After three back to back cancellations due to the weather, I was back on the water again today. Scott, Manson & Corey were with me looking for more bronzebacks and hoping for some giants. I was just praying that the deep freeze didn’t send them into a lockjaw mode!

Once we broke some ice to get out to the lake, I was surprised to see that the water temps had only dropped to 48 degrees. Amazingly, we had lost just 3.5 degrees since the last time I was out!

Scott was fishing slower than usual this morning due to a rough night, but this would actually be in his favor. With overcast skies and cooler water temps, the metabolism of the bass would be reduced. Fishing slow would be the way to go! He locked up on his first cast but soon found out that it wasn’t what we were after. It was a fall fish and quickly returned to the water unharmed. Not long after however, he nailed another and this time, it was what we were after. Although not a monster, it was photo worthy and made the cut. Manson also hooked into a fish but his too wasn’t what we were after and also returned.

The fishing was definitely tough but I knew they were here and had everyone slow down their presentations in order to get bit. It paid off as several good fish were landed by each of them from the area we were in. Corey managed to hook into a few beauties, but somehow lost the biggest ones while battling them. He did however bring another good one to net before we relocated though!

I decided to cover some water in search of more fish and trolled outside edges, looking for big arches. I marked plenty but for some reason they didn’t want to chase. This would have been a great time to fish live minnows, but under the circumstances, it was out of the question! We would just have to tempt then with artificials! We moved along slowly and eventually a few of the fish I was marking began to cooperate. Manson hooked up and brought a nice one to net that was worthy of a pic. A little while later, Corey hooked into what turned out to be big fish of the day. It was definitely the quality we were after and things were finally looking up! I really thought they were going to start crushing the fish, but this wasn’t the case. Instead, they just picked at them again with one here and one there!

I moved around plenty and each place we stopped, someone hooked up. Manson eventually got into his grove and nailed several on a jig. It wasn’t easy today but the fish were all pretty good ones! Slow was definitely the word of the day and unless you were paying attention, hits were missed. With each new location someone got bit, so I decided to move often in order to keep them locked up.

The last two areas we fished for the day produced some nice fish once again, but it was tough. Corey monopolized one spot by hooking all the fish and landed 75% of his hookups. In fact his final fish of the day was a really good one and became the last pic of the day as well. We were done!

Although today may not have been one of those high number days, it was definitely another quality fish one. I expect the coming weeks to be no different with water temps constantly falling. A little sunshine may get the bass chewing better, but lately that’s not the case. Overcast days have been the norm and I know just what to expect. Slower presentations are accounting for bigger fish and that’s exactly how we’re going to continue to fish. I’ll be back out again real soon!

After a couple of successful days prior to today with friends, I was back out with Phil for more smallie action. I began with a demonstration cast, showing him how to work the bait and was locked up immediately! It’s always nice when the fish cooperate! It didn’t take long after the release for Phil to hook up as well and I knew there would be many more. We fished the area for well over an hour and had plenty of hookups, with most being lost during the fight. I wasn’t sure what was happening but at least we landed many as well.

Our next area also produced lots of action and a good number of bass were landed despite more losses. I wasn’t sure why and tried to make adjustments to change our landing ratio. Unfortunately throughout the day, the same thing continued to happen making it very frustrating. If we had of caught all the fish we actually had on, it would have been an absolutely unbelievable day! We did slow down a bit and upped our percentage of fish coming to the boat in the afternoon, but were still dropping a good number. Hooks were plenty sharp so I knew that wasn’t the problem! Must have been the other end of the rod I guess!

With plenty of places being fished today, we were always on fish. Although I would have liked to move around more, the number of boats on the water didn’t allow me that luxury. We could only fish places that weren’t occupied already, but still fended quite well. Big fish were landed today, but no real giants!

Despite tomorrow’s sub zero weather forecast, there will still be plenty more days that are fishable. I’m hoping that this arctic blast leaves as fast as it comes in, because I may have to cancel some of my bookings, starting this weekend. Unfortunately I have no control over the weather and safety always comes first. I’m pretty sure tomorrow will be one of those days and called on account of wind and cold. Let’s just hope that the winds drop & Saturday isn’t the same! This is football season and there’s plenty of them to be caught!

