Rafi & his daughter Tina were with me today and we were going big! I gave them the offer before we headed out and sturgeon was what we were starting with. Let’s just hope they would bite!

With the winds from the E/NE, I wasn’t sure how it would be, but decided to give it a try anyway. When I set up, I realized that I needed the aid of the drift sock just to keep us from being blown up current. This was going to be tricky with the wind & waves rolling from behind! It was a little difficult, but we were able to get the lines in and managed alright despite these unusual conditions.

We had been fishing for almost an hour without any bites when I decided to make a move. The winds had also calmed slightly, so I headed to another area to give it a try. Although I was marking some smaller fish here, I thought it would be better than nothing and anchored up to fish.

I had just casted the third line and was letting it sink when one of the other rods started to get bit. I immediately cranked on the reel, loading the fish while passing the sinking line to Tina. We were officially locked up and Rafi was about to get the fight of his life! We quickly brought in the other lines and cleared the area for him to do battle with his very first sturgeon.

What I had originally thought was a small fish, turned out to be a good one as it began peeling line from the reel. All he could do was hang on and feel the strength of the fish, as it ran. This battle was mostly fought deep as the fish never came off the bottom until the very end. Ten minutes or so later, I finally had the fish in the net and the fight was over. I shot a few pics and he released it back to live another day.

With the lines reset I was hoping to get Tina into a fish of her own and within 15 minutes, she was battling it. This wasn’t nearly as big as the previous fish, but it was her first sturgeon too. It was the perfect size for her to get started on and she enjoyed the battle. It even breached near the boat for everyone to see! Moments later I netted the fish and passed it to her to hold. After several pics, she returned it to the water and we reset, in hopes of another.

We were definitely in the right area as our third bite came soon after. I set into the fish and passed the rod to Rafi. This time however, it was a juvenile and was at the boat in no time. It didn’t matter though as they were catching fish!

I had all the lines back in the water and been waiting for a while when I noticed one of rods getting a subtle bite. Unfortunately when I set on the fish, it never grabbed and I missed the hook set. I brought the line back in and re baited it in hoped of getting the fish back.

Another 15 minutes had passed before we got our next bite, but it was a good one. I set into some serious weight and knew this fish was going to be large! I passed the rod to Tina and Rafi & I cleared the other lines in anticipation of a long battle.

You can always tell when a big fish is on the line, when it feels just like a snag! Other than the head shakes in the beginning, it wasn’t evening moving! She was in for a long & painful fight!

The amount of line that this fish took off the reel was scary and at one point I actually thought I was going to have to chase it. When the line counter reached over 200 feet, it finally stopped and Tina managed to gain most of it back. This was short lived however as it took it all back out once again. She was fighting a true river monster!

I believe that she had been doing battle with this fish for nearly 20 minutes and it wasn’t showing any signs of tiring. It was pressed tightly to the bottom and going from one side of the boat to the other. Every time Tina was able to bring it up, it turned and went right back down. Finally though, she was starting to gain and managed to bring it up for us to see! It was definitely the largest fish I had seen all season and I wanted it in the net. It wasn’t easy but after several more minutes and a few close attempts, I was able to net this beast and the fight was officially over. Tina was also officially spent!

I had left the monster in the net while prepping everything for the pics and was finally ready to lift it into the boat. I knew it was big but realized just how heavy when I tried hoisting it over the side. The net mesh caught on just about everything due to its shear mass, making it even more difficult for me to lift. Eventually however, I managed to swing it into the boat and onto the tarp for its protection.

With Tina seated on the back deck, we lifted it up and placed it onto her lap for some pics. It nearly crushed her and I had to shoot fast so as not to injure either of them! Between the two of us, we worked together to slide it over the rail after and back into the water. This had to be one of the top 3 biggest sturgeon to ever come aboard, in all the years of fishing them. To make it even more special, it was landed by a woman!

It was after noon now and they decided to end on a high with the sturgeon. We packed it in and headed back to the ramp for a short break and for them to warm up! I was going to fish for walleye after they were done and used the down time to prep the rods while they were gone.

The winds were blowing pretty hard from the east and it wasn’t going to be easy to fish where I was going. The good news was that there were fish and I caught one on the first drop. We spent the next couple of hours or so drifting opposite the current and a few more fish were landed. With this cold east wind, they both decided that they were done and we once again packed up and called it a day. There were 4 nice walleye in the livewell and at least they would be having fish for dinner!

This was an incredible day of fishing despite the crappy conditions we had to deal with. The highlight was definitely the monster that Tina had caught and that made everyone’s day! The bonus was the dinner they would be having from the fresh catch they were bringing home. Other than being cold for most of the day, they both had a good time, loaded with great fishing! I can’t wait to get back out, searching for another King Kong!

October 19^th 2019

Joel & Mindy had rescheduled their trip for sturgeon last month and today was the day! They were hoping to catch their very first one, but really didn’t know what to expect. If I could mark them, they would catch them!

We set up in an area that showed signs of life and although it did take longer than I wanted, Mindy managed to catch a juvenile. It was cute to see but not what I was looking for!

I had been contemplating a move, but held a little longer when I began marking more fish. Apparently it was a good choice too as we never left the area the entire day. Once the fish began to bite, we saw action all day long. The best period was definitely when the moon was setting as the bigger fish seemed to eat. They caught several quality ones that fought like champs. Most of them even jumped giving everyone a great view of their size.

