Rick & Danny were back this morning for another kick at the can! We began where we had left off yesterday in hopes of getting into an early morning bite. The wind was out of the west and we had a good blow for the drift as we started the day.

Bites were not very aggressive on the first few drifts and fish were being missed from striking back too soon. Eventually a few fish were landed and two of them were high end keepers that made it into the well for a dinner tonight. We made many more passes and picked up a few more fish before heading out of the area completely. The bites were few & far between now and I had more places to fish!

Our next area to try was occupied by another boat so I ran to a distant spot instead to see if we could get into some smallies. Dan & Rick were throwing blades and they both missed fish on them. The bass took to the air and tossed their lures quickly. I don’t think the fish were very active here because I dragged a jig as they casted and managed a couple of decent bass. I switched them up to slower moving baits and Danny finally got into a good fish that almost broke him off in the motors, several times. It just didn’t want to come out from under the boat! Although we did see several cruising the area we were in, they just didn’t seem to want to bite. Eventually I just gave up on this spot and headed to where I wanted to stop before settling on here.

The other boat had left and we were able to get into the area I wanted to be. Both Danny & Rick missed strikes on their first several casts before eventually keeping the fish pinned. I had made a demo cast to show them where & how to work the current break and also hooked up instantly. I guess the other boat wasn’t fishing it right! Danny managed to land another good walleye that joined the other two in the livewell along with a couple of smallies. Once the action slowed and bites were less, I made another long run in hopes of finding active bass in the shallows.

Well after fishing a couple of areas, unsuccessfully, I tried a bit deeper and slowed down the presentations. This put a few more fish in the boat, but nothing great! I made another move to an area I hadn’t touched in over a month and they both caught fish quickly. Bass & walleye were landed from here, but no numbers. One more move was in order and it would be our last!

I went right back out to where we started the day and began the drifting process once again. The winds were out of the west and I was forced to use the electric motor in order to cover the area properly. As with this morning’s bite, the fish were really inactive. Short strikers were in abundance and a few fish jumped off before nearing the boat. Danny was able to put another walleye in the well giving us a bunch of fish for tonight at the restaurant. I would also have to get off a little earlier in order to prep the fish as well. By 3:15 we decided to pull the plug and get off.

Although the fishing was much slower than we had hoped, there were still enough fish to keep it interesting. I only wish that we could have gotten into a better shallow water bite with the bass. Water temps are falling and they should be moving in from the deep. I’m not surprised with everything being late this year though and it will probably all change in the next couple of weeks. Probably the highlight of today was dinner with the fish. As usual they were delicious! There were plenty of tasty morsels for everyone to enjoy!

Rick & Danny were with me on this last day of the month for another trip this year. They were here for 3 days and hopefully we would get a shot at everything. That is, if the weather would cooperate!

We started the day on sturgeon and Rick hooked into a good one pretty early. It was a great battle with plenty of runs that lasted almost 10 minutes. Unfortunately all we could come up with afterwards were 4 other small ones and a hateful redhorse sucker!

Sometime around midday we moved on to bass and Rick once again had the upper hand. Although he did receive plenty of bites, keeping them on the hooks was the issue. I think he ended up bringing only 2 of them to the boat for pics! Both Rick and Danny somehow hooked big sturgeon as well on jigs but that battle was short lived as they eventually pulled free. They are hard enough to land on the proper tackle when they are in the mouth!

I moved around a bit and hit another spot after this one slowed down and we definitely saw some fish. They came in to the baits but refused to eat! We tried a bunch of different lures but they just didn’t want any part of what we were throwing. In the end I think there was one smaller fish that came aboard out of the entire school.

I made another move when we saw a couple of heavy rain clouds moving in and managed to go between them to an area and fish. The winds had picked up some and I knew we wouldn’t be waiting long before it passed. Unfortunately there weren’t any fish caught, but at least we stayed dry!

I hit a couple more spots before the day was over and even stayed out a little longer when we finally got into fish. Our last one saw a mix of bass, walleye & jumbo perch and it was hard to leave! Right around 4:30 and after a couple more fish, we decided to go. I may be back in the morning and start here if the conditions are right!

Today was slower than I had hoped for, but by moving around we managed to get into some good fish. Although there were only pics of Rick, I’m sure Danny will rebound tomorrow with some of his own. We won’t be wasting time with the sturgeon allowing us to cover water and spend more time on bass & walleye. I’m sure there will be lots of fish caught and plenty of memories and laughs too!

