Busy day today with double, half day trips booked. I began with Adam & his family for sturgeon early and spent the first three hours trying to hook them up. After several moves due to those pesky Gobies, we finally had a take and Andy was handed the rod for the fight of his life. With a little guidance and coaching, he started to understand how to play the fish, but was still struggling due to its size. Adam was use to fly fishing for smaller trout and had never dealt with something this size before. To him, it was like trying to reel in a bus, going in the opposite direction! He literally had no control over this fish after about five minutes. At first, she remained close and under the boat but eventually went wild, twisting and rolling and began going away. The line counter reached almost 250 before I decided to unpin he anchor to help him out. Andy was already exhausted and chose to pass the rod to his father in law for a break. I never like chasing fish but thought that it was either tangled or somehow foul hooked, when nobody could gain line. About 15 minutes passed before we saw color and they were shocked! I don’t think they had realized just how big this fish was, but they knew now! I had him steer the fish towards the boat and was able to net her without any problem. I also had a confirmation as to why they  couldn’t reel the fish in as it was massive! The hook was perfectly positioned in the corner of the mouth but this fish was large! Not having dealt with anything of this size before, I don’t think they understood how to fight it properly as the fish controlled them. We set everything up for pics and now they really felt the weight. It took two of them to lift it up for the photos and even at that, they couldn’t hold it for long. I shot fast and we released it immediately, watching her go straight back down. There was no reason to set back up so I just packed everything in and headed for bass. Andy wanted to try them on a fly & I had brought a couple of rods for him. A Clouser pattern had him locked up on his first cast and battling a nice fish. He had never caught a smallie before and was amazed at how hard they fight! I would have loved to take some pics but decided to release it due to how badly hooked it was. It released perfectly! We stayed on smallies until close to noon with everyone hooking up and I headed back for the afternoon switch. They were thoroughly satisfied with their first experience, fishing the waters in Montreal and with any luck, will return for more.

Frank was with me for the afternoon and had a couple of friends along as well. They opted for walleye and we made a long run to a place that had been holding some good fish recently. Frank had been with me earlier this year, had a great day trolling up plenty of pike & eyes and was hoping to have another banner outing today. With a little instruction, they began catching fish quickly and it never let up! I refined the areas and also their techniques to increase the number of walleye caught. The entire time spent during the afternoon had plenty of action allowing me to harvest a few fish for the table. I allowed them to each keep a couple and released all the rest. Plenty of overs were also returned in the time we spent making this afternoon extremely productive. The 4 hours or so that we fished just flew by and before we knew it, the day was done. These guys were amazed at just how many fish they caught in a short period of time and left wanting more. Who know, with all this warm weather we’ve been having, they might just get back out again! Great fishing was had by everyone today!!

Mike & Cory joined me on this chilly morning for a shot at the elusive ‘Holy Grail »! We launched in a north wind gusting at 15 to 20 knots at times. Add the 36 degree air temps and it felt more like, below freezing! The area I was fishing had the winds hitting from the side and some of the waves were splashing us in the face. Although we endured this suffering for almost two hours, we finally pulled the plug and opted for something catchable. I was pretty sure the bass fishing would be better and Mike happily agreed to go for them! I started shallow and although we had a few fish with plenty of others following, it wasn’t the size I was looking for. I slid out a little deeper and they both began hooking into many more, but landing them was a different story. For some reason, they were losing twice as many as they were landing. Fortunately there were a bunch schooled up and it didn’t seem to matter. We hung in this area for quite a while until they depleted the dumb ones and another move was in order. I tried a shallow place and once again, the fish were small. Back out to deeper water and the big ones were ready to eat. We remained here for the bulk of the afternoon and they caught quite a few quality smallies. With our end nearing and the want for a few fish for the table, we gave the last 45 minutes up in order to try for some eyes. As with the bass, the walleye were getting off more than being landed and it ended up seeming like 3 to 1 in the loss category! Fortunately they did get a limit in the short time spent and would be dining on fish tonight. Overall a pretty good day with the exception of the start and those damn toothy critters! Both Cory and Mike had a great time landing and losing all kinds of bass & walleye and quality ones too! With the overnight temps cooler now, the fishing should begin to pick up and high numbers of big fish will be the norm. The next few weeks should be excellent and I will be on the water almost every day following their movements. With only a few open days left for this month, anyone wanting to experience fall’ s great fishing should get in touch with me before they’re all gone. Many more great days ahead!!

