A Great Sturgeon Bite

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I was back on the water again today after yesterday’s outing. Although there was no report, plenty of small walleye were caught and the guys even managed to bring home a limit of them! Today was a different story with Jim & Matt holding out for the sturgeon bite. I only hoped it would work out!

We were set up and in less than 15 minutes, had or first bite! Matt took the rod as he hadn’t caught one before and it immediately took to the air. It wasn’t a giant but it was a really good starter fish!

The fight lasted over 5 minutes with some powerful runs and dogging on the bottom. Eventually Matt managed to bring it up and he officially landed his very first sturgeon! Several pics were taken and it was returned to fight another day.

We went through a series of smaller fish for a while before Matt managed another decent one. The fight was great for the fish’s size, but over in less than 5 minutes. Jim had been with me last year hoping for another big one and shortly after, he got his wish. I reared back on some serious weight and handed him the rod to do battle! This was definitey the one we were looking for!

Although Jim’s fish never breached, the powerful runs were awesome. It ran out so much line and each time he reeled the line in, the sturgeon took off again! This went on for over 10 minutes until the runs got shorter and Jim was able to bring it to the net. This was definitely a much better fish!

We had reset the lines after releasing the last fish and now other boats were beginning to get closer. I hadn’t seen anyone hook up the entire time we were here, but they had seen us fighting fish, multiple times! It was only a matter of time!

The hookups continued to come and Matt soon battled another good fish, bigger than his first one. This time however the fight was deep and the sturgeon never came off the bottom. It’s always a good sign when these beats act like submarines!

Matt enjoyed his battle with this fish and after 10 minutes, he finally brought it up for me to net. It was a long one, but not too thick. It was however bigger than the first one he had landed earlier in the day. I shot several good pics and he returned it back to where it belonged.

We made a move or two and managed a few other smaller sturgeon before we pulled the plug on this area completely. I had wanted to do a little searching in a couple of other areas nearby and it seemed like a good time to explore.

The first spot seemed void but our second area showed some signs of life. I anchored up and in less than 15 minutes we had our first bite. As it turned out, this was a feisty sturgeon that fought like a champ for its size. Jim had it right to the boat in no time, before it took off right back to the bottom. This turned out to be the only bite from here, so I decided to make a long run to another place that I had checked earlier this morning.

With limited time remaining in the day, I idled around and anchored up on a bunch of fish. This was the first time I fished here this year but it seemed like there were better numbers of big fish on the bottom!

We had been holding for about 20 minutes when one of the rods started to bounce and I set into a decent fish. Matt took the rod and fought it for about 5 minutes before I slid the net under his catch. The water was a bit colder where we were and the battle didn’t last nearly as long! Despite marking plenty more big fish, this turned out to be the last bite we had and by 4:00, we were done.

Overall today was a great day filled with plenty of action. They had done battle with numerous fish, both small and large. Hopefully the remaining days for sturgeon will be equally as good and the weather will cooperate enough for me to fish them. With only a week left in the season, I want to get in as many days as possible, searching for these giants. Who knows, maybe someone will catch the biggest fish of the year and their lives too!