After last week’s outing for smallies, Felix was back again today hoping for a big bite. He also brought Shane and the two of them headed out with me for an afternoon of sturgeon fishing. I only hoped the fish would cooperate!

We were set up before noon and despite the lack of fish marking I still managed to get the first bite, with only a couple of moves. Shane took the rod after I set into some weight and the fish quickly went airborne! A little coaching on how to fight the sturgeon and he was battling it like a champ. Another jump later it dogged on the bottom, under the boat. It never really took out much line, just held on the bottom. Shane had to do the sturgeon shuffle multiple times as the fish continuously went from one side to the other. It was definitely a strange battle but he was able to bring it up for me to net in about ten minutes. Some pictures were taken and the fish was sent back on its way.

I reset the lines in hopes of getting Felix into another one and we eagerly awaited the bite. Too bad it had to be a red horse sucker though and no pics were taken for this one!

Several moves later I did manage to set into a decent fish and Felix finally got his turn at battling a good one. His also took to the air and we could see that it was smaller than the previous one caught by Shane. This one however made multiple runs taking plenty of line off the reel. I think it actually fought better than the larger one earlier in the day! About 5 minutes later I slid the net under his catch and many pics were taken before the release.

I really wanted to get them into something much larger and spent a bunch of time idling around in search of big marks. I did find a few but they just didn’t seem to want to bite! In the end, we managed one more sturgeon but it was a juvenile and Felix had the honour of reeling it in.

Their trip had passed by so quickly as do all half day outings and after the last fish, we were done. I was thankful for the conditions and lack of wind but I would have liked a few more big bites. At least they both got to do battle with a sturgeon and some really powerful fights. Mission accomplished!!

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!

This morning saw Sam & Garret back with me again but not for sturgeon like the previous outing. Instead, they were going to fish for bass & walleye, if the winds weren’t too bad!

I began on an open water flat and the waves were pretty big early in the day. The drifts were also fast and after only one walleye in several passes, I decided to make a long run to another area. I knew it would be much more sheltered there!

We ran in some nasty rollers but eventually made our way to a calmer spot to fish. Here both Sam & Garret managed to get loads of keeper sized walleye and some really nice smallies in just a couple of hours. It even felt like the winds layed down a few times while they fished! When the action slowed, I made another short move and realized that the winds hadn’t gone, we were just concealed from their fury. This place gave up a couple more smallies before we had to run back. Another group was waiting for the afternoon trip!

I made my way to the dock, running in two & three foot waves and wasn’t looking forward to the afternoon. Hopefully the winds wouldn’t get any worse!

Frank & his son Nick joined me as we ventured back out on the windy waters. The waves were much bigger than they thought but seemingly smaller than this morning. I decided to try the area I had started in to see if we could have a slower drift and was pleasantly surprised. It was doable! Or so I thought!

We had done a couple of passes and Nick had landed one good smallie when things took a turn for the worse. There was a sail boat race going on and all was good with where they had placed their float markers. I was able to drift exactly the line I needed and was nowhere near them. Then the marshal boat decided to move the floats to the area I was fishing. This tends to be a common occurrence at this time of the year for me and confrontations always happen with them! I decided to find out why and headed over to the boat to talk to him. He said that they wanted to change up the course and this was where he planned on doing it. Right where I had been fishing for an hour! I don’t know why they feel that they control the waters and can do anything they want, anywhere they feel like! Well our next drift turned out to be our last one and I never even finished it. There were boats charging us from all directions and even a few yelling matches between us! It’s not worth the agony of having to deal with all of this shit so I pulled out and let the blow boat babies have their way! Regardless that I had the right of way as I was not under any power and they were! Very nice etiquette!

I decided to go to the area I had done well this morning and made one demonstration cast and locked up. A big smallie fell victim to my offering and I hoped it wasn’t going to be the last!

We stayed on this spot for the remainder of the time and plenty more walleye & bass came aboard . Although Nick was having a tough time, his father was putting a beating on the fish. They both had many missed opportunities and could have fended much better but that’s fishing!

The winds had built up even bigger when it was time to leave and even switched from a west to a SW. This made for a lovely run back to the ramp! As we got closer I was forced to tack again in the three & four footers we were running in. Fortunately we made it back safely and with very little splashing!

Today was an interesting one to say the least. Both parties had good fishing and except for the run in with the sailboat racers it was actually a great day! Hopefully I won’t have to contend with them again this year but something tells me that it’s not over! Either way, I will be back out and clients will be catching plenty more fish before the season is done!!