Another Scorcher

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September 13th 2018

 

Matt was back again today and this time he brought his brother Phillip along as well. They wanted to fish for bass right away so I headed to an area that was loaded with big fish. Hopefully they would be able to keep them pinned!

A quick explanation and demonstration on how to present their baits had them both hit on their first casts. As usual though, they both missed their fish! Matt redeemed himself quickly afterwards by bringing a really good one to the net. His brother however could only manage to get bit, but never really kept them pinned for long. Although Matt wasn’t fending as well as I had hoped, he did manage to catch one other fish before I decided to make a move. Between them they had over 10 chances at these fish, but were only able to land a couple.

Our next area had a slow start to it but eventually I found the fish and they began to hook up. At one point Phillip fought a nice bass to the boat that brought another big one with it. Matt tossed his bait right in and doubled up almost immediately. We covered plenty of water and they both managed to land a few more, but the fish weren’t cooperating very well. We were seeing more bass just cruising than they were actually catching. This became very frustrating and it was happening everywhere we went. The flat calm conditions actually felt like there was zero current as well. Time for another move and a switch of species too!

They had decided to give the sturgeon a try under these conditions and I made a long run to where I needed to set up. With the lines all in I raised the top, providing a much more comfortable waiting area. With only a couple more hours remaining in the day, we gave it our best shot!

As luck would have it, the first bite turned into a hookup and I passed the rod to Matt’s brother to fight. He had never landed a sturgeon before and was amazed at just how hard they pulled. At one point while downing the roof, his fish breached and he was even more amazed at how big it actually was. After a few good runs and almost 10 minutes later, I netted his catch. Several great pics were taken before the release as well.

I reset the lines and a little while later, set into another fish. This time Matt reeled it in, but I could tell by the fight that it probably wasn’t the right species. It turned out to be a nice drum and Matt’s first ever. He needed several pics before dumping it back into the water as he had never even seen one before!

With time getting on I really wanted another bite and made a small move to relocate more fish. After about 15 minutes of waiting, I felt a small bite and set into something pretty heavy. I immediately gave the rod to Matt and he began doing battle with a good fish. I told Phillip to reel in the other line and we both began to clear the area for Matt to fight his beast. To my surprise, Phillip reeled right into another fish too! We now had a double and things were about to get interesting! Fortunately the second fish wasn’t as big as the first and came to the boat much quicker. I was able to tail this one and release it before concentrating on Matt’s fish.

After about another 10 minute battle, Matt finally brought his sturgeon close enough for me to net. It wasn’t thick but it was very long. This would turn out to be bigger than the one he had landed the previous week while fishing with me too. He released the male after several good shots and they decided to end the day on a high!

Today saw a great mix of fishing that ended with a bang. The bass may not have been too cooperative but the sturgeon definitely were. In just about two hours they managed to do battle with a couple of big ones and under extreme conditions. Bright sunshine, high humidity and flat calm waters had plagued us all day! I think we fended quite well with what we were dealt today! All I know is that fall will eventually be upon us and the fishing will continue to get better in the coming weeks. I don’t want to rush the weather, but I can’t wait for some cooler temperatures and more active fish. It won’t be long now!!