Scott & Obie hit the water this morning with me after a cancellation last Monday. Between the winds and the rain, we had to reschedule for today. We did have both again though, but on a much smaller scale! Rains were misty and more off than on making it more comfortable to fish.

Scott got the ball rolling early when he locked up on a giant, from his first bite of the day. Nice starter fish! Although the water was still somewhat stained, the fish seemed a little more active than this past weekend. I thought they were going to crush them after seeing Scott’s fish and instructed Obie how to fish the area effectively. Soon after he was tight to one of his own and battling a nice fish as well. We fished this area thoroughly in the next hour or so and they both landed and lost several more decent bass.

I decided to cover water a bit more and ventured offshore looking for more big fish. Unfortunately all we could find were smaller than average ones and I gave up on this rather quickly. I thought I’d set them up on a steep edge next when I began marking fish and Scott nailed a good one almost immediately. They both missed a few more after and only landed about 50% of their bites before I pulled the plug on the area entirely.

The winds had increased quite a bit more and switched from the west to the N/NW blowing about 20 knots. This definitely made fishing difficult and more adjustments were needed in order to keep them on fish. I figured that the big winds and direction change might have the fish active and went shallow to give it a try. Immediately they began catching fish after fish and some real quality! Obie even landed his personal best and one of the better ones this season. We milked this area for everything it was worth until nothing wanted to bite anymore. The damage was done and we did it!

With time running out in the day I decided to try the area we began in and they managed to land another half dozen good fish before we called it a day. They also missed at least that many hits as well in the time we fished it!

Scott will be back again next week with a couple of other friends and with any luck, the weather will be as nice as it was today. He has a history of wind & rain if not snow and today was probably the nicest it’s ever been! Our luck it’ll be a blizzard and be way below freezing! I’m crossing my fingers and toes for the best!

November 3rd & 4th 2017

Craig & Herm had an interesting 2 day trip this year, to say the least! Friday saw the day beginning with air temps in the low 50’s and heavy rain at the start. Winds were suppose to howl to over 40 knots from the west, starting early morning. It had the makings of a perfectly regular trip for these two!

The fishing was more difficult than I had expected it to be and they just picked at them for the first couple of hours. Fortunately the rains stopped fairly quickly, making fishing a whole lot more comfortable. Craig managed to nail several nice ones while Herm continued to struggle and it only got worse. The winds began to blow pretty good early afternoon and boat control was difficult at best. They were definitely working for each & every bite! I was also limited to where I could fish as the waves were pretty big all over. At least the boat traffic was light with only about 4 others on the water. I was sure it would change by tomorrow and hit all the best places today. Right around 4:00 we called the day and headed back to take out. Tomorrow would be another day and lighter winds were forecasted . This would likely bring out more boats than I wanted but we would be back regardless. Still a good day today!

Saturday morning saw us starting in below freezing temps. It had dipped to about 29 degrees overnight and frosted everything up after yesterdays rainfall. I was just glad I was able to open the compartment lids on the boat! What I wasn’t happy about were all the boats at the ramp when we arrived. More trailers were even in the parking lot as well. I think they must have launched in the dark!

We headed out without any preconceived notions of what & where we would fish. I would have to decide everything based on the boat traffic and hoped for a place or two to be able to cast.

Unlike yesterday, Herm wasted no time getting the first fish in the boat but the second one was a different story. Bites were few & far between and we were forced to fish really slow to get them. Eventually after relocating around other boats, I held in an area that was to produce multiple fish for both. Herm landed a giant and his best fish of the trip while drop shotting a deep area. It was nice to finally see a real quality bass in the net. Craig followed it up with several more good ones but none as big as the one Herm had caught.

We had made many moves already and I decided to move to an open water spot that I hadn’t fished once this fall. I was actually surprised that it wasn’t already occupied when I arrived! Craig nailed another giant on almost his first cast that topped Herm’s for the day. He followed it up with several others and another even bigger too! Daylight was getting on as I made another move and they boated several other slightly smaller fish from our last spot. By 4:00 we were once again done!

