I had a group of four with me today, all looking to catch something big and I knew just where to go! They had rescheduled from a few days ago when it just wasn’t fishable due to the giant winds, but today the water was like glass. I was sure we would have a much better time!

After looking around for a brief period, I settled on a place that showed some potential. With three lines in, we waited for our first bite. Unfortunately it took some time before something other than gobies actually bit. We had already moved once and were finally getting a little action when I set into a sturgeon. As it turned out, this fish was just a young one and didn’t really put up much of a fight when Dave reeled it in. The next one wasn’t much bigger either as Curtis found out soon after! We were in a day care area and I needed to make another move, quickly!

Garnet managed to get the third fish and at least this time the size was somewhat better as he did battle with a decent one. I was still looking for something much larger and continued to make adjustments in hopes of finding the real giants.

Although it didn’t really matter, I added a fourth rod to the holders and we were now loaded for bear. With the additional rod came another move and the next time we got bit, it was the real deal. Matt was officially into a quality beast of a sturgeon and likely the biggest fight of his life!

Although we never saw what Matt was fighting, I could tell by the way it was acting, she was big. It made several good runs that had him feeling the pain. It may not have jumped but the fight was a long one and lasted over 15 minutes. When he brought it up to be netted, we all knew why! As I slid the net under his fish, he was relieved that it was all over. Or was it? Now he would have to hold the fish for the photos and this was even harder than doing battle with her. He struggled, but we managed to get a few quick pics before the release.

We resumed fishing afterwards and it didn’t take long before we had another big fish on the line. I think it was Curtis that had this one and after seeing the last fish, we hoped his was equally as big! Many runs were taken before he was able to bring it to net. It may not have been quite as large as the previous fish but it was close! He held it up for more pics and torpedoed it back to where it belonged.

We had managed to get into a couple of other junk fish before another sturgeon actually bit. Matt had been taking a long break after his earlier beast and was now back up, doing battle with another one. He was well rested but soon tiring with the fight from this fish as it looked like another giant. With 15 minutes passed and still no sign of the fish, I knew it was probably larger than his first. I was actually able to net it somewhere around the 20 minute mark and a sigh of relief was had by Matt! A little exhausted from doing battle with another beast, he somehow managed enough strength to hold it for a few quick pics before the release.

After resetting the lines, it didn’t take long before our next bite! I had set into another one and Curtis was hooked up on, what he thought wasn’t big! When it decided to breach, his opinion quickly changed! Now he knew exactly what he was dealing with and it was going to be a long fight!

Sometime close to 20 minutes later I was wishing for a bigger net. I had managed to slide the fish into the bowl but its nose had jammed in one of the openings not allowing it to actually fall into the net. It was a struggle to fold the fish, but eventually it dropped into the net properly. The battle was officially done! I think Curtis found his inner strength when the adrenaline kicked in to hold the dinosaur for his pics. She entered the water right after and went straight to the bottom where she belonged.

They had wanted to keep some time to try for walleye in the end and after one more fish by Dave, we packed it in. The SW winds had picked up a bit too and I was looking forward to hitting an area in this wind. We would be drop shotting open water and it would definitely help!

I set up the four rods and began the drift and it didn’t take long before Curtis was hooked up. Although it was the right species, it was the wrong size and had to be returned. His next one however was a good keeper and went into the livewell. He also landed 3 other keepers in the time we were there and added them to the livewell too. The others weren’t fending as well with only Matt catching one perch. I’m pretty sure everyone had hits but just didn’t realize that they were fish and missed the strikes. We had only about an hour on the spot but it was well worth stopping as Curtis would be eating fish tonight!

Today couldn’t have gone any better than it did with everyone landing sturgeon. Some of the fish were truly giants and likely the biggest things they would ever see. The icing on the cake however were the walleye that Curtis managed to put in the boat in the short time we fished them. Conditions couldn’t have been any better either with practically no wind all day. We may have had times when it rained but with the roof up, we all remained dry while fishing. It was definitely better than a few days back when we postponed the trip. The 3 & 4 footers wouldn’t have been much fun to fish in and sturgeon would have definitely been out as anchoring would have been next to impossible. Today was a great day filled with plenty of memories of all the monster fish they had caught! Great day for fishing!

I had the pleasure of fishing with an old tournament friend today. Patrick joined Christiane & I for a great day, filled with all kinds of fish. He even managed to catch a giant!

We all hit the lake shortly after 7:30 and decided that we would try for the sturgeon first. It had been a good early morning bite the last couple of outings and I hoped today would be the same.

