Only River Monsters

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September 20th 2018

 

I had a full boat today with Alex, Mark & John, all wanting to catch sturgeon. We were going to devote the entire day searching for the river monsters and hopefully it would be a success!

The winds were out of the NE and put a pretty good roll on the water as we headed to the area to fish. I idled over the spot briefly and anchored up when I began to see some good marks. With the wind blowing opposite the current, I was forced to use the aid of the drift sock in order to remain straight.

I wasted no time setting up and had three rods prepped and ready, for the first sturgeon! Fish were bumping into the lines constantly but we weren’t really having any luck with actual bites. This went on for a while but eventually I noticed one off the rods bounce and reared back on some weight. We were officially locked up! John took the rod and although new to this, fended quite well with just a little coaching. It fought real hard and put him to the test by making multiple runs and remaining on bottom almost the entire time. Close to ten minutes later, he managed to bring it to net and was totally exhausted. I told him that he had completed the easy part, but now he had to hold it for the pics! Although he struggled some, he did manage to hang on to it long enough for several shots before the release. Now all I needed to do was get the others into one of their own!

I reorganized the boat and set the rods once again, hoping for another big bite and wasn’t disappointed. I did have to move and re anchor in order to do it, but it didn’t take long afterwards. This time Mark was up and immediately after I set into his fish I realized it was big. I never even moved it when I lifted up on the rod. Might as well have been the anchor by the weight!

He struggled from the start with this fish as it just pulled. He couldn’t lift it off the bottom and it took him for a ride several times once again. I really don’t think he was expecting such a strong fight but it was normal to me! I always love watching people get beat up for the first time! After what seemed like forever (10 minutes) he had the fish beside the boat for me to net. It was going to be interesting seeing him lift it for the pics!

Totally exhausted and physically beaten, Mark held the fish as we took a few quick pics. It took every bit of strength that he had left just to hang on to the monster. It was even funnier watching him attempt to toss it back, but he somehow got the job done. Mark would definitely be needing a rest now!

Up next was Alex and I prepped everything for the wait. We remained in the same spot as I was seeing more fish on the screen and was sure it wouldn’t be long. The goby minnows were plaguing us in this area now and I had to re bait the hooks many times before we finally got a bite. It was Alex’s turn to fight one of these things and we all hoped it was giant! Despite our wishes, it was just average as we found out when it jumped. Regardless, it still gave him a great battle and he was happy to land it in about 5 minutes. They had done a full rotation now and I hoped that we would be able to do another one before the day was over.

After changing areas due to those pesky gobies again, we were finally able to concentrate on getting another bite. John was back up and soon after he was battling another big one. This time however, it took to the air behind the boat in a spectacular leap that ended in a rolling dive back to the bottom. It had completely wrapped itself in the line and John reeled the fish back to the boat without any fight. I had informed them before what had happened and told everyone what I was about to do when it got close enough. I took the rod and quickly untangled his fish before it went nuts again. John was handed back the rod and battled it for almost ten minutes afterwards. Although I could have just netted his fish, she was still green and I wanted no part of that! I waited until it was tired and came to the boat properly before bringing it aboard for more pics.

We still had plenty of time remaining and I was sure that I would be able to get the others into at least one fish each but luck wasn’t on our side. Despite relocating many times, it was only Mark that got to do battle with another fish. Slightly smaller than his first one, it was still quite large! It beat him up again but this time he was more capable of lifting it up for the pics before the release.

The balance of the day saw a few more moves but the fish just didn’t want to cooperate. In the end, we were one shy of a double rotation but the fish we did land were quality. They all got to feel the power of these beasts and now have a better respect for our river monsters. They also all left smelling like a fish market from bear hugging their catch! By 4:00 we were done and I headed back to take out. This day could have only been better if we had landed one more fish, but they all had a great time regardless. Just one of these things each would have been a success and we had a couple more as an added bonus. This was definitely a very successful day with plenty of poundage landed and released. Hopefully they will be back out again before the season ends as talk of a return trip was passed around while we were out. Who knows, maybe they’ll see even bigger fish their next time out!!