Another Bass Beating

Jim & Marie were back for their second day and it had the makings of another windy one again. Forecasts were for west winds up to 25 knots with gusts and I hoped to get them into fish quickly this morning. We began with sturgeon and managed to get several, with the quickest hookup this year. I don’t think it even took 2 minutes and we were on! Marie battled the sturgeon and after almost ten minutes, she landed a nice one. Jim hooked into one not long after the release and it too was decent in size. I made a couple of moves trying to locate the larger ones and anchored up in places I normally wouldn’t have. The numbers just weren’t there and I had to settle! Marie managed to lose a pretty good one, not long after, when the hooks just pulled free. The next fish was even smaller than the first one but it fought great nonetheless as Marie fought it to the boat. In a last attempt at a good one, we relocated once again and gave it another 15 minutes. Fortunately, I felt a bite and loaded the rod for Jim before we were done. I could tell by the weight that this was a larger fish and settled back to watch Jim’s fight. After about 5 minutes we had a confirmation when his fish took to the air. It was definitely a much better fish! He continued to battle it for about 10 minutes longer before she was finally in the net. Although I was hoping for more, this size and larger, I was happy that we got at least one. We shot several pics and returned her before packing it up and going for bass. I had wanted the sun up and we had spent most of the morning in the clouds. Fortunately, we had some breaks in the sky and it looked good. The winds were blowing 10 to 15 knots from the west, but I was sure they would get into some. I had located schooling fish just a few days earlier and went straight to where they were. It didn’t take long before Jim was tight to a bass and it was a good one too! Marie also hit one quickly, confirming they were still around. Both fish were the calibre I was searching for and made for great pics! Jim managed several more of the same size but Marie wasn’t fending as well. She had line issues again and switched up baits a few times to try and hook up. I also had Jim switch lures and he boated several more bass in the time we were there. I decided to relocate after it slowed and idled to an area much further away, while we ate lunch. It was here that we remained for the balance of the day. I had found the mother lode and both of them were hooking up constantly. In fact at one point, Marie was putting on another clinic! She was just wailing on one bass after another, on almost every cast. With the winds blowing strong, there was a good chop on the water making boat positioning tough. Several times I had Jim go to the back to net Marie’s fish while I stayed on the electric motor. It’s times like this that thoughts of a different motor with an anchor button come into mind! Regardless, we managed and they pounded on the fish all afternoon! I had planned on taking them for walleye to complete their slam, but these fish were biting too good to ever make the move. It was the right choice to remain here, as Jim landed the biggest fish of their trip. Their two days of fishing had seen high numbers of quality bass and made for one of their best trips ever. I know Marie will remember this one as she rebounded each afternoon to put a beating on the bass! Add to this the sturgeon and you have the icing on the cake! It’s a shame they live so far from here as I think we’d see each other more.  Two days pass by so quickly when the fishing is this good! I’m just glad that despite the winds, we at least didn’t have the rains that are coming. They usually have both, but this time they lucked out and experienced tremendous fishing instead. Hopefully this will continue in the coming days but Mother Nature has some nasty weather on the way. I guess they are getting out of « Dodge » in the nick of time! Great fishing with even greater people!!