. All he could do was reel it back to the boat like it was dead! Not wanting to net this "Green Giant", I poked it with the net and it went insane once again. It was so tangled up that the gills weren’t even moving. I decided to net her and had to cut the line when I realized it was impossible to attempt anything else. No worse for wear, we tossed her back after pics and she left us in a giant boil when she hit the water. I’ve never experienced this before and hope I never will again! Our weather had changed considerably by the time we were to reset the lines and I decided that we would move elsewhere and try for some walleye. The waves weren’t so bad that they couldn’t get bit but I would have liked a little less wind. Blowing from the SW at 10 to 20 still caused 2 footers with occasional threes and I had set up correctly for the drift. Jr. had the first fish on in just a few minutes and landed a nice walleye of around 3 pounds. Our drifts were short ones and I had to move often in order to stay on the fish but they were getting bit plenty. Unfortunately most were missed strikes and ended up empty lined. Eventually they both started understanding how to react when bit and began hooking more than before. Jr. even managed to get one around 24 inches before the winds switched to NW and shut the fish down completely. We spent the next 5 drifts empty and discouraged and then it started to rain. Talk about getting crapped on! Although I was still marking them, we couldn’t get bit at all and I realized we were done. One more drift had Chris Sr. finally locked up and we were about to end on a high. He brought another 24 inch fish to net and we were done. It was definitely a strange day on the water with many different things happening. Multiple fish of various species and size along with many weather changes made it an interesting one. They had a great time experiencing it all and talks of a return trip are already in the process. As usual, "Mother Nature" threw us another day filled with amusing challenges, but we overcame!!