Derek, Jay, David & Thomas were with me for a half day morning trip today and hoping to battle some big sturgeon. We headed out shortly after 7:00 and anchored up for the beasts. The wind was blowing pretty good and I just hoped we would be able to get the anchor to hold. Fortunately it did and I set up in anticipation of the first fish. it wasn’t easy seeing anything bite with the boat rocking back & forth in the waves. Eventually, after having the hooks picked clean several times, we opted for the rod in hand method instead. Although somewhat better, we still had plenty of piranha like gobies cleaning the hooks off and I had to move to another area just to escape them. By now the winds had diminished considerably and anchoring up wasn’t an issue. New area and hopefully better luck! The gobies weren’t too bad here and we were getting several small bites, but still no sturgeon. Finally a good one ate and it was on briefly until the line went limp. I don’t know what happened but the main line broke and the fish was gone. I retied the rig and got everything back in hoping for another bite, but we never got it. Plenty of times the rod tip bounced but I think it was just fish bumping into the line as they swam by. They were all talking about heading elsewhere for walleye & bass, but I wanted to try another area for a maximum of fifteen minutes before leaving. I got the lines set and hoped for the best! In less than 10 minutes I saw the bite and pounced on the rod ready to set into something large. A couple more bumps and I cranked on it hard to load the rod. We were locked! Thomas was the lucky one to receive the rod while the others reeled in the lines. I knew by the weight that this was going to be a good one but didn’t know just how big until it launched itself out of the water like a missile. We all got  good look at the fish and they were in awe at its overall mass. If you’re only gonna get one bite, this was the one to get! Thomas fought the fish for over 20 minutes and several times the runs had me ready to release the anchor and give chase. Eventually he was able to bring the beast back and I managed to slip the net under it. This was definitely large in every way imaginable! We prepared everything for the pics while keeping it in the water and finally hoisted it on board. It took two of us and even at that, it was tough! I knew Thomas would need help and David offered to aid him in lifting it for the pics. It was definitely a two man operation but well worth it as I got plenty of good pics. They torpedoed it back and away it went . No reason to reset the lines, I just packed the rods up and we headed to fish walleye. This was a fish of a lifetime for most and Thomas knew it. In fact, they all knew it too! We spent almost 90 minutes drop shotting deeper water for eyes and managed to get a few. Most were overs but they did get to take one home along with a big perch they caught. Plenty of bites were had by all but most were either missed or lost on the way to the boat. Shortly before 1:00 we headed back and called it a day. After hours of patiently waiting, they finally were rewarded. Their patience hadn’t been in vain and it was all worthwhile. Although it was Thomas that got to fight the beast, they all enjoyed the battle, almost as much. He definitely had the most experience fishing and was clearly the right man for the job! Everyone left with a sense of accomplishment as the long wait was well worth it in the end!!

Scott & Chris were with me this morning, on the day after the big nor’easter! I wasn’t sure how it would go after all the rain and wind we experienced yesterday and through the night. I decided to try & get them into  a giant sturgeon right away as Scott missed out earlier in the year when they were going strong. Chris hadn’t caught one either and I hoped this was about to change! Almost immediately after setting the lines, we landed a perch. Not really what we were after but it was a fish! The next rod to get hit was 5 minutes in and I showed them what to do. Chris was into our first sturgeon of the day and feeling the power of the fish. It gave him a great fight but only for about five minutes. I didn’t think it was a giant but once he had it close to the boat, I saw that it was a really good one nonetheless! One down, one to go! We shot a bunch of pics and released it immediately afterwards. As Scott was up next, I hoped that he would get one much larger but it turned out to be a juvenile and not much of a fight.  He also landed a three pound smallie that didn’t fight much either. It was decided that the next fish would still be his and after a move and several phone calls he reared back on the real deal. This thing fought him like a champ! As the line rose in the water I knew we were going to see exactly what he was hooked into. I think they both soiled their shorts when they saw the entire thing rocket out of the water and sizzle line from the reel upon re entry. Several times when he actually thought he was gaining, the fish took over and changed that tune! It took out plenty of line and after about 15 minutes or so, Scott was finally able to bring it close enough for me to net. Definitely one of the biggest of the season so far! I prepped everything while we kept it in the net and once ready, I heaved it over the rail and onto the tarp. Good luck Scott on lifting it for the pics! It was quite funny watching him try & figure out how to get a hold of this monster but he finally did, with a little help. Great shots and back she went to live another day! Scott was elated and couldn’t believe just how heavy this thing was when he had lifted it up for photos. He felt the burn in a few body parts afterwards, as I reset the lines in hopes of one even bigger. Unfortunately that was all she wrote for the beasts but not the damn gobies. We had plenty of other nibbles as the hooks were stripped as if piranhas had been present! Somewhere around 2:00, we pulled the plug here and went somewhere else where they could catch smaller fish. As they were hoping to take some home with them, I knew just the place! They drop shotted over deeper water and although they missed more than they landed, they still managed to boat 5 keeper walleye to take back, and a pile of perch. Scott caught the only smallie out here but this fish fought him hard in this depth. They even took home five of the largest perch as they never get to see them that size from back where they live. This was definitely worth the drive for them as they both caught a fish of a lifetime and have the pics to prove it too! The overall day was perfect as well with cloud cover early but flat calm & sunshine the entire time we were fishing sturgeon. When we relocated for the walleye, the winds picked up giving us a great drift. I guess Mother Nature has her moments, but they are definitely few & far between. I’m sure she’ll be back in full swing sometime real soon!!