With lines in and no wind, the rod holders really came into use as seeing even the lightest bite was no problem. Although we were plagued with the goby nibbles at times, I was on fish and didn’t want to move too soon. After re baiting several times, I finally saw a good bite on one of the rods and set into some weight. Pat was in for the fight of his life!

The dead weight of his fish confirmed that this was the one we wanted and he did battle for over ten minutes. Trying to bring the fish from the bottom was not easy as it remained deep and took several good runs as well. It had to be big because it was next to impossible for him to gain much line and keep it on the reel. Every time he was able to get some back, the fish took everything and more. After a while though, he wore the fish out and was able to bring it up for me to net. It was enormous!

Although Pat had previously caught sturgeon, I found out that he hadn’t landed anything this size before. He would have great memories and some truly great pics to remember his catch! As always, the fish was returned unharmed to fight another day!

We reset the lines and it didn’t take long for Christiane to have a fight of her own. It didn’t seem to be as big as the previous one, but fought great just the same. In fact, it breached soon after being hooked showing us exactly what she was dealing with! Several good runs were made and the fight was as always, great! In a little over 5 minutes she had it beside the boat for me to net and soon after, held it for some pics. They were both officially on the board!

The next several hours saw us making a few more moves and landing many more fish. Sturgeon, channel cats, Redhorse suckers and walleye were also added to the mix. Most of the fish however were the targeted species! We even wore our buffs for a pic, to embrace the Covid Times!

We had stuck it out until about 1:00 and were now ready for a move. I was going to take them for bass and hoped the fish would cooperate. The overcast skies from the heavy clouds and misty rain had me believing that the fish would still be somewhat shallow and I knew just where to go.

Christiane nailed the first fish on a blade and Pat wasn’t far behind. He was throwing a soft plastic and managed to get five or six others before we finished the run. I could have gone back for another pass but decided to hit a new area instead, looking for much bigger fish! I had also livewelled some of the larger ones from this place and took a few pics, before releasing the fish back to where they had been caught.

Our next area was covered quite thoroughly and Pat managed to land the only smallie from the entire place. One or two other follows were seen but unfortunately didn’t take!

With time passing quickly I decided to make a long run and hit one final spot. I hoped the action would be better there! It was beginning to load up for the fall and should be holding more fish.

It didn’t take long for a confirmation as Pat missed a bass on his first cast. I immediately set Christiane up with the same bait and between the two of them they probably had 15 or more chances at bass. Some were landed but most were missed before we were done!

Today was an interesting one filled with stories of old tournament times and plenty of action. Pat managed to get is personal best sturgeon and several other smaller ones as well. Both Christiane and Pat landed a good number of different fish through all the weird weather we had seen. We had clouds, rain and eventually plenty of sunshine to end the day. At one point, I even had to raise the roof to keep us dry! Throughout it all there was never a dull moment as everyone had a great time. Many quality fish were boated making this, another great day on the water!

This was Rick & Danny’s final day of fishing for their trip and I wanted to keep the ball rolling. Unfortunately the waters we had wanted to go to had another tournament and there would be boats everywhere. I decided to remain on the same water and grind it out!

With winds expected to increase from the south this morning, I thought we’d give sturgeon fishing another try before it got too big. We set the lines and held in place with the electric motor, but still had to hold the rods due to the bouncing waves.

After a couple of moves due to only nibbles, I finally felt the first bite. As soon as I reared back on the rod, I knew it was a good fish just by the dead weight. The rod never moved when I came up, signifying a beast!

Danny was up, after Rick had landed the last fish a couple of days back and gladly took the rod. It was like he was snagged on the bottom! When the fish took a few runs, all he could do was hang on and let it go. There was no turning the fish or controlling it and I knew he was in for a long fight!

Although this fish never jumped, the battle took place entirely on the bottom, with strong runs. Fifteen minutes after the initial hook up Danny was actually bringing the monster up, or so he thought. Each time he was able to gain line, the sturgeon took it all back and more. It was a really strong fish and didn’t want to give up!

We were pushing the 20 minute mark before he actually raised it to the surface and even at that, the fish still made a few more runs. Eventually I slid the net under the fish and ended the battle. Surprisingly it was a male and not the female I had thought by the fight. If it had of been, it would have been a real monster. Instead it was a male and one of the longest ones I had ever seen. It was still a big fish and really heavy as Danny found out during the pics! I never really got any great shots as he wasn’t able to hold it for very long. He was happy to release it as quickly as possible and end the pain! As it turned out, this was his largest sturgeon to date and the only one we were to get for the day. I guess if you only get one, that was the right one!

