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Philippe and his wife Ghislaine joined me today in hopes of catching their first ever sturgeon. I was pretty sure they wouldn’t have a problem, but lately the size had been smaller than expected. Would this be the day that things turned around?

With very little wind at the start, I knew we wouldn’t have a problem holding with the electric motor. I set the rods quickly in an area I was marking and we began the wait.

In the first few hours we were able to land 4 sturgeon but just like usual, they were all small. I had made a few moves to get the job done and seen plenty of bigger ones on the sonar. Unfortunately it was the juveniles that bit first and we continued searching new areas in hopes of a bigger bite.

Sometime before lunch I had set up on a favourite late season spot and it wasn’t long before we got our wish! The bite was better than anything we had seen this morning and I finally felt some weight when I set the hook. This was the one we had been waiting for!

Philippe was impressed by how strong the fish fought and struggled at times just to control the beast. It made many long runs and each time he thought he was gaining, it took everything back out again. This lasted for close to 15 minutes before he was to see why. When the fish finally appeared, both of them were in awe at its size. This was a true monster! It was extremely long and going to be a challenge for him to hold!

After laying the tarp out I heaved the sturgeon aboard and now they were really shocked at just how big it really was. I had to lift the fish up and place it on his lap in order to get any pics. We shot quickly and torpedoed it back immediately afterwards. Now I wanted more!

We were all set up and having lunch when Ghislaine was interrupted by another bite. Fortunately for her, it wasn’t a giant and didn’t take too long to land. We were soon once again disturbed by another fish that actually turned into a double and both of them had to stop eating in order to fight the fish. No time to eat when the fish are biting! One was small and the other was in the teens but they were all great fighters.

We remained in the area fishing sturgeon up until about 1:30 with only one other small fish landed. They had hoped to try for walleye and I packed everything up to make the run. With the winds completely still, I knew it wouldn’t be an easy task and would likely need the electric motor just to get any movement at all.

With a couple of drop shot rods in the water, I slowly moved over the area and Philippe set into a good fish. Once in the net, I realized that it was over the slot and needed to be returned. He landed another fish soon after too but this one was a jumbo perch and gladly retained it for his dinner. We had made a couple of short passes over the area before Ghislaine also connected with a nice eye. Hers was a high end keeper and they were both happy to keep this one as well.

We didn’t stay much longer before they decided to call it a day. They had a great time catching plenty of sturgeon including a true giant and were done. They would be going home with dinner for tonight as well.

Today was a great one all around and especially the weather. For a change I wasn’t fishing in gale force winds or monsoon like rain. It was actually a pleasure to be on the water and definitely made my life much easier all around. Now if they could deliver two of these in a row I would be even happier! Who knows what tomorrow will bring!

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I had another double trip day today with Philippe, Simon & Sasha in the morning and Val in the afternoon. I would be under the gun to get the job done in short 4 hour spans but would try my best to put everyone on fish!

We headed out in a pretty good rain that lasted most of the morning and almost no wind. I was going to anchor up for sturgeon with these guys, looking for a few big ones! The plan was to fish most of the morning for them and then try for bass the remainder their time. It’s always a risk switching species when you’re limited to time!

With 4 rods in the water I was sure we would get hit quickly and was right. The bite was light but with no wind, easy to detect in the rod holders. We were immediately on the board with a small fish! For the next few hours we waited and were rewarded with several more juvenile sturgeon. The guys even had a double and one triple header as I didn’t reel in the other lines when they were hooked up. These fish were on fire and I was sure we would have seen something big if we stayed. After one more fish and less than an hour remaining, we packed up and headed to fish for bass.

I tried getting them into some fish in an area that produced great, less than 1 week earlier. We made a couple of drifts in a cross wind that never produced and I decided to make a move. With these winds I thought an open water flat would be a great choice but soon found out it had no wind there. Our drifts were so slow that it felt like we were anchored!

Time ran out quickly and after a couple of failed attempts, we were done. I almost wish that we had of remained on the sturgeon, but you just never know! I headed back to exchange passengers and was back on the water in minutes.

Val had requested bass and I decided to bring him somewhere else due to our previous results. I attempted fishing rock piles in slightly deeper water but without even a bite. Once I slid in shallower however, he managed to catch a couple of good bass and I thought things were about to explode. Unfortunately they were the only two fish that bit! We remained here searching for more bass but the low light and overcast conditions didn’t make it any easier.

Several other moves and attempts at getting into fish were all similar and I tried various spots and techniques just to get something going. In one area while dragging a jig, he even managed to foul hook a sturgeon that had us thinking, big walleye! Things just weren’t going as planned and I was making adjustments constantly. We were even running out of time by now and in a last ditch effort, we headed to open water looking for a few walleye.

