Another First for Sturgeon

Thoughts of another no show had me heading out alone this morning in search of a few new areas to scout. Fortunately, late in the morning, Andreus contacted me and we arranged to meet before noon. I told him that he would still have 4 hours to fish and likely hook into a few sturgeon. The winds had been light all morning but when we met before noon, had generated into 15 to 20 knots from the SE. Waves were pretty nasty at the ramp for the pickup and I had to really pay attention when heading back out. I was sure that we’d be able to anchor in the big winds and headed to the « Land of The Giants »! I prepped a couple of rods after locating some fish and got the anchor & lines in quickly. Well it didn’t take long before I felt a good bite and when I set into her, I knew it was big. Andreus was about to get the fight of his life! With a little instruction he was able to battle his very first sturgeon, with some difficulty. This fight lasted about 20 minutes and was just grueling. All this fish wanted to do was stay close to the boat on the bottom and changed sides constantly. Although there were a few good runs, it wasn’t what I was use to seeing. I was beginning to think that it may have been fouled until Andreus was able to bring her up for us to see. Now I knew why, it was exceptionally long and large! A few more short surges down to the bottom and eventually Andreus brought it to net. This was an incredible starter fish! Although the battle was over, the fight was just about to begin. Now he had to lift it for some pics and unfortunately he was alone. I even had a difficult time heaving it into the boat, so I knew he was in trouble! Once he got a hold of the fish, he couldn’t even stand up from its sheer weight. I had to help him and even at that, he ended up sitting for the pics. It was definitely one of the top three fish this season, if not the largest! When he was ready to release it, I had no choice but to help if I didn’t want her released into the boat. What an absolute gorilla! Exhausted but thrilled, Andreus regained his composure as I got the lines set for more. We were back in business looking for another bite when I noticed something hitting Andreus’s line. He loaded the rod and had a good hookup that turned out to be a juvenile and it came in quickly. At least he knew what to expect now and we quickly released it to get back in the water. We made a short move and located another concentration that had us hooked up almost immediately after resetting the lines. This fish was powerful and went insane right from the start! In fact we got to see just how big it was when it rocketed into the air with a spectacular leap. Another long battle, several more pics and a release & we were looking for bigger. Andreus was soon tight to one when he felt a good bite and loving that he came out today. This was proving to be the best day he had ever spent fishing and it wasn’t even done yet! More leaps and runs and an incredible fight and Andreus was now not needing any coaching. He had enough practice to know exactly what was required and did it perfectly. This was the third big fish of the day and again worthy of more pics. I made one more move after releasing the fish and set up on another group in hopes of a last hookup. This time we waited a little longer but got one and Andreus was battling yet another monster once again. I told him that it’s not always like this and to enjoy it while it lasted! This fish came up behind the boat for a jump and wasn’t even able to get more than half its body in the air. Large was the word of the day! Another long fight and painful holding for the pics had us trying again, after the release. Unfortunately, time ran out and we were done. What started out as a day that didn’t look like it was going to happen, turned out to be an incredible one filled with giant fish. I’m sure Andreus was glad we were able to get together in the end as he’s already thinking of another outing this week. He’s got the fever and wants more! Hopefully if we are able to hook up,  things will work out. You never know what happens as there are too many variables involved. From wind & direction to fish activity, you just never know. I do know that if the conditions allow, we should definitely have another shot at a repeat day. Only time will tell!