A larger group of 7 saw me requesting the help of Don, once again. He had helped me out a week ago when I had a group of 12 and was back for more. We split the group and I took the majority of them which included; Julie, Hardy, Sven & Joe. As usual, we were faced with big winds at the start and any chance at sturgeon fishing wasn’t going to happen. To make matters worse, it was also raining and not too pleasant. They had requested an afternoon instead of the perfect morning and we had to deal with what we were faced with. I decided to drop shot open water and drift with these winds. First to hook up was Sven and he landed a high end keeper walleye that went directly into the livewell after a few pics. Julie was getting into the perch and the others were struggling to hook into anything. Eventually all of them hooked fish with Hardy landing keeper walleye and Joe dropped something before I could see it to net. Sven also hooked into a really nice smallie and realized quickly that they are much stronger than the eyes! Sometime after a couple of hours, the rain let up & and the winds diminished. We made a few more drifts and I thought that the sturgeon fishing could be possible. I quickly packed up and headed to fish the deep water looking for a real beast. It’s always a slow, painful task but the rewards are definitely worth the wait. Unfortunately today it wasn’t! We held in there for over an hour with only goby bites and used up plenty of worms trying. As they were wanting more walleye action, we decided to head back and hopefully get into some fish. I think Joe was the only one that hadn’t landed any fish earlier but he changed that with a nice over. Pics were all he got from this fish as it was immediately returned back to the lake. Along with his walleye he also managed to land a jumbo perch and missed several other bites. In fact they all missed fish for some reason! We held in here until 5:00 when we decided to call the day. Everyone had caught fish and had a great time in the boat learning new tricks and techniques. Julie had started an armature caster and was now able to pitch the drop shot rig perfectly in between other fishermen. Well, most of the time anyways! The Team Building group had spent a great afternoon doing something different and found out that they all thoroughly enjoyed fishing. Don’s group had similar success on the smallies and all 7 of them were talking about doing a return trip either together or with others. Hopefully this will happen and I’ll see them again as it was a fun, relaxing day on the water without any pressure. Even Mother Nature took a break after she dropped a bunch of moisture upon us, with the usual winds! Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

Another morning, another big wind! Although it did drop some from last night, I still had constant 2 footers and didn’t know if I would be able to anchor for the sturgeon. Donald & Barry wanted a beast and I was going to try everything to get them one, or two! Once we arrived, it didn’t look as bad as I thought and I was able to hold on the very first try. I set up but there would be no rod holders today with all the big wave action bouncing us up & down. Back to rod in hand I guess! Plenty of nibblers & worm replacements and only a few possible hits in the first hour or so, then increased winds. As with yesterday, I thought the anchor would pull and we would have to change species once again. To my surprise, it moved and locked in almost immediately afterwards. Barry managed to get one small sturgeon and a smallie while we were there, but nothing big. Once the winds really picked up later in the morning, I decided to leave. We were now bouncing in 3 footers and even holding the rod wasn’t working. It wasn’t until I tried to pull anchor that I realized why we were holding so well. I couldn’t get it out! It was in there and wouldn’t budge even when I went past the rope with the motor. I eventually had Donald on the line and I tried a few different angles to get it out. Success and glad of it as I had already destroyed one anchor this season and didn’t want to cut the line and lose another. We raced to the next location and switched the rods to lighter bass tackle. I instructed them on how to use the baits and made several demonstration casts. Although the winds were blowing big, I knew the fish were here and hoped for the best. Donald was up front with me and I was trying to show him how to deal with the wind but it wasn’t easy. Between the current and the blow, he was having a hard time casting far enough to get bit. Add all the slack in the line caused a big bow and his bait was racing across the water at warp speed! I was finally able to show him a few tricks that helped with control and he began to have some action. Several fish were following the bait and one of them even pounced on it at the boat. It left him with only the hook and a little disappointed. In the next several casts, same thing with a small pod of smallies all trying to eat his soft plastic without success. I think he was moving it too quickly and pulled it out of the strike zone without a hookup. The winds weren’t making it any easier either as line control was minimal at best. We moved along and Barry had a blow up on his bait that also resulted in a loss. It definitely wasn’t going as planned and I just kept moving along looking for some aggressive bites. I tried a couple of other areas further away with similar results and was contemplating another move when I realized that the winds had diminished. I still wanted to get them a big fish and decided to give the area another try for sturgeon. I had a backup plan if it was just an illusion but as luck would have it, I was right. This was the least amount of wind I had seen since last Friday and I was excited. Anchoring