The Great White Hunter

Herm & his grandson were with me today, looking for at least one sturgeon bite for Hunter. He was hoping for a big one and so were we as both of us wanted to see him battle a beast. The weather looked good except for the NE winds blowing opposite the current. We had big rollers as we neared the location and although doable, it wouldn’t be easy. We soon found out that the rod holders wouldn’t be of any help and had to hold them instead. There was just too much movement from the waves to detect any bites. A few false strikes were followed by a solid take on Hunter’s rod and he was locked up. I had instructed him on what to do and he did it perfectly. He now realized what I had been talking about when I said that these fish are strong but fought through the pain to eventually bring his prize to net. Not a real monster but definitely a good one nonetheless! It was also his first sturgeon and several pics were taken to show off later. Lines were reset and we were back at it once again when Herm received his first official bite. Seconds later he too was tight to a big one and it wasn’t coming in easy. When it jumped behind the boat, I realize how big it was and knew he was in for a long battle. She actually jumped three times during the fight and made countless runs taking plenty of line from the reel. It was all Herm could do just to hang on, but eventually he also brought the fish to net and was in awe at its size. This one would require the help of Hunter to bring it aboard and even at that, it was difficult. It was a two person job to hold it as well and they were glad to toss it back after the pics were done. We fished through the rest of the morning easier, when the wind calmed down and we were able to finally use the rod holders. There were 3 more good sturgeon and a nice channel cat caught by noon and we decided to end it for these fish in pursuit of some walleye. Hunter hadn’t caught a walleye before either and as luck would have it, he was the first to hook up. Although not one he could take home, it was a real nice picture fish! He also caught the second one and this time it made the cut and wound up in the livewell for them to take back later in the day. We made multiple drifts over fish but with limited success. With very little wind for movement and tons of floating weeds to contend with, it was tough. I switched locations a couple of times and although I was seeing them on the bottom, we weren’t getting bit. I knew I needed to make an adjustment and pulled out another rod to try something different. Within a few casts, I was hooked up and brought an over to the net. Several casts later, another fish came aboard and fell in the slot making it into the well. I immediately switched Herm up and he too got in the game with one over and another keeper. Next up was Hunter and a little while after he had a bent rod but was into a nice smallie instead. We managed to get into a pile more fish both overs and keepers in the remainder of the afternoon and they at least had one limit to take home. By 4:00 we were done and headed back to the ramp to take out. Herm really wanted Hunter to experience a sturgeon and possibly catch some fish to eat and today he managed to do just that. In fact, he got to battle several large ones and learned a few new techniques that should help him on his home waters. As they had a long drive, we parted ways quickly, satisfied from the day we just had. Who could ever imagine fighting that many big fish in one day? I know Hunter will be changing all his media pics very quickly, showing him as the « Great Hunter » from now on!!