I received an Email a while back for a possible 8 people from Melanie. Today we were one short but it didn’t matter as I had a second boat to share the load. My buddy Mike was with me and it was decided at the start that I was to take the 4 guys and Mike got the 3 women. The guys wanted to fish for sturgeon and the girls just wanted smaller fish. We parted ways and I headed to the area that produced each time out this year. I was sure we could hook up with a few and after marking them, dropped anchor above the arches. I had to try three times before I pulled up and realized that the blade was all bent. When I tried to straighten it, it just snapped from the weld. What a piece of shit! I did have another heavier anchor and had to use it as a backup to secure us. Normally I would have stayed about 15 minutes in one place without a bite and moved to another area. Because of the type of anchor I was using, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to hold again and stayed put for almost three hours. We went through a lot of worms here but it was from all the smaller fish and possibly goby minnows. These things were like piranhas! All we managed to get for our troubles were a couple of missed hits and one freshwater drum. I did eventually make one move and was able to get the anchor to hold but the results were still the same. Lots of used worms! With very little time left in the half day outing, I switched gears and went somewhere that I knew we could land some fish. We drop shotted for about 30 minutes and caught  several perch and one good walleye before heading back to the dock to meet the others. I had decided earlier that we were going to go back out for another hour or so and when the others left, we did just that. One hour turned into almost three and they caught em good! There were six overs that had to be tossed back and one under too. They did however manage to take back with them 4 keeper walleye and a half dozen jumbo perch. I can’t tell you how many they missed but it was at least 75%. It didn’t matter though as everyone had a blast and they all caught fish. I think we all lost track of the time during this as it wasn’t until Stephan got a call that we realized it was 3:00. Time to go and back we went! They had a great afternoon after a dismal morning trying for what I thought would be a sure thing. I guess like in life, there’s no guarantees in fishing either!!

Miserable conditions yesterday caused a cancellation and I was able to take a road trip to the states with Christiane to stock up on some well needed plastics. This morning I was back on the water with Dominic & his 6 year old son Joseph for a fun filled day. We started out fishing for sturgeon and Dominic got to tangle with two giants. The second one was almost twice the size of the first one and he fought both of them like a well trained veteran! Although not the numbers I was expecting, I was still glad that he did get to play with a couple of them. Watching him lift them up for the pics was quite comical too as I don’t think he realized how hard it was to pick up something that wiggly and slimy. We managed to get several good shots despite the difficulty in holding something that large. Both creatures were released unharmed and bolted right back as fast as they could. By 10:30 I decided that we weren’t going to wait any more and packed up the sturgeon gear to relocate to a walleye zone. I wanted to see the little guy in action and his dad set up his spin cast combo when we arrived. I gave them a drop shot rig and baited his hook with a worm as we were also in a great perch area. His dad got the usual soft plastics and I hoped he would be able to get into a few bass and walleye. Well, Joseph managed to land a couple of perch and then a 5 pound walleye on his set up. It darn near took him overboard during the fight and although I did brace his rod, it was all him! This little guy had just landed a beautiful walleye and likely his largest fish to date. All of this on a five foot spin cast outfit as well. He obviously had a little practice before as I watched him pitch the rig back into the water after we took some pics. Not only was he back in, but he managed to get into a few more walleye and perch all by himself in the remaining time we had. His dad too had changed over to a worm and was also landing walleye and perch right up until the time we were done. The flat calm conditions we had through the day, all of a sudden changed to a good chop from the west creating some white caps. The water had blown up into two footers in less than 20 minutes and looked like they were still increasing. I was glad that we were only out for a half day and pulled the plug about 12:30. We had misty showers in the morning and flat calm conditions and now the sun was out and it was back to blowing again. Quite typical of the conditions this season! I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Dominic & Joseph left the lake with a sense of fulfillment, as they both had caught some of the biggest fish of their lives and in only a half day of fishing. Who could ask for anything more!!