up wasn’t an issue and we were back in the game! Not only were we able to hold but I was even able to raise the bimini top and fish in the shade. It was like a totally different day now and I knew we were going to get lucky. A couple of missed strikes had me wondering if it would happen and then Donald reeled into a good one. Almost in sync, I too reeled into something and now we were doubled up. Barry got the rod as I cleared his and the fights began. I saw that Donald’s fish was rising and told them to expect a jump. It took to the air and we saw that it wasn’t large, just a good one. Barry’s on the other hand seemed much heavier and eventually took line out and leaped as well. This one was large! Fortunately I was able to land Donald’s fish long before Barry’s was ready and took several pics. I could see that Barry was having a difficult time with his fish and more line was going out than coming in. To make matters worse, he had a bad shoulder and had to pass the rod off to Donald to finish the battle. Even Donald had a tough time with this fish as she was rather robust and girthy adding more weight than usual. After several attempts at bringing her to net, he finally managed and we had the beast. I don’t think I’ve had one this fat before based on the overall length. She definitely didn’t miss too many meals! Donald had thought the hard part was over but soon found out that it had just begun. Now he had to lift it for the pics and realized just how heavy she was. I had to shoot fast as he didn’t hold it long before tossing it back in the water. They had finally got to tackle with what I had warned them of and now realized just how hard they fight. I wanted to see if I could get them a bigger one and after several relocations, realized it just wasn’t going to happen. All we had to show for our efforts was the smallmouth that Barry landed. With limited time remaining before they had to leave, I made a short stop in a walleye zone to try and drop shot. This too was unproductive and after several missed strikes, called it a day. My whole focus today was to get them a couple of big sturgeon and managed one really good one and two other smaller ones. Once the winds diminished, I was actually able to fish for them properly. I’m sure that if we had calmer water all day, we would have had a few more fish to play with. At least we had a few hours to get it done and succeeded! Finally, less winds and calmer seas!!

Jesper & Agnes were with me this morning all the way from Sweden. They were staying with relatives and hoping to catch some Canadian fish. My thoughts were to take them for sturgeon early and spend the remainder of the day battling smallies and walleye. Well, Mother Nature had other ideas. The winds were blowing 10 to 15 out of the SW at the start and were expected to intensify throughout the day. My only chance at sturgeon would be right away so we raced over to an area and tried to anchor up. The waves were two footers and it took a while for the anchor to catch, but it did! We would have a chance if it held, so I set the rods up and began. We were unable to use the rod holders and had to keep them in our hands due to the waves bouncing the boat up & down. Everyone had plenty of nibbles and felt several sturgeon bump into the lines at times, but bites were few & far between. I can’t honestly say we had any real takers but it’s possible. Regardless, the winds picked up in less than an hour and the anchor let go. Several more attempts at securing two anchors also failed and we had to give up on trying any longer. I packed everything up and headed to what I had hoped would be calmer waters due to the wind direction. Unfortunately this was not the case and we had to endure big waves while trying to fish for bass. Jesper had multiple hits but wasn’t familiar with the soft plastics and missed them all. I tried elsewhere instead of making another drift through and it was even worse. The winds were now blowing more like 20 to 30 with gusts. It was too bad too, as this area held all kinds of bass as we found out. Both Jesper & Agnes had many fish follow their baits and some of them even committed. Jesper finally managed to land his first smallie after having missed a giant on the previous cast due to a quick hookset. We picked up a few fish from here but they were really having a hard time with this wind and I eventually relocated. By now the waves were a constant 2 & 3 foot & bigger in deeper water. I made a good run to a somewhat more sheltered area due to the mainland but we were still out in the open water and feeling the big blow. Jesper picked up a couple more bass and several more misses too. I decided to let the wind move us across open water and pocket fished our way to the next spot. Along the way a few more fish were seen and a couple more lost before I changed it up completely and tried to drop shot. This too was going to be a challenge with three & four footers moving us along at warp speed. One ounce was what they had to use just to maintain bottom contact! Our speed was over a knot and there was no way to slow us down, even with a drift sock! We spent almost 2 hours making many passes across the areas and just like the rest of the day, fish were lost. A few perch, bass & a walleye were landed but it wasn’t easy. Before 4:00 we called it a day as they had someone picking them up soon. It may not have been the day I had hoped for, but they got a taste of what we had here despite Mother Nature’s cruel sense of humor. At least they got to see and catch the bass they had wanted and enjoyed the chance of fishing other waters than the ocean back where they lived. Hopefully the next time they come here to visit, the weather won’t be as bad and I can show them what the fishing is really like. Better times ahead, I hope!!

