The Perfect Fall Day

Ed & his niece Angie were with me today and looking to get into some sturgeon. I just hoped that with the beautiful day forecasted, they would bite. Add to that the number of people taking advantage of the nice weather too and traffic might also be an issue.

We set up shortly after 8:00 and unfortunately never had a bite for the first 3 hours. Multiple moves were made but the results were still the same until I searched much shallower. I had marked some fish there and thought I’d give it a try.

It didn’t take long for the first bite and Angie landed a juvenile sturgeon. Ed followed up almost immediately with another small fish and I thought I was in the day care! After two more small sturgeon, I decided to get the hell out of the area and move back out to deeper water once again.

I soon marked a few decent fish and spot locked with the electric, hoping to get bit. Well we did get a quick fish but Angie reeled in another small sturgeon and things weren’t looking too good. About 15 minutes later, I was making another move to an area that had been producing big fish recently. A bunch of boats had cleared out, unsuccessful with their morning and I was finally able to fish where I wanted.

I don’t think the lines were in for more than 15 minutes when I saw a light bite on one of the rods. As soon as I set into the fish, I knew it was a good one. Ed quickly took the rod while Angie & I reeled in the other two lines, clearing room for the fight.

It was nice to finally see a decent fish on the end of the line and Ed enjoyed the battle too. A couple of minutes in, his fish breached in the distance and we saw that it was quality. The rest of the time the fish remained on the bottom and made multiple runs in all kinds of directions. Somewhere around ten minutes later, he managed to bring it up close enough for me to net. It was definitely long but a little on the thin side! Still, it was the biggest one so far for today and definitely worthy of a few pics before being released.

Angie was up next and the bite came pretty quick. I had managed to get two of the three lines back in and was re baiting the last one when we were hit. I immediately set into weight and knew she was about to do battle with a good one. I guess the last move was the right one as we were finally into quality fish!

Angie had caught a few small ones so far, but this one was the real deal. It took her all over the place with long runs, but never jumped. Just like the previous one, this fish remained on the bottom to the very end. In fact every time she started to bring it up, the fish just sounded again. She was on the sturgeon for almost 20 minutes before I was finally able to net it and bring her aboard. It was definitely bigger than Ed’s fish and a whole lot heavier!

After we had shot a bunch of good pics and returned the fish to the water, we resumed fishing once again. Unfortunately we weren’t as lucky with another quick bite, but did get one about 45 minutes later. I had been contemplating a move and was glad I had stayed! When I set into this fish, it didn’t budge. I knew right then that Ed was about to fight a really good one!

It took a little while but eventually the fish realized it was hooked and it just went nuts. Long runs and a nice jump were had before she settled on the bottom for the balance of the battle. Each time Ed tried to bring the fish up, it peeled line from the reel with another blistering run. This show was to last about 20 minutes before Ed was able to start gaining on his fish. Soon after, it was up near the surface and I carefully slid it into the net. The easy part was officially over. Time for the pics!

I don’t think Ed realized just how big his fish was until he had to hold the beast. It wasn’t pretty but we got the job done and he released her back to the depths. It’s always cool to watch on the sonar as the fish swims right back to the bottom!

Although we attempted another, it just wasn’t in the cards. After almost 45 minutes with no bites, we called it a day. It may have started out a little slow but it ended with a bang. Both Ed and Angie had landed several fish and a few of them were quality too. As for the gorgeous day on the water, well that was just a bonus! We couldn’t have asked for anything more after enduring the previous year. That was just living hell with big winds and giant waves!

Before they left, Ed made it a point to reserve the same time for next year. He may have to wait 12 months before he gets into another dinosaur but as for me, it’ll be much sooner. With the season drawing to an end quickly, I will be targeting sturgeon as many days as I can before it closes. With any luck there will be many more of these beasts boated before I switch to much smaller fish like bass & walleye. I can hardly wait for the next monster!