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Darren, Mark & Dave were with me this weekend for their annual fishing trip. We focussed on bass both days and they caught a bunch each day. Saturday saw us starting out in a giant fog bowl that never really lifted until after 11:00. We had to be cautious wherever we went! Once the sun came out the fishing picked up and it was game on.

Sunday we changed puddles and despite all the other fishermen on the water, they managed to catch bigger & more than the previous day. With side bets on amongst the gang, it was quite competitive! I’m not sure who finished on top but I do know that Mark had big fish of the day. Great two days of fishing!

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Rich & J.P. had another phenomenal morning of sturgeon fishing. Although we only targeted them for a few hours, they caught a bunch! We switched to bass before noon and stayed on them for the balance of the day. A little slow to begin but once the sun came out, it was on fire! Great day all around!

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Another great day of sturgeon fishing was about to unfold as Yacenty & Nick were going to experience fishing like they had never seen before! Conditions were perfect as we left the dock and headed to our starting spot. I just knew they would bite today!

After idling over the area in search of big marks, I was forced to settle on what looked like smaller fish on the bottom. I was also hoping for a quick bite but that never came as we waited a while for the first rod to move. I was actually getting ready to search again and had two of the three rods already reeled in when I saw the other one bouncing. I set into the fish and knew it had some weight. I immediately handed it off to Nick to do battle. It made several good runs and as usual, remained on the bottom the entire fight. Nick was instructed on how to fight the fish at first but instantly caught on. In under ten minutes he had his first sturgeon close enough for me to net and the battle was over. Several pics were taken after he finally got a hold of his fish for the photos. I don’t think he realized just how slippery these things were!

I reset all the lines after the release and was ready for the next bite. I had hoped it would be another four footer like the first, but unfortunately it was smaller. Yacenty took the rod and reeled in his first decent sturgeon. Good fight but not the right size! They were taking turns and Nick was handed the next rod with a much larger fish on the line. This thing had the potential of being a giant by the way it was fighting and I kept instructing him on how to do battle. When his fish breached, I knew it was quality! He was going to be a while!

The battle lasted over ten minutes and several good runs were made before I slipped the net under his catch. It was definitely longer than the first one he landed and quite a bit heavier too. This time however he knew how to hold it properly and we took several quick pics before the release. I wanted to get the lines back in fast because I had seen plenty of life all around and knew we would get more bites.

I’m not sure why but it seemed like every time Yacenty was up, his fish always seemed smaller. In fact he took a few turns in a row that all had smaller fish. Eventually however, he did have a big fish on the end of the line that unfortunately jumped and did an alligator roll in his line. Now he was forced to reel it in on the surface, backwards! I was able to untangle the fish once it reached the boat and Yacenty at least got a good fight from the sturgeon afterwards. This time he was going to hold a bigger fish for the pics!

We were definitely getting more bites now and I got the lines back in quickly after the release hoping for more. As usual, Nick was soon into another big one as I handed off the rod from the set. This one just remained on the bottom and never really fought like the others making me think it was huge! He could barely move it and the runs were slow and long each time it took line. Every time he tried to lift it off the bottom, the fish took more line and went right back down. It was definitely a big one!

After close to 15 minutes of a tug of war game with his fish, we finally saw what he was dealing with. It was close to 5 feet in length. Once netted, we wasted no time with the pics and release. We wanted more!

We spent some time with smaller fish afterwards and although fun to catch, they weren’t really what I was looking for. I made a couple of relocation moves and similar results were seen. Eventually the conditions changed and the wind started to blow. We had been fishing in almost flat calm conditions all day but now we were in waves. It was going to be a little tougher to see the bites with the south winds blowing!

The next fish was to be for Yacenty and when I saw one of the rods getting bit and set into the fish, I knew it was giant! Yacenty was about to get his! This one fought right out of the gate with a great long run and a breach. It was definitely big as we all saw the fish airborne! It was a dog & pony show with multiple runs and a powerful battle on the bottom. It also took over 10 minutes for Yacenty to bring it up high enough for me to be able to net. It was definitely the heaviest fish of the day! Multiple angled shots were taken and as usual, it was released to live. These fish need to be respected and preserved!

