Never Ending Blow

Joe, Bob & Dusty joined me today for another Rock & Roll day! They were hoping to get into a few sturgeon and despite the conditions, we did just that. The difficult part was trying to anchor in sustained 25 knot winds with stronger gusts. After multiple attempts, I finally managed to get the two anchors to grab and we were holding. We set the lines and waited in anticipation of our first bite. I had told Joe that if we were able to anchor in the wind, that we would get bit. With rods in hand, they had a long wait as the lines kept getting full of weeds from the drifting debris. I had to check them frequently and clean them but eventually it became less and less and Bob finally got bit. He was locked up and things were looking up! Although not a huge fish, it was a good sign and the fight was better than anything he was use to. After about 5 minutes I slid the net under his catch and everyone was pumped. He held the fish for a few pics and released it back so we could hook up again. Lines in and 10 minutes later, he hooked up once more and brought another to net. After the release, it didn’t take long before Joe was also locked up and battling one of his own. These last two fish weren’t too big and although they fought great, didn’t take the others out of the game for long! By now, Bob was wondering what he was doing wrong but didn’t realize it was luck of the draw. Good things come to those that wait and that’s exactly what happened! When he finally got bit, he reared back on a decent fish. We found out just how good when she took to the air for all to see. It was large and he was in for the fight of his life! It beat him up pretty good in the 15 minute battle. By the time he brought it to net, he was feeling the pain in his arms and back. I informed him that the worst was yet to come! He now had the pleasure of lifting it up for the pics and put on a great comedy show. I wish I could have gotten it on video instead of waiting for the still pics. When he stopped fumbling with his fish, we shot fast and he tossed her right back where she belonged. Now everyone had landed fish and all we were missing was a giant. Not long after resetting the lines, Joe heaved back and was into another good one. After several minutes it took to the air and I told him, he was in for a long battle. This was the one I wanted for them and Joe was about to do battle with the largest thing he had ever hooked. Many long runs and just sheer heaviness put a beating on Joe’s arms and back in the 20 or so minutes he fought it. At one point we could see the rod shaking, or was it Joe’s arms? When I finally got it in the net, I realized that it was even bigger than I thought and needed help to lift it into the boat. As hard as that was, Joe was about to have an even tougher time holding his monster catch. We really needed to shoot fast once he lifted her and even at that, he had to rest it on his knee for the pics. Putting her back was also difficult as he fumbled it over the railing due to all his spent energy. He was totally exhausted now and didn’t want anything to do with another fish for a while. I got the lines back in the water and began the wait once again. The afternoon saw a number of others caught and missed as everyone had their chances. Despite the horrible, relentless winds today, they fended quite well. They had all landed big fish and felt the power of these dinosaurs! I’m sure that given the opportunity, they would have done this again tomorrow. Unfortunately for them, I was already booked and they headed back home. Who knows, maybe I’ll see them again as I do have one more available day at the end of the month before it closes. All I know is that everyone had a great time landing fish they had never caught before and got beat up in the process. Who could ask for anything more!