Cold Front Conditions

Alyssa joined me today on the lake today for a relaxing fishing experience. It was the morning of the cold front and I wasn’t sure what kind of impact it had made on the fish. From heading out each morning wearing very light clothing to bundling up today, it felt weird. The fall was nowhere near but it sure seemed like it had arrived overnight! The air temps were in the mid 50’s and the cloud cover held the coolness when we set the lines and started the troll. Ironically, we didn’t have a touch for the hour we spent searching for walleye. I knew we were going to have to switch to a different species and wait for the water to warm up for them to bite. Off we went for bass and even they were less cooperative than usual. Several decent ones were caught but we had to work hard for them to bite. Slowly worked soft plastics were fished over areas that held them and every once in a while, you just felt weight. They were barely picking up the lures and just swimming off with them. If you set too soon they were gone. When the sun finally broke through the clouds and the water began to warm, the activity picked up. We were now covering less area and getting more bites! Smallies were becoming active and it showed as Alyssa managed to get into a few that were photo worthy. Plenty of the smaller ones of 2 to 3 pounds were also taken but it was the big ones I was after. Somewhere in the early afternoon she even got to play with a sturgeon that had taken the jig again. This was short lived when it took to the air beside the boat and spiraled around the line causing it to break. Although it was brief, she still felt the strength they had in the 30 seconds it was on. The bass were coming more readily now & we were finally able to concentrate in specific areas, not having to move around as much. I knew it was just a matter of time before another sturgeon was hooked and this time it was a beast. Alyssa had a battle that she would remember for a while! It overpowered her so much that her arms and hands were in pain when I was finally able to grab the tail. When I lifted it aboard for the pic, she was shocked to see the actual size of this prehistoric beast. It wasn’t easy for her to hold this thing but somehow I managed to snap a few pics before the release. I could tell she was exhausted by her face in the pics and decided we should go back to trolling for the remainder of the day. I knew she wanted to take a few walleye home for a dinner and concentrated in specific areas looking for bites. The water had warmed up by almost 3 degrees and I hoped this would make them more active than they were this morning. The first few reels to fire were smallies and unfortunately not what we were looking for at all. Eventually a reel went off that sounded a lot more like the targeted species and I was right. I slid the net under a legal 3 pounder and we had the first fish in the livewell. The next one was even bigger and unfortunately had to be released at 24 inches. It took a little while before we were blessed with another hookup but somewhere along the way in, it just came unpinned. There were two other smaller ones caught while checking the lines but only one of them was legal enough to be kept and we called it quits. This was a day filled with variety and another relaxing one spent on the lake. Alyssa managed to get three different species of fish and one truly giant one that I’m sure she will remember for a while. A great day for fishing!!