Full Moon Monsters
August 23, 2021
Dave and his son Mathieu had booked a half day morning trip in hopes of catching a sturgeon. He also brought his mother Dale along as she just loved being on the water and spending time with her family. I hoped that the big fish would cooperate with the full moon!
We set up in the usual area and waited in anticipation for the first bite. I had marked a few fish and hoped for one of them to eat and it didn’t take long before we were hooked up. I set into a decent fish and knew immediately that it wasn’t the one we were looking for. I passed the rod to Mathieu and he fought a good sized drum. Not what we were looking for but still nice regardless!
We reset the lines after the release and unfortunately I missed the next bite. It felt heavy when I set into it and for a couple of seconds it was on the line. Then the hook pulled free and it wasn’t! This was the first fish I had missed all season so far and I wasn’t happy. My hook up ratio when they bite is almost 100% the way I fish, but this time it just wasn’t meant to be. I shrugged it off and reset the line hoping that we would be able to get another shot at a giant.
About 15 minutes had passed before one of the rods began the bounce and this time I set into some weight. I immediately passed the rod to Dave and he was locked up on the one we wanted. He fought it for about 5 minutes before the fish went crazy under the water and completely wrapped itself up in the line. So much so that I had to release the anchor and drift down to the fish in order to gain any line. He was now fighting dead weight! I was able to untangle his fish and passed him back the rod to do battle for a few more minutes before I finally netted the sturgeon. This was definitely the one we were after! Dave held it up for a few shots before releasing his very first river monster!
We resumed fishing and Mathieu boated another small fish soon after. It was a channel cat and not the sturgeon he wanted. It was still a good fish and deserves a few pics before being let go. His mother Dale was passed the next rod and she actually landed her very first sturgeon. Although not the size of the earlier one, it was a species that she had never caught before. More pics and another release!
We had made several moves throughout the morning due to the pesky nibblers and Mathieu lost what I believe to be his first sturgeon. I was hoping to get another one before we were done and anchored up on one really big mark. With any luck we might just catch this one too!
It didn’t take long before the fish bit and I reared back on some substantial weight. There was no way Mathieu would be able to bring this thing in so I passed the rod to his father once again. It just felt like dead weight at first and then it started to run. It peeled plenty of line from the reel and Dave managed to get most of it back until I saw it starting to rise. I let them all know to watch as it breached and showed us that it was quite a bit bigger than the previous one he just caught. Let the fight begin!
Dave had been battling this fish for over ten minutes before it started to show signs of tiring. We could see it on the sonar under the boat and I knew it was nearing the end. Soon after, he brought it up and I slid the net under his fish, ending the fight. Dave’s arm was really tired after fighting the second fish and I think a third one would have just taken him out. It was difficult for him to hold the fish for the pics but somehow he managed long enough for me to snap a few quick shots. It was quickly released unharmed back to the depths from where it had come from.
We made another attempt at getting into more fish but with no luck. The sun was high now & the heat was intense and it was time to go. More boat traffic was on the water too and it was starting to become harder to see the bites. It didn’t matter though as we had accomplished what I wanted and everyone had gotten into fish.
Today may have been a short one but Dave finally landed what was his biggest fish ever, twice! He had wanted to fight a sturgeon and had done battle with two great contenders. Overall, I call that a success!!