Peter & his wife Justine joined me this morning on probably the worst day so far this year. We held at the dock for 15 minutes to let a system pass that showed on the radar to be clear afterwards. Well, even the radar didn’t seem to work this morning as I had to raise the top for the run when it began to pour, while idling out. The winds were out of the NE and blowing about ten knots and expected to increase terribly, later in the morning. All I could hope for was a small window where I could get them into fish! I headed back for sturgeon in hopes of another big one and anchored up. The wind was crossways against the current & twisting the boat around, so I had to right it with the aid of a drift sock. Of course the rain was still coming down so the cover remained up and made fishing a little more complicated. We were having a difficult time detecting some of the bites and smaller fish were nibbling the bait from the hooks. I had to check the lines often to ensure they were still were baited. Rain stopped cover down, rain got heavy cover up! This went on several times during the morning and was a pain in the butt, or so I thought. It wasn’t until the rain got heavy and the wind started gusting that I found out what a real pain in the butt actually was! By now with the cover up and the winds gusting 20 or more from the NE, it began to turn the boat sideways and even the sock didn’t help. The boat was bouncing so much that seeing any bites was practically impossible. Time to fish with rod in hand! I instructed them on what to do & how to detect the bite and we held on with the cover up, once again. The rains fell at times so hard that even the raindrops felt like little nibbles. I was almost getting ready to give up on any chance at getting them into a sturgeon when I felt a good bite on my rod. Seconds later I had the rod loaded and passed it off to Peter to fight. Justine had taken his rod and I slid under both, in order to reel one of them in. As soon as I started to reel, I felt another bite and locked up on a second fish. We officially had a double and they were both fighting monsters. I cleared the last line and dropped the cover in the rain to allow room for the battle. Neither one had realized just how strong these things actually were and struggled to bring them in. The battle went on for a while for both of them and I had to jockey their rods around when they kept crossing each other during the fight. Eventually Peter brought his up and I was able to get the net under the fish. Justine still had a ways to go & I was glad because I had work to do with his beast. Several pics were taken and the fish was released before Justine was able to have hers boat side. I netted hers as well and what had started out as misery was all of a sudden a celebration. A giant double header and both of them landed! I would have been happy just landing one of these dinosaurs but somehow we managed to get them both. I heaved the fish aboard and slipped it out of the net for her to hold. Although it wasn’t easy, she managed better than most men and I shot several pics before she slid it back in the water. Both fish swam away great to be fought another day! After all of this, I decided to go for some bass as Justine had never landed a smallmouth before. All they have back home are largemouth and I really wanted her to feel the power of the bronzeback! By now the winds were real ugly and the waves were getting even bigger so I headed to an area somewhat sheltered in order for them to cast. Peter had wanted to catch on top water and brought along some of his favourite lures to try. The conditions weren’t great but I thought he had a chance when I had a fish explode on a soft plastic while instructing Justine on how to fish it. She had a few takers and landed a couple on the bait and Peter also got his wish with a nice one on the surface lure. Justine missed a few on a blade bait when I switched her up in one of the areas too. These conditions really didn’t help as it was next to impossible to do anything with the wind direction we were faced with. As we only had a half day scheduled, we called the day around 12:30 right after she managed to land one more. This day was a roller coaster of everything from the weather & waves to the fishing and conditions we faced. I think under the circumstances, we fended quite well. They had both battled and landed giant sturgeon and a few smallies were caught afterwards. Justine had caught her very first smallie and now knows the difference in how these bass fight as well. I packed everything up for the run back as I wasn’t sure what to expect. We took a slight short cut to the ramp but still had to run in 3 footers all the way. Fortunately I was running directly into them and had great boat control in the Ranger. Smooth like butter, with a few lumps! Mother Nature didn’t win today, despite all her attempts to de rail us from our quest. For once, we kicked her butt!!