The Perfect Birthday Gift

Adrianna wanted to treat her boyfriend Djanis to a day of fishing for his birthday and we scheduled today for sturgeon. They were both from Latvia and had never expected this day to turn out like it did. It was just unbelievable!

We set up quickly after arriving at our first location and within 10 minutes, hooked up. Djanis was about to fight the largest fish of his life, so far! This fish was one of those real heavy ones that never came off the bottom until the very end of the fight. It was just like dead weight and gave him a workout! After battling it for who knows how long, I eventually netted his fish and relief was finally had. At least for now that is!

Although he had won the battle, the struggle wasn’t over and he hoisted it up for several pics. I shot as fast as I could before releasing it back to the water. Now it was about to be Adrianna’s turn!

It didn’t take long before we had our second bite and I passed the rod to Adrianna to do battle with one of her own. Unlike the previous fish, this one took to the air almost immediately and showed us just what she was dealing with. It was another quality fish and she was about to feel the pain!

The fight was a typical 10 minute battle and after multiple runs and manoeuvring the rod from one side of the boat to the other, she was finally done. The pics were quite interesting as she practically hugged her catch in order to actually hold it. Right back to the water it went afterwards and we reset the lines in hopes of another bite.

I had made a small move due to not seeing much on the sonar and apparently it was the right decision. The next bite had Djanis locked up on another monster quite fast. While I was clearing the area for him to fight it, the fish breached and we saw how big it actually was. It was definitely larger than his previous one and a whole lot angrier too!

After a lengthy battle of long runs and dogging under the boat he finally brought his fish up for me to net. Exhausted from the workout, he still had enough strength for the pics and held it up for several shots. Back she went unharmed!

With the winds increasing, I was forced to drop the anchor in order to conserve some of the battery life for later in the day. We set up close by and waited for our next bite.

Although it was supposed to be Adrianna’s turn, Djanis had set into a real monster and she opted to let him keep the rod. Good thing too as it was bigger than anything we had seen so far today!

This fight lasted closer to 15 minutes and saw a couple of spectacular jumps as well as multiple long runs before eventually coming to net. In fact I decided to bring out the tarp for him to handle his fish . It wasn’t easy but somehow he managed to lift it up after the long battle and we shot fast. It was returned quickly and swam off just as fast, unharmed!

The next bite ended in disappointment after Djanis had locked up on another heavy one. It somehow broke us off in less than 3o seconds when it went crazy. It must have been the scoots or something as the leader was much shorter when he reeled it in. I quickly retied another setup and we were back in business in no time!

Shortly after I set into what felt like a small fish and Adrianna got a break when she brought a juvenile to the boat. No need for the net so I just tailed the little guy. A quick boat side release was had before we resumed our fishing.

Adrianna wasn’t as lucky on the next fish however as she was about to do battle with a true giant! When she was handed the rod it was nothing like she had felt before. This thing was heavy and although it was coming to the boat with ease, that was all about to change! The line began to rise and the fish breached in the distance showing us that it was truly a beast!

She struggled to hang on but the adrenaline took over and her inner strength finished the fight. She had been fighting this fish for nearly 20 minutes before I was able to take a shot at the dinosaur. It wasn’t easy though as I had a hard time fitting it in the net. It wouldn’t curl in the beginning and just didn’t drop down into the mesh. Eventually it did however and we were all relieved to see the fight finally over. Now the hard part was about to begin!

With the tarp back down, I heaved it over the rail and gently placed it on the floor. It was going to be a team effort for the pics this time! They would both be holding this monster, if we were going to get the job done.

I had taken plenty of shots from various angles and she was ready to be released. Djanis had also been holding the bulk of the weight and was happy to put her back where she belonged, in the abyss!

They had both decided that the sturgeon thing was done and we packed everything up to try for a much smaller species. Walleye and bass were up next and I headed to an open water shoal to get it done.

I instructed them on what to do and set them both up with a dropshot rod. It didn’t take long and Adrianne landed her first walleye. Not long after, she also landed a nice smallie, giving her a slam for the day! Djanis eventually managed to boat a few fish of his own and now both of them were on the board.

We spent the remainder of the afternoon drifting open water in some good waves and between the two of them, they managed to boat plenty of fish. They were also lucky enough to livewell 4 good keepers for their dinner tonight.

Today was an absolutely insane day of fish catching! Neither of them had ever anticipated that they would land so many big fish let alone be bringing dinner home with them tonight. They will definitely be talking about this day for some time and reliving their moments in both the pics as well as all the videos they shot. This was without a doubt the best birthday present Djanis could have ever gotten! Apparently River Monsters do exist!