Slow Start to The Day
August 8, 2018
August 7th 2018
I was back on the water again today with the same group as yesterday, less one! Little John decided to sit it out but the others were ready to fish. I only hoped that it would be as good as the day before!
We headed out in a light rain and good chop, so I decided to try areas a little closer to start. As soon as I stopped, I immediately set up the roof, hoping to stay out of the rain. It wouldn’t be easy with the wind but at least it would help while trolling!
I set the 4 lines out and began covering the area and it didn’t take long. Although the reel didn’t fire, it was really bent signaling a fish was on the other end. A keeper walleye was soon brought to net and we resumed the troll once again. After what seemed like forever, another rod was hit and Don fought his first Canadian smallie. Although not big by my standards, it was to him and also his personal best. They said that this was big for the waters they fish back in Kansas!
Eventually the rain stopped and the winds seemed to diminish, so I decided to try something new. We headed to an area to try for sturgeon hoping to do battle with a couple of dinosaurs. I hadn’t fished them yet this season and didn’t know what to expect when I began the search. Although we did see some take to the air, we were never really able to mark any concentrations on the bottom. Regardless, we set the lines where we had seen a few and hoped to get bit.
I was having a little difficulty keeping the anchor holding and after several attempts decided to try something. I not only set the anchor but I also used the anchor mode on the electric for some added assistance. This worked perfectly and we held nicely in the wind & current. I made several moves due to the lack of interest and marked some fish each time, but they just didn’t seem to want to bite. John may have had one that looked like the real deal but unfortunately it was short lived. After an hour or so of washing baits, I decided that we had seen enough and packed everything up. We were headed to catch some fish elsewhere!
After a long run, I settled on an area that I knew was holding both walleye & pike. We were back trolling and I would be covering water again, to find the fish! A few minutes later while checking the lines, I felt some weight and handed John the rod. I’m not sure how long the fish was on, but he reeled in a nice over eye that never even made a sound! After a few more hateful bites, I found the water I was looking for and they were finally into fish. From this point on there were fish being landed every couple of minutes and reels were screaming. Both walleye & pike were coming aboard and the action was great! We needed this after the slow morning we had seen and welcomed each and every one! I also had to put the cover back up again, but this time it was for some shade. The sun had become almost unbearable and a little cooler air was needed.
The second half of the day passed by so quickly and before we knew it, the day was over. I don’t know if it was because they had gotten into fish but it just flew by. I packed everything up while the lines were still in the water, hoping for a few more bites, but they never came. We rolled out just about 4:00 and headed back to the dock.
Although today may not have been as good as yesterday, there were still plenty of fish landed. The morning was a little slower than I had hoped for but if only one sturgeon had have cooperated, it would have been all worthwhile! Oh well, at least they got to see some great aerial jumps of our freshwater sharks, but not on their lines! They did however catch enough pike to satisfy them for a lifetime! The walleye were just an added bonus and there were also many of them boated, including some really nice ones too! They had just spent a great two days of fishing for a different species, other than their usual channel cats back home. Who could ask for anything more!!
