Overcoming Nasty

Darren was back again this morning, but with different people. This time he brought Vincent & Rose, relatives from the Philippines. The conditions were less than perfect as we headed to our first stop of the day. I knew that we would only have a small window of time to fish for sturgeon before it got too rough. Both Rose & Vincent had very little experience fishing and these winds weren’t going to make it any easier! They were blowing 10 to 20 knots from the SW and expected to increase more this morning. I set them all up and not long after, Darren was locked. He had wanted to pass the rod to Vincent, but they decided to watch him fight the fish instead. He had plenty of practice lately and had no problem bringing this one to the boat. I netted his fish and shot a few quick pics before returning her to the water unharmed. I really wanted to have the others hook up, but after 30 minutes or so, realized it was not going to happen. The winds had increased and we were now in two to three foot waves making it next to impossible to detect the bites. We had only gotten in about an hour of fishing time before we were forced to switch to a new area and a different species. I decided to try trolling and opted for a somewhat sheltered section of the lake. Although still rough, it was doable and we covered water looking for our first rip. I was marking all kinds of fish but couldn’t get anything to eat. Multiple lure changes and speed adjustments didn’t work either and I kept going. At one point, we had a small rip without a hookup and frustration started setting in fast. I could tell that both Rose & Vincent weren’t enjoying the conditions and tried everything to get them into fish. I thought of drifting drop shot rigs over some of the fish holding areas, but realized that they wouldn’t be able to detect the pickups. Rose & Vincent hadn’t planned on staying all day and were dropped back at the dock by 1:00. We had to run in 3 & 4 footers to get there, but we made it! Darren wanted to stay and after a short break on the shore, we headed back out only to find that the winds had increased. We were now having to drive through 4 footers with many fives, making it really difficult. I realized that getting the boat on plane wasn’t a good idea and plowed through the rough water to an area close by. I thought we’d attempt drop shotting here, if the winds didn’t blow us over it too fast! Although difficult, Darren hooked into a walleye and proved it wasn’t impossible. We did multiple short drifts over specific areas & caught more fish. Each time I had to run back up for another pass, the giant waves pounded us and plowing was the only way to get there. After over an hour of this, the lake calmed somewhat and we were in heaven. I would take these two & three footers gladly and we fished a whole lot more comfortably for the remainder of the afternoon. I know that if Rose & Vincent had of stayed till the end that they would have caught as well. Unfortunately they would have had to endure much worse conditions before it got better and they weren’t willing to wait. Mother nature may have thrown some nasty crap our way, but we stuck it out and endured the pain. Darren & I had multiple misses but caught plenty of quality walleye before calling it a day. It may have been difficult today but constant adjusting and relocating accounted for the final outcome. I only hope that the conditions change overnight, as I will be right back out again tomorrow. Today was really tough but at least the fishing was good, once we dialed in the program!!