Sam fished with me today and brought along a few family members as well. His had his two young children and his father. Sam Jr. was 6 and his daughter Mia was 5 making for an interesting time on the water. Although his son had fished with me before, this was the first time for Mia and I wanted to get them both into fish. We started late in the morning and I decided to look for the numbers, settling on a walleye spot. After a quick instruction to Sam sr. I started baiting the lines for his kids. All of a sudden I was going for the net, because he was locked up with a decent walleye. I guess he caught on quickly! I put it in the livewell as they were going to take a few back home with them tonight for dinner and resumed baiting the kids lines. It didn’t take long before Sam Jr. was hooked up and he brought to net a really nice over that was released right after several pics. His daughter was also landing a few of her own while the bite was good and everyone was having a great time. Sam was hooking several walleye and handing off the rods to his children as well, keeping them constantly occupied and on fish. Although it was cool and we could have used a little more sunshine, the bite was hot and that’s all that mattered! Both kids managed to land a lot of fish in the short time we were out. Towards the end I began making a few casts, hooked up and passed the rod to them to land as well. The time flew by and before we knew it, we were done. Sam didn’t want to stay out too long with his children, keeping them interested for the next time. This was a great idea as they never lost interest and left wanting more. We finished the day with a couple of overs and pulled the plug by 2:30. In only 4 hours of fishing they had managed to land about 20 walleye making this a great day all around. Who knows, maybe the next time they might land a sturgeon even heavier than them. I know Sam Jr. is already wanting to try for one on his next trip! Great day of fishing!!

Greg was back again, along with Andrew & Kevin, looking for more of those monsters. Kevin had a taste yesterday but we were only able to fish for about 90 minutes at the end of the day. Hopefully he would get to feel the pain this time out! A light rain was falling when we reached our destination but it didn’t matter as the winds were from a good direction and light for the start. After all the lines were in, I raised the top to give us more shelter. I’m really glad that I didn’t remove it yet, as the protection it provided was perfect today! First up was Kevin and I handed him a loaded rod to do battle with something large. Now he felt the power of these fish and the burn in his arms. She was definitely heavy by the way it acted. Although there were no jumps, the runs were significant of weight and he possibly had the one we had been looking for, for the past two days. By now Kevin was in total pain but wouldn’t give up. He had been informed of how difficult it was to land these things and was now experiencing it firsthand. It was already 20 minutes into the fight before we were able to get a view of his fish and when we finally did, everyone was in shock. This was undoubtedly the largest one by far! I eventually got a shot at this goliath of a fish and somehow managed to get her in the net. Although we had caught plenty of huge fish in the last couple of days, this one dwarfed them all. It would definitely be a two person job for the pics! I readied everything while keeping her in the water, before hoisting her into the boat. Both Andrew & Kevin held this mammoth for the pics and we shot quickly to preserve her. The release was something out of Jaws 1 as she slowly swam away. We reset the lines and hurried to get them back in the water, in hopes of another one. By now the rain was no longer a mist and was falling pretty good. Thankfully being under the cover, kept us dry! They managed to get a couple more good fish soon after and then Kevin was back up. As luck would have it, Andy handed him the rod and it was game on! He was now doing battle with another giant and still suffering from the first one of the day. This fight was identical to the previous one he had and after almost 30 minutes of battling the fish, we saw why. I was netting something even larger than the one he had already caught! Although happy for Kevin, there was a little envy from the others as they had hoped for one of their own. He had flown in the day before and now had the two largest ones under his belt, in just a few short hours of fishing. Talk about winning the lottery! As with the first one, we prepped everything and shot fast before releasing the giant back to where she belonged. I’m just glad it was us that landed her as some of the other boats would have probably killed her for food. Unbelievable! After composing ourselves, we were back at it hard, waiting for more River Monsters! Although we never really got into any more of that calibre, there were plenty of other great fish landed throughout the day. The rain fell heavy at times along with the arrival of a cold front, causing the winds to increase. We managed a few more fish and eventually the anchor slipped and we were done. The guys had a long drive back home and had decided to leave a little earlier than usual, so this was a sign. They all had their fill of fighting fish and were all suffering from the battles. Kevin had been broken since before 9:30 so my work was done! I was hoping to crush him by noon but completed the job ahead of schedule! I’m sure they will have a lot to talk about in the truck, unless some of them fall asleep from the sheer exhaustion of the day. These past three days had produced high numbers of big fish and exceeded their expectations tenfold! Not in their wildest dreams did they ever imagine it would end this way. Although they had never fought and landed fish this size in fresh water, all three of them now had another check off their bucket lists. Mission accomplished!!