We stayed a little longer but the winds really picked up creating much bigger waves, forcing us to pull the plug on this area. They were only fishing a half day and I thought we would take advantage of the conditions and try for walleye instead. They gladly agreed and we packed up and made the long run to where I knew they would be.

Within minutes after arriving, Danny & I were hooked up on a couple of good keepers. The place was loaded by the looks of the screen and I knew there would be many more! Drift after drift, fish were being hooked and after a couple of hours, they both had their limits to take home. I held out a little longer and managed to put a few more in the boat for me as well. Our day was officially done!

The three days spent fishing had produced some great fish each day. Today however was like the icing on the cake with the largest sturgeon and perfect timing for a couple of limits of fish. I was glad Mother Nature had somewhat cooperated and not killed us with either a monsoon or hurricane winds! Overall, she was quite pleasant at times, providing us with some great fishing and absolutely beautiful weather. It actually felt more like mid-August than the end of September! Another great trip in the books, once again!

Rick & Danny were back with me again this morning for a day of bass fishing. With little to no wind and temps expected to be in the 90 degree range, I knew it should be good.

Our first spot produced many bites but unfortunately none of them actually got hooked. I was surprised to see this but it happens I guess. We eventually headed to another area in hopes of better success after working it thoroughly.

There were plenty of boats on the water today and I had to fish faster than I would have liked to get to certain places. Covering water seemed to be the ticket though as both Danny & Rick managed to catch many quality bass on soft plastics. With each section of the areas we fished, big bass were present! It was definitely a lot better than where we had started!

We made several moves to different spots today and saw lots of boat traffic along the way. I think anyone that owned a boat was on the water due to the amazing weather!

Late in the afternoon I decided to hit a spot that was literally in the middle of nowhere and Rick managed to get into several more quality fish both on soft plastics and blades. He even brought to net a nice walleye that was unfortunately over the slot limit.

With time getting on, I hit one last spot and we managed one more bass before we were done. Although they struggled today, the fish they caught were big! Quality over quantity is sometimes better and that’s exactly what we had. I don’t know what tomorrow will bring but I’m sure it will be equally as good. They will be fishing a half day and I’ll have to get the job done in less time. Challenge accepted!

Rick & Danny were here for three days and today they were looking for some giants. Hopefully the fish would cooperate with the winds from the NE. We were about to find out soon!

The run to our starting spot was a roller coaster ride! Waves were 2 to 3 footers and rolled like Lake Ontario. It was going to be interesting holding in these conditions as they were opposite the flow.

Once I located some fish, we used the electric motor to anchor up and surprisingly it was fine. We had to hold the rods however as the boat was bouncing way too much to use the rod holders.

Not long into the day I felt a bite and set into something. Danny was up first and took the rod only to reel in a massive drum! It was definitely bigger than any other he had caught before. Rick was up next and his brother set into something a little more substantial in weight. Danny gave the rod to him and he did battle for quite some time. Although it never jumped, it did put up a great fight making 8 long runs. This was the most any sturgeon had ever taken before! I eventually netted the fish and despite not being thick it made up for it in length. It was a really long male and definitely worthy of several pics before the release!

We reset the lines awaiting our next bite and Rick returned the favour, by setting into another beast. Danny was about to do battle with one even larger than the previous fish he had hooked!

The males always seem to hug the bottom while fighting and this was exactly what his fish was doing. The fight lasted almost 15 minutes and had a number of long runs as well. When I was finally able to slide the net under the sturgeon, we realized why. It was a real long fish! Danny held it for a few pics and off she went to fight another day. I still don’t know why anyone would want to kill one of these creatures!

We remained in the same general area and made a couple of moves trying to locate more active monsters. Four more of them came out to play but they were all somewhat smaller than the first two dinosaurs! Eventually we decided to leave as the winds had increased and we wanted to try for other species before the day ended.

Well the last 90 minutes didn’t turn out as I had planned with only a few fish biting. I was marking plenty of walleye on the bottom but with the big NE winds, was unable to get anything going. We eventually ran out of time and called it a day! Tomorrow we will likely focus our attention on smaller fish, but maybe we’ll drop the sticks in and try for a different kind of beast as well. We’ll just have to wait and see what the day brings. Today was a success and I hope the next two are equally as good as the first!