Ed joined me today for another fiesta bowl of bass fishing! The weather was almost a carbon copy of yesterday and so was the action. He landed plenty of quality bass on a mix of baits making it the best day of fishing he’d experienced by far. To top it off, he had it all to himself as he fished alone. Another great day for fishing!!

Fay was with me today with his brother in law Noufel, all the way from Paris. They were joined by Hicham and had a great day. We hit the water a little later than expected but definitely made up for it with the fish they caught. Winds were light and temps were in the mid 50’s making for a very pleasant outing. Fish of all sizes were landed on a variety of baits and presentations and the action was nonstop! A typical, perfect fall day of fishing!!

Today I had the pleasure of fishing with an old client for the day. Tony brought along a father & son to experience what our waters have to offer as well. Jean & Elliot were definitely in for an interesting day! The conditions were perfect to tackle the big fish first so we wasted no time getting the lines in once we arrived. Elliot was into his first sturgeon almost immediately and with a little coaching, fought it like a champ. This thing was almost as long as he was and definitely spun a few heads when it finally appeared. His dad had to give him a hand for the pics, but he had fought it all on his own. He also managed to get two more sturgeon before the others even hooked anything. He was on fire today and loving every minute of it! When his father finally had to fight one of his own, he couldn’t believe how strong they actually were. He tired quickly and didn’t know how his son was able to handle three back to back. His fish finally made it to the net and now it was his turn to hold it for the pics. Not an easy task after you’ve exerted all your strength during the battle! Eventually Tony hooked his and after another lengthy battle he too was able to bring the beast to net. They had all caught big fish and were ready for a change. We shifted to another section of the lake after the winds picked up and targeted walleye. They were hoping to take a few home and I knew just the place. Although it was quite rough where I wanted to drift, they did manage alright. It wasn’t going to be easy to detect the subtle takes from these fish and big rollers wouldn’t help either. I saw a few hits on their lines that weren’t connected with before Tony finally locked up. It was the right species and I wanted to get it in the boat! Lucky for us but unlucky for the fish, it made it into the livewell. In the next hour or so several more misses were seen and Tony landed three more to add to the total. The waves were pretty big so we called it a little early. They had caught some really nice fish today and were taking a few home with them as well. Elliot was the champ today as he had boated more than his own body weight. I’m sure everyone at his school will be hearing about his fish from today. I know that his dad had sent multiple pics of his catches throughout the day and the responses were unbelievable. I guess it’s fair to say that everyone had a good time as these fish well surpassed all their expectations. Another great day for fishing!!

Lindsay was with me today after a last minute cancellation the night before. We were headed for some giants and the weather looked great! The air temps were in the low 40’s but the winds were out of the SW and pretty light. He was in for a real treat as he had never landed one of these beasts before. I don’t think the lines were in the water for more than 5 minutes and he was locked. Lindsay was shocked to see just how strong these things actually were and enjoyed every second of the fight. Although it may not have been a big sturgeon, it definitely was by his standards and worthy of a few pics. We went right back in after the release, looking for a bigger one. He was rewarded soon after with a definite take on the rod and was now battling something substantially larger. This one gave him a run for his money and I could tell by the way it was acting that it would be a while. When the bubbles began to show, the fish was not far behind. Soon after he was staring at what looked like something out of movie, as it swam by the boat. This one had a difficult time entering the net, but I finally managed to turn her head and scooped the entire body in. We turned her lose immediately after more pics and re rigged the rods hoping for another bite. The third fish took a little longer and after several missed takes, he was tight lined once again. By now he was getting use to fighting these things and had no trouble taming the beast! In the least amount of time possible, he had her to the net and more pictures were taken. Back she went and so did we, looking for another monster from the abyss. He had several misses before connecting with a strong fighting male that leaped into the air shortly after being hooked. It’s always incredible to see these things out of the water as you know immediately what you’re into. As it turned out, this was to be the last one we would see for today. Although a couple more were hooked into, they came unpinned quickly, causing us to change up for another species. Lindsay was hoping to take a few walleye home to eat & I knew just the place. We spent about an hour fishing there and missed several strikes, only to manage three good keepers in the end. We cut the day short and decided to head off the water around 2:00 as he was running on very little sleep. Any day you can catch fish as big as he did is a great day. On top of that he was even taking a few good eating fish home as well. We motored back to the docks completely satisfied with the results from today. Another great day for fishing!!

Reda was with me today, along with his friend Guillaume & looking for some big fish bites. We wasted no time and headed directly to the sturgeon in hopes of a few hookups. With the winds already blowing 10 to 15 from the SW, I wanted to spend as much time there before getting blown out. We were suppose to have much stronger gusting winds by afternoon and I knew it would become impossible. This has definitely been the year of giant winds! Once set up, Reda was the first to connect and it was a good one. Although not giant, it was still a great battle. We took few pics and like usual, released it back to the water unharmed. I think he hooked two or three before Guillaume finally connected with one of his own. This fish was considerably larger and beat him up pretty good. I could see by the way he was struggling that this battle was wearing him out and quickly! Eventually bubbles showed and the end was near. When he saw what he had hooked into he was shocked and relieved all at the same time. I slid it into the net and brought it aboard for the pics. It was so heavy and awkward that Guillaume had a difficult time holding the beast. Even the release was a little bizarre as he barely made it over the rail. In the next couple of hours they landed several more and Guillaume managed one really giant dinosaur that was impossible to hold. He had to sit for the photo and have the fish on his lap! This release wasn’t pretty either and the fish slid over the rail with a little more clumsiness. Although I wanted to return to the area we were fishing, the winds had a different idea. They were blowing pretty big now and a relocation was needed. I decided to hit another place nearby and try a little drop shotting for walleye. It wasn’t much better for fishing but at least we had a shot! With winds from the west and 3 footers rolling, our drifts were rather short. I repositioned many times by running back up for multiple drifts. Somehow they managed to catch fish even these conditions and that’s all that mattered. Many of the bites were never connected with due to how hard they were to detect. Reda did get most of his and put on a clinic for Guillaume at one point. He could do no wrong in one place and landed a bunch. We fished similar places for the remainder of the day and caught in each area we stopped. Eventually we just pulled the plug when the conditions worsened and headed in. As with every day lately, I can get only a small window of calm before the wind blows. It would be nice to actually have a lighter breeze than these hurricane like howls I’ve received, almost every day out! Despite the conditions, they did catch plenty of fish and some really big ones too. All in all a pretty good day to fish!!