A Wet Fish Full Day
September 28, 2021
Bruce, his daughter Lauren and her husband Jesse joined me today for a mix of fish species. We headed out in rough conditions, once again and I wasn’t sure if we would even be able to anchor up for sturgeon. I was going to head there to see and hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad. All we could do was try!
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the waves were significantly smaller when we arrived and knew immediately that it was going to be doable. I quickly set up the rods and idled over the area searching for a few marks. It wasn’t looking great but I was able to find a few fish and settled on them, hoping for our first bite.
We had been trying for about 30 minutes without any luck and I had changed locations a couple of times before we finally got bit. I immediately set into a fish but knew it wasn’t big. Jesse took the rod and reeled in his first sturgeon and realized how strong they actually were. Even a small fish pulls hard!
We were hoping to get a few more and I kept moving to find the ones I wanted for them. Unfortunately they were scarce and I had to settle on smaller marks instead. The next fish went to Lauren and she battled yet another small fish that thought it was big. Although it pulled hard it was no match for the tackle we were using and came in quickly.
The weather conditions had taken a turn for the worse and I was forced to raise the roof when we were dumped on by heavy rain. Although it didn’t last long, it was intense and would have soaked everyone early in the trip. When it finally stopped, the winds began and I wasn’t sure how much longer we would be able to hold in this area before having to move.
I decided to make one more attempt at finding fish and idled once again in search of bigger marks on the sonar. I was able to find one and got the lines in hoping to get bit! About ten minutes later, one of the rods started to bounce and I set into some weight. I had high hopes that it was the one I had seen but the weight felt less than the usual heaviness when it’s giant. Jesse took the rod once again and soon found out what he was dealing with when it took to the air. It was a good one and he was about to feel the power of these fish. Multiple runs were made and another great jump during the battle. This fish just didn’t want to give up! After almost ten minutes I was finally able to net his fish and the show was over! Jesse held it for several pics and released the beast back to the depths from where it had come from. We all decided that with the winds and one final fish that we were done. I packed everything up and changed gears completely!
With the sturgeon out of the way now, I was about to focus on bass & walleye. I set up on an edge and had them throw a drop shot rig. The winds weren’t favourable but they managed to get into several fish in the time we were there. Both bass & walleye were landed and a few of the walleye even made it into the livewell for their dinner tonight. Once the action slowed however, I was forced to make a long run to another open water flat. The rain had also started up again, along with more wind and it was just getting miserable! I tried to outrun the precipitation and get set up before it hit us again!
Once I arrived I realized that the area was loaded with fish and the drifts would be great with the wind we had. We did also manage to get ahead of the wet stuff, but only briefly as it eventually caught up, shortly after.
With every drift multiple fish were landed. Everyone was catching both bass & walleye and several of the keepers were tossed into the livewell for them. A few of the larger ones were released as well after several pics. This went on for over 2 hours, in a misty rain. It didn’t seem to matter however as they were catching fish! Eventually all good things come to an end and so did the bite. The wind diminished and the fish had stopped biting, so it was time to go. After one last fish, we were done!
Today was a great one filled with plenty of action and multiple changes in the weather. In fact I thought we were going to beat the rain again, but found out that it wasn’t to be. As soon as I neared the dock, it let loose, dumping more wetness upon us. It was just one of those days I guess! Overall the outcome was great and another successful trip was made. They were even taking a bunch of fish home with them and would be eating well tonight! Best thing of all was that there were no sailboats out there, thinking that they own all the water again! Definitely a win, win kind of day!