Nick had the pleasure of landing another big fish not long after and the number of good ones today was great. We stuck it out until the end and were rewarded with several other fish before we were done including a double header in the last couple of minutes. Nick landed another sturgeon and Yacenty a good sized channel cat! What a way to end a day!

Both Nick & Yacenty couldn’t have ordered a better day on the water with flat calm conditions, warm temps and overcast skies for the bulk of the day. It was definitely one of the most comfortable ones I’ve spent for sturgeon for quite a while! Hopefully there will be plenty more before the end of the month when it closes. I’d really like to take advantage of the quality fishing for these monsters as time is limited. After today, I can’t wait to get back out and have people do battle with many, many more!

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Neil & Ben joined me this morning and we decided to try our luck with sturgeon. After moving a few times, unsuccessfully, I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to get a bite. Well that answer never happened as I had to shuttle Neil back to the dock early due to a family problem. It was going to be Ben & I for the day!

I headed back out with Ben but this time we were going for walleye. It didn’t take long to get bit but unfortunately it was the only one. I wasn’t even marking fish and that concerned me some! With the winds increasing I opted for a species change and brought him to another area for bass. It was really slow here as well but a few fish were landed and one really big one lost.

I decided to give the sturgeon thing another shot but after about 30 minutes of re baiting hooks, we pulled out once again. The winds were too big to hold properly and see any bites, especially the nibblers! Time to get some walleye!

We spent the remainder of the afternoon making several drifts over an area that had a good population of keeper sized walleye. Both Ben & I fished as he was hoping to bring a limit of walleye back with him at the end of the day. Mission accomplished! He even managed to catch several others as well ending our day a little more successfully.

Although the fishing was slow at times today, we rallied in the end to finish strong. Ben was able to take dinner back with him as his father had left him in charge of the cooler when I dropped him at the dock earlier in the day. They would be eating well tonight!

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What happens when 2 out of three days on a long weekend have foul weather? The third one has everybody out fishing! Today was no exception, despite the chilly start to the day, as everybody hit the water with their boats. Our first stop for sturgeon proved that as the place was just loaded. I had a rough time getting to the area I wanted to be, but managed to hold close by with plenty of room from the nearest boat.

Mike was in from California and although he had caught a few sturgeon before, they were all small. Hopefully today that would change as we were in the land of the giants! It wasn’t long before we had some action from one of the two rods and his first Canadian sturgeon came into the boat. It wasn’t the one I was looking for but he was officially on the board!

The next couple of fish were significantly larger by his standards, but still on the smaller side by mine. Although they were the largest ones he had ever landed I still wanted him to fight one of the beasts. After several more medium ones, I finally got my wish when I reared back on some weight. This one was going to do the others justice as he was about to find out!

Mike fought the sturgeon like he had been battling big fish all his life. It was nice to have someone in the boat that knew how to fight a fish by using the rod properly. Despite several long runs, this one never breached and it wasn’t until he had the fish close to the boat that we knew how big it actually was. This would definitely be his biggest by far! Minutes later I had his fish in the net and readied him for the pics. As difficult as it was, he was able to lift the beast out of the net and hold it for a few shots before the release. To say he was happy would have been an understatement!

I reset the lines and we went right back to fishing for more of these monsters! Fortunately there were others and eventually Mike reeled into another one with big weight. He had officially taken control right from the bite and hooked into his own fish once again. This time however, it wasn’t a small or medium sized fish but rather a large one! Soon into the battle the line started to come up and we both got to see what he was doing battle with as she breached. Definitely some big weight there!

The fight lasted over ten minutes and this fish really took out some line. At one point the counter reached well over 150 before he was able to turn the fish and begin gaining line. Each run got shorter and shorter until eventually I was able to slip the net under his catch to end the battle. By now he knew the drill and how to hold it for the pics. We made short order of this and returned to fishing quickly.

Plenty of other good sized sturgeon were landed afterwards and we decided to call it here and try for some walleye before the end. I packed everything up and headed to where I knew he would have his best chance. We spent over an hour or so making a few drifts and boated a dozen or so keepers. The perfect end to an already perfect day!

Mike couldn’t have ordered better weather for his day of fishing. Although cool in the morning, it warmed up just nicely and the lack of wind with sunshine made it the picture perfect fall day. Oh yeah, the fish cooperated too! Great day all around!