Today I had the pleasure of getting on the water with a good friend and fishing guide from Lake Ontario. Greg Amiel, « fishing4tails », is an amazing multi species guide specializing in salmon and trout on the Big O and huge walleye on the Bay of Quinte in the fall. He also fishes bass & musky on some of the inland lakes when the weather or people dictate it. Well today, it was time to check another species off his list! He brought along Andrew, who has fished with him many times over the years and between the two of them, it would be great. We arrived at our first spot of the day before 8:00 and set up quickly. With lines in, I informed them on what to look for and what to do when they saw the bite. We were blessed with almost no wind so keeping the rods in the holders wasn’t going to be a problem. After some goby action and a few drive byes, the first fish finally took and Andrew was into a beast. It was right about now that he realized what I was talking about when I told them how hard they fought. This thing just pulled line from the reel and then exploded into the air. Andrew had fought many big fish before and knew how to handle a rod, but this thing was definitely in control! The fight was just insane as run after run happened every time he thought e was gaining. Eventually after about 15 minutes, I was able to net his fish. I told him that although a good one, it wasn’t the one I wanted for them to see. A good starter fish but only on the high average end in my books! Many pics were taken and a quick release so that we could get back in the game. Greg was up next and unfortunately his first sturgeon turned out to be a juvenile and not worthy of a pic. I think he was a little upset when I tossed it back but in his language, it was only a shaker! As this fish was only small, Andrew decided to let him get the next one too and it didn’t take long. When the rod started to bounce, Greg reeled down and set into something with size. He was finally locked up and it was big! Andrew picked up the video and began filming Greg through the battle. I’m not sure if this one was live on Facebook but there were several times that they were.  Although it never jumped, it definitely gave him a run for his money as he manouvered from one side of the motor to the other. At least ten minutes went by before we were able to see what was attached and it was a good one. I eventually was able to net his fish and complete a second Bucket List, of the day! Plenty of pics were taken once again before the release and we went right back at it. After a couple more smaller ones, I decided to relocate to another area and apparently the move was a good choice. Within 5 minutes, they were locked up once more and I believe Greg had the rod again. He had set into something pretty big while holding the rod and Andrew told him to hang on to it. This time the fish torpedoed into the air behind the boat for everyone to see and it was spectacular. The fight was definitely a hard one as with all the males out here. Females tend to just dog and make smooth but hard runs while the males are insane. These things make blistering runs and usually go airborne at least once during the fight. Greg’s fish did just that! When he finally brought it to net, after about 10 minutes, it was confirmed. A decent male had beat him up and he loved every minute of it. We didn’t want to waste too much time so we shot fast and reset the lines for more. Throughout the morning they both landed many other quality sturgeon and were trashed from all their battles. It was nice to inflict a little pain on Greg as he has done to his clients so many times in the past. Both Andrew & Greg were a little sore and I wanted them to be a lot more sore before the day was over. The afternoon was no different with many, many more hookups and epic battles. They both shot video of most of the battles and plenty of photos of their catches. I had planned on ending the day around 4:00 and just before, Andrew had talked about reeling in the lines. I held off a few minutes longer and almost on cue, he set into what turned out to be the largest fish of the day. In fact, I think the jump that his sturgeon provided will remain etched in his mind forever! It breached about 50 feet in front of him and completely out of the water for everyone to enjoy. It was so heavy that throughout the fight he never had control. It must have taken 20 minutes before she tired enough for me to net. Andrew had started the day with the largest fish and ended it with an even bigger one. I don’t think either of these guys had ever imagined in their wildest dreams, that they would have had a day like this. They were both slimed, sore and totally exhausted from all the giant fish they had landed but looking forward to tomorrow. Once we were finished taking pictures, we headed back to take out. To say this was a great day would have been an understatement. It was epic! There was an unbelievable amount of poundage that came aboard this boat and every one of them was returned to live another day. I’m looking forward to returning tomorrow and hurting both of them once again. What are friends for!!