Three Personal Bests

Hugues & his son Oliver were fishing with me today but not until 10:00. With a few hours to spare, I decided to have the kicker shifting cable looked at before meeting up with them. Long story short, the cables were changed and I was on my way by 9:30. I headed straight to the ramp and we were fishing soon after, for giants! Oliver brought a friend and co worker with him for the day and I knew everyone was in for a real treat. I set up in a zone and informed them what to do when someone hooked up. Chris was first and into a pretty good one almost right away. He felt the pain with this fish and never realized the strength of these creatures! After a lengthy fight, I was finally able to get it into the net and aboard for some pics. It was definitely his personal best and first sturgeon ever! He returned his prize, bolting right to the depths it had come from. When the lines were reset, Hugues was into another fish soon after. Although a little smaller than Chris’s, it still fought him quite well. He had this one aboard quickly and after several shots returned to the water. Although we had a few other hits, they never really locked on. Sometime a little later, Hugues set the hook on something that didn’t move. This one seemed considerably larger than his first and really gave him a workout. The burn was intense as he fought this dinosaur and lasted much longer. Once the bubbles started to appear, I knew the end was nearing. The only thing left was a visual and we soon got that as well. Fortunately his fish cooperated and curled once in the net. Hugues may have been exhausted but he managed the strength to hold it for a few pics before the release. He really wanted his son Oliver to battle one and they decided the next rod would be his. Well as luck would have it, Hugues rod went tight and once the other lines were brought in, a hand off was made. Oliver would finally get his chance and we could hardly wait to hear him complain. When you’re use to reeling in small fish you can’t imagine just how strong these things actually are. He was finding out though and moaning the entire time! At one point, the line started to rise and I knew what was about to happen. I didn’t realize just how close to the boat it was until it leaped completely out of the water, almost hitting the side. We had gotten a look at probably the most unbelievable tail walk, ringside! Thankfully it wasn’t a couple of feet closer or it would have landed in the boat. The battle was intense and Oliver was definitely getting exhausted. A little while later I netted his fish and a sigh of relief was had. He was completely spent! Just holding the fish for a few pics was a challenge but we managed nonetheless. We resumed the fishing afterwards and only landed one more smaller fish before shifting gears completely. They had done well on the giants and deserved something a little smaller. I headed over to an area holding numbers of bass but had a rough time fishing it due to all the boat traffic. A combination of picture perfect weather and heat had everyone owning a boat back on the water today. W were seeing the fish but not able to entice even one into striking the offerings. I had no choice but to relocate to other sections of lake. The remainder of the day was spent drop shotting open water with a combination of bass, pike & small walleye landed. By 6:00 we called it a day and pulled the lines to head in. I had extended the afternoon due to a late start and apparently so did everyone else. The water was still full of boats in all shapes and styles. Hopefully this will be their last outing and the majority of people will be taking them out for the season. Weekends are always busier but lately it’s just crazy! Fortunately the wait at the ramp wasn’t bad and we were off the water in only a couple of minutes. Although they didn’t catch great numbers of fish today, the poundage was definitely there. They had all done personal bests and loved every minute of it. Hopefully the air & water temps will drop soon and trigger a feeding from all the bass & walleye. It’s just a matter of time before the lake is almost completely barren of boats and only fishermen will remain. I can’t wait!!