The winds had picked up late in the afternoon and we thought it would work in our favour to catch him dinner. With fish marking on the bottom, we made several drifts over them and only managed one. A few others were lost and some hits missed but they just didn’t want to bite. I switched baits a few times but the results were always the same. We were done!

The bite today didn’t go as planned, but at least the sturgeon seemed active. Many of them were landed, just not the giants that I am use to seeing at this time of the year! I almost wish we had of fished for them all day with the way they were acting. The bass & walleye definitely weren’t aggressive, at least where we were! Some bites were had but with all the places we fished, I expected much more. The water temps are still falling and with the cold rain from the last couple of days, they may have gone back deeper. I expect the sun to activate the shallow bite soon, if we ever actually get to see it. Hopefully in the next few days things will change. If not, I will be spending a lot more time in deeper water for the fall biters! Only time will tell!

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I’m not sure if it was due to the rain or the fact that it was a week day, but there were definitely fewer boats out today! Scott, Manny & Cory joined me for their annual fishing trip, looking for some big bass bites. Although we began in overcast skies, we all knew it wouldn’t last. It was going to rain on our parade today!

Our first stop should have put plenty of fish in the boat but they struggled just to get bit. Cory managed a couple of nice ones while the others never even had a sniff. After way too long without seeing any fish, I made a move to shallow water and it was here that a couple more quality fish were finally landed. Unfortunately that was all she wrote!

The fishing was definitely much slower than I had expected, but with one more move, it soon turned around. Both Cory & Scott were catching bass but Manny was still having a hard time getting his first legit bite. He did however go three casts in a row with fall fish on his line! The other two brought in several good ones apiece, but I really needed to get Manny into some fish of his own. Time for another move!

With the rain falling pretty good now, I decided that a drift in deeper water would probably be the easiest method and set up where I knew there would be fish. The first several passes yielded some decent fish and a couple of really good ones, but it was Manny’s second fish that would make his trip. It was a true giant of a bass and likely the largest one for my boat this season. He was finally on the board and had lunker of the day! We continued to fish with this method for a while and they kept catching fish. When it finally stopped producing, I made another move and repeated the results once again. It was definitely the right choice of fishing for this wet day!

With the afternoon hours passing fast, we jumped around between casting and drifting and plenty more fish were landed. I think it was Cory however that managed to catch the most, but Scott rallied with several big ones right at the end. We eventually called it after he landed one more fish and headed back in the rain.

These guys are no strangers to bad weather and have endured much colder temps with similar conditions in the past. Today was just a bit of a struggle however with fewer fish than we expected in many of the spots. They definitely worked much harder than usual, but in the end the results were good and Manny’s giant of a bass was the icing on the cake!

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Darren & I hit the water this morning, looking for some smallie action. He usually fishes with his brother and a friend, but this time he would be alone. More fish for him today! It was a great start right out of the gate with his first 3 casts producing all good fish. We decided to skip most of the pics today and focus on the fishing. Only the true giants would have their “Kodak Moment!”

You could see that it was a weekend by all the boat traffic on the water. The end of the season was drawing near and any nice day would have them all out. Fishing most areas was like taking a number at a meat counter just to get a spot! Unfortunately some of them didn’t seem to care and just parked wherever they wanted, making it even more of a pain. We tried staying away from the crowds all day and fished comfortably by ourselves. It’s much more enjoyable this way!

We fished a mix of techniques today from shallow to deep and managed to catch fish wherever we stopped. Some places yielded big fish on almost every cast but not the true giants we were searching for. Between dodging boat traffic and fishing over very used waters they were just eluding us entirely. It was looking like a no pic kinda day!

After many, many quality fish throughout the day, time was finally running out. We were down to the last 15 minutes or so and I really wanted Darren to get a monster. Trying to find a place to fish without any other boat traffic was becoming even more difficult! I had 3 places in mind and after running towards them realized it wasn’t going to happen. I didn’t want to fish within 100 feet of them and decided to try an area I usually only hit when the water is much colder. We both made a cast and had hits immediately. Darren landed his and mine never got pinned. We were definitely on some fish now and hopefully there were more.

I decided to start packing things up to go when Darren slammed into some weight. At first we weren’t sure just how big it was, but then it tried to jump. It never really cleared the water and we still weren’t sure of its size! As I continued to put things away, Darren continued to have a hard time getting the fish to the boat and I decided to release the anchor mode on the electric. This would at least allow us to drift down to the fish in the current and hopefully land it. When I got close enough I realized why he was having such a hard time. It was a true giant! I quickly netted his bass and we were done! Now we had a fish to take some pics of and I shot a few good ones before the release.