Today was one of those beautiful fall days and I think everyone that owned a boat, was on the water. At least we didn’t have to deal with too many pleasure craft, as all the boats seemed to be fishermen!

As the afternoon passed, Mindy and Joel kept catching and plenty of great fights were had. The long runs were fun to watch as they struggled to reel these fish back to the boat. It seemed like each time they gained, it was followed up with another reel screaming run. Every time I netted their fish, a sigh of relief was had!

The last fish of the day turned out to be one of the biggest but the fight was definitely the best. Joel spent at least 20 minutes on the beast, before bringing it to net. There was no sense getting the lines back in afterwards, so we packed everything up and called it a day.

With each fish they caught today, Joel & Mindy gained more confidence on just what to do. In the end, they fought every sturgeon like they had been doing it for years. I’m pretty sure they’ll be talking about this trip for a long time and remembering all of the battles they endured. What a great day for fishing!

Today was their last day so Vito & Al decided to go pound on the smallies one more time. They were more than happy to battle as many bronze backs as they could hook.

Soon after we arrived at the first spot, Vito wasted no time getting the ball rolling with several bass and one of them was a true giant. The bite wasn’t great with the fish barely biting and several bass were missed on the strikes. By slowing down their presentations, they were able to keep most of the fish pinned all the way to the boat. Unfortunately a few of the real big ones came off though from too much pressure. It was going to be one of those days!

From deep to shallow, they hooked fish after fish all day long! It didn’t seem to matter what they threw, as long as it matched the depth we were in. Plenty of the fish were quality along with many feisty smaller ones too. They definitely didn’t lack the numbers today!

We were scheduled to finish up right around 4:00 but a last minute spot held us for an additional 15 minutes or so. Both Vito & Al were getting into bass on almost every cast and I hate to leave fish biting! Al even landed the elusive fall fish on his very last cast ending the day on a high note. He had really wanted one of these things and previously been only able to watch as Vito boated many of them.

These past four days had passed quickly but we were fortunate to have had all of them with almost perfect conditions. I couldn’t have asked for better weather for this time of year! I’m sure they will remember the time they spent up north and hopefully I will see them again next season. It was definitely a pleasure, fishing with them as they brought all their own tackle and they were a couple of great sticks. I couldn’t have asked for anything more!

Day three started out a little slow, but definitely turned around to become the best one so far! Despite the great number of boats everywhere, Vic & Al pounded on the fish once again. By slowing down and making several adjustments, they were able to catch plenty of quality bass.

We began with a drop shot set up and although they managed to get into a few fish, they weren’t the calibre I was searching for. I moved around some and picked the areas I wanted to fish, carefully! I actually let other boats fish through just so that I could concentrate on specific spots for Al & Vic to cast. This worked out fine, for the most part!

As the day got on, the fishing picked up with each move we made and both of them began catching many more fish. Some real quality bass came to net along with a nice walleye that Al managed to hook into. Although it was difficult trying to decide where to fish comfortably, I still got the job done without incident. My head was definitely on a swivel today as I kept a close eye on all the others nearby!

Al even managed to catch his personal best bass and backed it up soon after, with another of almost the same size. Big fish were plentiful but we really had to slow down in order to catch them too. A couple of the spots were holding both numbers and size and we took advantage of them for as long as we could.

For the last hour or so in the day, I had to resort to using the small engine for boat positioning. The wind and current had killed my batteries almost completely. This was the first time this year that I had run out of power! It didn’t matter though as I was able to hold the boat stationary, just like I was anchored. They even managed to get a few more good quality fish before we were done!

We ended the day before four o’clock and headed back to take out. The winds were deceiving but as we got more to the open water I saw just how big they had gotten and understood why my batteries had died. The waves too were quality!

Tomorrow we will be back out and although I’m not sure where I will be, I’m sure the fishing will be great. I really want to end with a bang so maybe I’ll just have to go and anchor up for a couple of those dinosaurs once again. One way or another, they’ll be catching plenty of fish!

This morning I decided to try for the sturgeon with Vic & Al, to see if I could get them a big bite. Unfortunately after a few hours of just washing baits, we called it quits! We never even had a bite and with all the traffic in the area, I told them we would be better off doing something else.

I decided to head to a spot with smallmouth and Al hooked a nice one almost immediately. Several more were also landed but their size wasn’t great. I definitely wanted to have them battle both quality and numbers today. Time for another move!

I had idled around looking for one of my spots and with less wind and bright sunshine, found it quickly. It was about to get interesting as Vic hooked into a fish almost immediately. For the next couple of hours, or more, they both pounded on one bass after the other on a variety of baits. It was just insane how many fish were in this area and some really good ones too! At one point, Vic was just putting on a clinic! Eventually all good things must come to an end however and when the action slowed, we moved to one last spot for them to catch a bunch of walleye.

With the lack of wind and bright sun, I wasn’t sure how we were going to do. Al confirmed it quickly though as he hooked into another smallie on his very first cast. He followed it up with big perch, a pike and finally a walleye giving him a grand slam in less than 5 minutes. After this, they both started putting the beat down on a bunch more walleye. We could have taken a couple of limits back if we had of wanted but instead released every one to fight another day.

This last spot had produced plenty of action before we called it quits. Despite the lack of sturgeon cooperation, the rest of the fishing was fantastic. They had caught all kinds of bass & walleye as well as a few other incidentals. Overall it was a great day for fishing and the weather was absolutely perfect too!