King Kong

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Rafi & his daughter Tina were with me today and we were going big! I gave them the offer before we headed out and sturgeon was what we were starting with. Let’s just hope they would bite!

With the winds from the E/NE, I wasn’t sure how it would be, but decided to give it a try anyway. When I set up, I realized that I needed the aid of the drift sock just to keep us from being blown up current. This was going to be tricky with the wind & waves rolling from behind! It was a little difficult, but we were able to get the lines in and managed alright despite these unusual conditions.

We had been fishing for almost an hour without any bites when I decided to make a move. The winds had also calmed slightly, so I headed to another area to give it a try. Although I was marking some smaller fish here, I thought it would be better than nothing and anchored up to fish.

I had just casted the third line and was letting it sink when one of the other rods started to get bit. I immediately cranked on the reel, loading the fish while passing the sinking line to Tina. We were officially locked up and Rafi was about to get the fight of his life! We quickly brought in the other lines and cleared the area for him to do battle with his very first sturgeon.

What I had originally thought was a small fish, turned out to be a good one as it began peeling line from the reel. All he could do was hang on and feel the strength of the fish, as it ran. This battle was mostly fought deep as the fish never came off the bottom until the very end. Ten minutes or so later, I finally had the fish in the net and the fight was over. I shot a few pics and he released it back to live another day.

With the lines reset I was hoping to get Tina into a fish of her own and within 15 minutes, she was battling it. This wasn’t nearly as big as the previous fish, but it was her first sturgeon too. It was the perfect size for her to get started on and she enjoyed the battle. It even breached near the boat for everyone to see! Moments later I netted the fish and passed it to her to hold. After several pics, she returned it to the water and we reset, in hopes of another.

We were definitely in the right area as our third bite came soon after. I set into the fish and passed the rod to Rafi. This time however, it was a juvenile and was at the boat in no time. It didn’t matter though as they were catching fish!

I had all the lines back in the water and been waiting for a while when I noticed one of rods getting a subtle bite. Unfortunately when I set on the fish, it never grabbed and I missed the hook set. I brought the line back in and re baited it in hoped of getting the fish back.

Another 15 minutes had passed before we got our next bite, but it was a good one. I set into some serious weight and knew this fish was going to be large! I passed the rod to Tina and Rafi & I cleared the other lines in anticipation of a long battle.

You can always tell when a big fish is on the line, when it feels just like a snag! Other than the head shakes in the beginning, it wasn’t evening moving! She was in for a long & painful fight!

The amount of line that this fish took off the reel was scary and at one point I actually thought I was going to have to chase it. When the line counter reached over 200 feet, it finally stopped and Tina managed to gain most of it back. This was short lived however as it took it all back out once again. She was fighting a true river monster!

I believe that she had been doing battle with this fish for nearly 20 minutes and it wasn’t showing any signs of tiring. It was pressed tightly to the bottom and going from one side of the boat to the other. Every time Tina was able to bring it up, it turned and went right back down. Finally though, she was starting to gain and managed to bring it up for us to see! It was definitely the largest fish I had seen all season and I wanted it in the net. It wasn’t easy but after several more minutes and a few close attempts, I was able to net this beast and the fight was officially over. Tina was also officially spent!

I had left the monster in the net while prepping everything for the pics and was finally ready to lift it into the boat. I knew it was big but realized just how heavy when I tried hoisting it over the side. The net mesh caught on just about everything due to its shear mass, making it even more difficult for me to lift. Eventually however, I managed to swing it into the boat and onto the tarp for its protection.

With Tina seated on the back deck, we lifted it up and placed it onto her lap for some pics. It nearly crushed her and I had to shoot fast so as not to injure either of them! Between the two of us, we worked together to slide it over the rail after and back into the water. This had to be one of the top 3 biggest sturgeon to ever come aboard, in all the years of fishing them. To make it even more special, it was landed by a woman!

It was after noon now and they decided to end on a high with the sturgeon. We packed it in and headed back to the ramp for a short break and for them to warm up! I was going to fish for walleye after they were done and used the down time to prep the rods while they were gone.

The winds were blowing pretty hard from the east and it wasn’t going to be easy to fish where I was going. The good news was that there were fish and I caught one on the first drop. We spent the next couple of hours or so drifting opposite the current and a few more fish were landed. With this cold east wind, they both decided that they were done and we once again packed up and called it a day. There were 4 nice walleye in the livewell and at least they would be having fish for dinner!

This was an incredible day of fishing despite the crappy conditions we had to deal with. The highlight was definitely the monster that Tina had caught and that made everyone’s day! The bonus was the dinner they would be having from the fresh catch they were bringing home. Other than being cold for most of the day, they both had a good time, loaded with great fishing! I can’t wait to get back out, searching for another King Kong!