We decided to try a few more casts back in the same area before leaving, but never got another hit. Right time, right place I guess! If it weren’t for all the boats today I probably wouldn’t have even stopped in the area to fish. What a way to end the day!

Despite the tournament like traffic, we managed to get into a load of good fish today. It may have been a challenge at times just to find open water but we made it work. I can only imagine how good it would have been if we were left to do it alone, like we had done so many times before in the past. I’m back out again tomorrow and hopefully between the rainy weather and it being a week day, there will be fewer boats on the water. Crossing my fingers for less traffic!

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Rachel & Gina joined me this morning for a half day outing, hoping to catch anything. I was going to try & lock them up on a few beasts! They would need to be back at the docks by 11:30 as I had an afternoon trip scheduled with Val & Julie. Hopefully I would be able to get into the sturgeon quick!

After the cool morning run, I located some fish and set up for the wait. For a change, it didn’t take long before we had our first bite. Gina was into a small fish but at least it was the right kind! The next one was to be for Rachel and I hoped it would be a whole lot larger.

Rachel was celebrating her birthday, by treating herself to a fishing trip today. Up until now she hadn’t really caught anything big, but that was about to change real soon! I noticed another bite and immediately set into some weight. This was the one we were looking for!

For the next ten minutes, she fought her fish through everything. From a glove caught in the worm gear jamming the reel, to a rod tip wrap she struggled throughout. The fish even tangled itself in the line by rolling, causing it to feel like dead weight in the end. After many long runs and one spectacular jump, she was able to bring it close enough for me to net and a sigh of relief was had by everyone. This was way bigger than anything she could have imagined, but now she was going to have to hold it for the pics. This would be interesting!

I realized quickly that it was just too heavy for her to hold standing so I prepped the tarp for a lap shot. It would be much safer for both her as well as the fish! We took several different shots and released the beast back to the water to fight another day. Now I wanted Gina to experience one of her own!

We had waited a little longer for the next bite but when it came, I turned it into a double. While Gina was fighting hers, I noticed a bite on one of the other rods and set into a second fish for Rachel. I normally reel in the other lines but today I was hoping for more. This was to be the first double of the year!

These fish may not have been beasts like the previous one but they put up a great fight regardless. Watching two young girls battle a couple of sturgeon made for a great pic too! Eventually I was able to tail the first one and release it quickly before landing the second fish. Gina’s was somewhat larger and I took a couple of pics before releasing it back as well.

We made a couple of moves in the time we were out but only managed one more bite. Although it was on the smaller side, they still enjoyed reeling in something they had never seen before. In the end, we finished with 5 fish and one real beast!

I headed in to exchange guests and immediately went back to where we were fishing. Val had brought Julie and wanted to get her into something big today. She had never caught a sturgeon before and I too hoped to hook her up on a giant.

This was not a normal day for Val as we only had a light chop on the water instead of the huge rollers we were so accustomed to being in. He has probably the worst track record for wind but today we were getting lucky. I was actually able to use the electric motor to hold where we were fishing and it made my life much easier. We were even able to keep the rods in the holders instead of holding them like we did the last time we fished for sturgeon. This was definitely a win, win situation!

It didn’t take long before we received the first bite and Julie was fighting a small sturgeon. It may not have been the size we wanted but it was still a great fish. Not long after the pics and release, we managed to get another bite and she landed her second one too! Both these fish weren’t really what I was looking for but they were sturgeon nonetheless and we were glad for the bites.

I thought we were going to have to filter through some of the smaller ones, but was sure we would eventually connect with some quality. After about 5 more juveniles, we decided to pull the plug on sturgeon fishing and go for some walleye instead. The winds had finally picked up enough to make it difficult to see the bites but it looked great for what we were about to do!

We had a little over an hour remaining in the day and I wanted to get them a few fish to take home so I set up on the usual flat. First drift yielded a nice keeper eye and I really thought we were going to get into them good! Conditions were almost perfect for drifting and I was marking all kinds of fish. I couldn’t have asked for more!

Multiple drifts later and only one jumbo perch to show for our efforts, I was not impressed. Julie soon changed everything with a high end keeper and it too went in the well. Unfortunately that was the last fish we would be seeing as time had run out. We had given it a fair chance but the fish had other ideas and not eating was one.

Overall today was a great success with the sturgeon. I would have liked to see more big ones, but you never know when one bites the line. Catching a few walleye in the end was just icing on the cake for Val & Julie and I am sure one or both are on the menu tonight! Bon appetite!