A Picture Perfect Day

Well it finally happened this morning! The winds layed down today allowing Brian & Royce to enjoy a great day of sturgeon fishing. It was also a smooth ride across the water to our starting location and we were set up quickly. With lines in the water, we waited in anticipation of our first bite. It didn’t take long before Brian was officially locked up on a fish. Although smaller than usual, he still got a good fight. Royce didn’t wait long either after the release and was also battling his first fish. They both had a few small and midsized ones under their belt before tackling a much better one. Brian was the first to hit a quality fish and enjoyed the fight much better. Things were looking up as Royce also fought a large one not long after Brian’s was released. We remained in one area for quite a while as the fish were marking as well as biting. A bunch of smaller sturgeon were landed along with a few large ones causing us to hang in the area longer than usual. Never leave fish to find fish! Eventually things slowed and we were forced to relocate. The move was apparently a good one as the first fish was the largest of the day, so far and beat up Brian like I wanted. When it went to the air, we really knew what he was dealing with and sat back to watch the fight. About ten minutes later I was netting the fish and realized why it fought so hard. It was a male and they always put up a great battle. Pics and a release and Royce was also getting beat up with another fish too. His back was about to get a little sorer with this one as I knew it was big! It took nearly 15 minutes before she was close enough to be netted and a sigh of relief was had by him when I did. With more pain on the way, He somehow managed to hoist the fish up for several pics and slid it back in when we were done. Totally exhausted and in pain, Royce now needed a rest. Thankfully he would have it as both Brian & he landed a few smaller fish each before getting back into the monsters again. This lasted the rest of the day with very little down time in between. At one point I think it took longer to fight & land the fish than it did to get bit. These guys were constantly holding bent rods and loving every minute of it. All they were waiting for was a real giant and Brian finally got his wish. His next fish felt like he had hooked into a bus on the bottom. The dead weight was unbelievable and so was the battle. Over 20 minutes passed before we actually saw what he was pinned up to and when we did, it shocked us all. Triple XL was what it was and we were careful to bring her to net so as not to pull the hook, from her weight. It took the two of us to lift her into the boat for him to hold and even at that, it was difficult. Brian had finally gotten the one he wanted and held the fish, with difficulty, for the pics. He slid it over the rails and back to the depths she went. What an absolute beast! We reset everything and the very next fish was also really large and beat up Royce pretty good. Although not as big as the previous one, it was still a great fish. Royce really struggled to pick up the fish and had an even harder time holding her when he did. The release was quite comical as well and thankfully he managed to drop her in the water instead of the boat! Several more smaller fish were landed and water released before Royce was locked up once again on a really good fish. As we were practically ready to end the day, I reeled in one of the rods and packed it up. Brian kept the third line in the water hoping for a double and let Royce fight his fish. I don’t think any of us actually realized just how big it was until it took to the air. He battled it for about 15 minutes, while Brian kept waiting for another bite. I finally netted the fish and helped Royce pull it from the net for some pics. Once released, Brian got bit and loaded his rod on another good one. It also rocketed into the air and was giant! This fight lasted another 15 minutes before it made it into the net. Pics and a release and now we were finally ready to call the day. They had definitely ended it with a bang! They are also back with me again tomorrow for the morning and who knows what that will bring. I just hope the winds remain nice, allowing us to fish properly once more. Mother Nature can be a fickle %&$@# sometimes!!