More Big Bites

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September 18th 2018

 

Scott was back with me again today and this time he brought Chris, (AKA Frenchie) along as well. They weren’t looking for anything in particular, just to catch fish! I would be going to several areas and hoping to hook them up in all. Maybe even a dinosaur or two!

We got a slightly later start as they drove in early this morning and were fishing before 8:00. First spot had them drop shotting in deeper water and despite several missed strikes, they only managed to get into one nice bass and a couple of walleye. Although I was marking fish, they didn’t seem to want their offerings and a move was made.

The next place saw similar success but with a twist. While I was spot fishing the area with them, I managed to hook into a small walleye that almost got eaten by a good sized lunge. It followed the hooked fish all the way to the boat and I had to lift it out of the water so as not to be eaten. Chris was right beside me and also saw the submarine image chasing the walleye. I guess it was his lucky day! Several casts later I was hooked up on a small bass and it wasn’t as fortunate. Right before I was to land it, another smaller musky attacked the smallie and line began to scream from my reel. Although short lived, it wasn’t pretty for the bass! I eventually reeled the little guy in only to find some jaw patterned marks all over each side. He too was lucky as he only ended up scarred for life!

I had changed locations again due to old toothy and now had them throwing soft plastics over another area. They both made multiple casts over a long stretch of water but only Scott was able to hook any fish. He managed to land a handful of good smallies but none photo worthy!

I had wanted to take them for sturgeon but throughout the morning the winds were blowing pretty good and anchoring up would have been difficult. Eventually the winds layed down enough to make a move and we were heading for the big dogs now! I was pleasantly surprised to see only one other boat out there and began idling over the area in search of some fish.

With rods set, it didn’t take long before we had some action. Unfortunately it was due to all the fish bumping into our lines and not actual bites! Eventually one made a mistake and opened its mouth to eat and I reared back on something solid. Frenchie was first up and I handed him the rod to fight his fish. This thing fought like a giant but when it jumped we saw that it was just an average sized sturgeon. About five minutes later I netted his catch and gave it to him for several pics. After a quick release we were back in and wanting more!

Another bite soon after had Scott battling a smaller one and this time I gloved it instead of using the net. Despite its size, the fish still put up quite a fight and took several minutes to land. These things can pull no matter how small they are!

We had been having all kinds of action from fish bumping into the lines and I knew it was just a matter of time before we had another take. Sure enough I noticed a small bite on the middle rod and set into something large. Chris took the rod and began to do battle with the real deal! After a couple of spectacular jumps his fish decided to make long runs and stay on the bottom. It fought hard and took a while before he was able to bring it boatside for me to net. Not overly fat but extremely long, this fish was the biggest so far today. I think he was glad to release the beast after several pics as it was also quite heavy!

We were still seeing plenty of marks on the bottom and I was pretty sure we would have more action. This time however, Scott picked up the rod when it bit, set into one of his own. Another lengthy battle filled with jumps and runs and bottom hugging had him landing his fish 5 minutes later. It was definitely bigger than his first one but he decided that he didn’t need any pics and the fish was released after the hook was removed.

I wasn’t sure how much longer we would be staying, but Scott managed to get another hookup on his own and figured we’d give it a little longer. This time however, he brought to net a drum that was also released immediately after the hook removal. With the winds picking up slightly I had to use the aid of the electric motor to remain where I was and we held there for about another 30 minutes without any more action. Time to pull the plug completely!

After packing everything up, I decided to end the day with some more smallies and headed to an area to fish. Unfortunately there was a boat close to where I wanted to go and I decided to hit another area instead. No sense educating them on where to fish and what to do!

With limited time remaining, we covered a shallow flat and only landed one good bass. There were several others that followed but nothing seemed to want to bite. I had also seen a wind beginning from the north and a major temperature change occurring. In fact, the winds kicked up so bad that there were huge rollers building on the main lake. It wasn’t going to pretty going back! I informed them that they most likely had seen there last fish with this weather change and we packed everything up and headed back.

The run back was a little rough with the winds coning out of the north and the waves were good size as I neared the channel. Fortunately with the new motor on the Ranger, it made for a dry, comfortable ride!

Today may have started out a little slow but by mid day the fishing picked up and many good fish were landed. Although mostly dinosaurs, Frenchie and Scott were happy to have caught them. I think that in the weeks to come, there will be even bigger monsters boated along with some great bass & walleye action too! I can’t wait for the cooler weather to arrive!!