I guess when you’re on the water every day, there’s bound to be a few you wish you weren’t! Today was pretty much one of them as I had to look for an alternate ramp to launch the boat. There were 3 to 4 footers rolling into the one I usually use with the winds blowing 20 to 30 knots from the SE. It looked like an ocean and I would have loaded the boat with water had I tried to launch. My clients followed me in their car to another one, hopefully more protected, a little further away. Although the lake was still rough, it was nothing compared to what I saw where we originally were and this time it was completely doable! I was actually glad it was only a half day outing as we were also suppose to receive plenty of rain sometime around mid day. Kim & his daughter Josie as well as George & his son Terry were with me and I prayed we could make it work. The run to the first place was a little bumpy as it was blowing opposite the current at a 45 degree angle. I was hoping to escape some of the larger waves while fishing and crossed over to the side less pounded. We started with a couple of blades and a couple of soft plastic baits but soon after, switched the soft baits to blades as well. Just standing was difficult let alone trying to cast in this wind but Kim managed to get a nice bass to commit. The problem for the others was that they needed to cast directly into the wind and weren’t hitting the targeted area the fish were holding. I brought Josie up front with me for  bit and coached her on how to cast into the wind. On one of my casts I was hammered and hooked into a really good one. I tried to pass her off the rod but pressure was lost and so was the fish when it jumped. She now understood and began making better casts. She did well but I don’t think the distance was far enough. I was already shallow and in big waves with the boat and couldn’t get her any further. We moved around a bit and a few fish were missed on the strikes by everyone as well as a couple of snags that had us all excited! The shallow bite that should have been the right choice wasn’t working as well as I had anticipated and I decided to relocate and try somewhat deeper. Everyone was going to drop shot and I set up four other rods to try and get them into some fish. We drifted along a 15 to 20 foot break close to the channel that I had done well earlier in the week and crossed our fingers. A few fish were hooked into but all came off before they could get them up. The bites were very light and few & far between, but the fish were there! Eventually after another move to the outside of a weed line, Kim hooked into a couple more and just like the others, came off before they reached the boat. Luck was definitely not on our side! Josie changed all that shortly after with a fish that did stay pinned though and brought a long, skinny pike to the net. She was excited to have caught it all on her own and made her dad aware that it was bigger than his fish earlier. We shot a bunch of pics ad released it back to fight again. Unfortunately this was to be the last fish of the day but not the last one hooked. They just kept getting off their lines! With dark skies approaching and a light sprinkle starting, we packed up and headed back. It was nearing noon and we would have a nasty run back to the boat ramp. Once I rounded the channel and was heading back to the dock we were getting hit with three to 4 footers at a 45 degree angle to the bow. It felt like being back on the Detroit River in that damn washing machine of a river. It was horrible! Fortunately it didn’t last too long and I was able to roll with a few of the waves instead of pounding them. We arrived safe & sound and barely wet from the spray! Although it wasn’t the day I had hoped for, at least we made it out. Not too many fish were landed but there were quite a few chances that could have made for a great day. Under the circumstances, it turned out alright and I know once the wind & weather change, it will be right back to normal. Better days ahead!!

A last minute cancellation/postponement opened the door for Christiane to get in a few hours of fishing. After taking care of a bunch of things at home, we finally got to the lake at the crack of 9:00. I decided before we left that I was going to try and lock her up on a giant and headed right to where they lived. It didn’t take long to locate them and I anchored up & set the lines. The gobies were a real treat and stripped many a hook before I finally found a spot with just fish. I somehow managed to set too early on a good take and got about 2 seconds of weight before it was gone. I really hoped that this wouldn’t be the only bite we would get! A little while later while holding the rods from cruiser waves, I set into a good one. Christiane was handed the rod and I cleared everything in her way including the roof so that she could move freely during the battle. It was a long one but five minutes in, it jumped and we really knew what she was up against. Giant! This thing took a ton of line several times and crossed under the boat several times as well causing us to dig deep under the motor not to get cut off. Just when she thought it was tiring, it would take off again and peel out more line. Eventually after about 25 minutes I finally got a shot and netted this dinosaur. The battle was officially over and now the hard part was about to begin. Time for a few pics! I really had to help, as it would have been impossible for her to lift it on her own. About all I could do was rest it on her legs for a few shots and gave a hand to toss it back into the water afterwards. There was no sense in resetting the lines as she wanted no part of another one! We packed everything up, had lunch and went for something smaller. It wasn’t easy drop shotting as the winds were from the SE and causing a cross current effect. The drift was practically nonexistent as the wind & current moved us in an almost backwards direction. Although the fish were there, it was hard to get them to bite. To make matters worse, the perch were playing havoc on our baits as well. If I wanted to eat them, we would have had a good meal with some of the ones we caught. As difficult as it was, we still managed to get a couple of walleye and Christiane also landed a really good smallie. With all the boat traffic, heat and tough wind conditions, we finally gave in and headed back to the ramp to take out. The lake had become a zoo and I didn’t want any more of it. The sailboats were the worst as they really don’t care about anybody in their way.  Regardless, the day was still a great one with Christiane landing her personal best sturgeon. The bass & walleye were just a bonus!!