The two day trip they experienced was interesting to say the least. Water color was absolutely terrible with all the high winds and rain that we received recently. This somehow effected the fish as the numbers just weren’t there! The quality definitely was however and that’s exactly what they had wanted. They left with many nice pics of the big fish they landed. Craig will be back again next week with Steve for a little more redemption. Hopefully the fishing will be even better and the numbers of big fish will be there too! I can wait for a little redemption myself!

Ed had planned a sturgeon trip with me at the beginning of the year and today was the day. He arrived with his nephew Dan and Dan’s wife Angie, hoping for a few fish to battle. Conditions were good at the start but the winds were expected to switch to the SE around noon and increase. We had to get it done early if we had any chance of catching these dinosaurs!

Once I scouted the area, I set 4 rods out and began the wait. I had marked some activity and was pretty sure we would get bit. Unfortunately the first fish turned out to be a walleye and not what I had expected. Angie reeled it in and I found out later that this was actually her first eye, ever! I reset the line and not long after, we were bit again. This time it was the real deal and Angie got her second shot at her first sturgeon. After a great fight and a spectacular jump, we were officially on the board with a decent fish. We shot several pics and released her catch unharmed.

In the next hour or so we managed a few smaller fish and one other decent one, but I wasn’t marking anything substantial and decided to move. I idled around and found an area that looked good and anchored up for the wait. Immediately after I set the last rod, it got bit and we were on! Good decision to move I guess! Angie had already gotten a few fish but this one seemed much more substantial in size than the others. It gave her quite a fight and even jumped at one point showing us exactly what she had. Five minutes later I was able to slide the net under her best one of the day. She had to sit for these pics as it was much heavier than her previous one. It was immediately torpedoed back after the shots and we reset the rods hoping for a few more.

The action was pretty good for a while with a number of fish being landed but they were mostly small to medium in size. I wanted everyone to experience at least one giant and kept hoping it would happen. Dan had been holding the rod for a while, waiting for a bite, but Eddy brought out a big bag of M & M’s for us to eat. Dan decided to put the rod back in the holder to grab a handful and as soon as he turned, it got bit. Needless to say, he didn’t get any candy! What he did get however was hooked up on a monster when he grabbed the rod. This thing ripped off a bunch of line on the hookset that made me think it might have been accidentally fouled. It was definitely acting weird and had substantial weight! Almost ten minutes passed with Dan fighting the fish before we realized it was hooked in the mouth. He had brought it up to the surface for a jump and a visual was made before it bolted right back to the bottom, sulking. Another five minutes went by before I was actually able to net his trophy and he was glad the fight was finally over. Many muscles were relieved as well! Dan had to assume the sit down position for this one as he rested it on his lap. Shortly after, he released her back unharmed to fight another day.

We set all the lines back in and in the next hour or so saw a number of fish boated. Some were big and some were small but none the size of Dan’s monster earlier. The winds had also gotten pretty bad by now and I needed a sock just to keep the boat straight. Rods were held for the bites as the boat was bouncing way too much for any visual takes. I decided to give it until 1:30 before we would call it on the sturgeon and switch species. I was still marking them at 1:30 and waited a couple more minutes and was glad I had. Dan received a bite and reared back into another heavyweight! He passed the rod off to Ed and let him battle the last & ironically, biggest fish of the day.

I knew the fight would be lasting a while and decided to pack up a few things while Ed got beat up. His fish took over 100 feet of line on the first run and thoughts of chasing it down crossed my mind. Again, I thought it might have been accidently fouled as it was acting really weird. It was just dead weight and Ed struggled to bring it back. It even came to the top of the water and swam away like a shark. It was like trying to reel in a board in current. It just planed off to the side making the fight that much more difficult. Once Ed finally got it to the boat, the beast went back down and fought even longer. This fight lasted close to 20 minutes before I was able to net it and once it was in the net, I knew why. It was an absolute beast and probably the largest for me this season. The fun was just about to begin!

I had rested the fish in the net, as well as Ed, before the pics. When I finally hoisted it aboard and onto the tarp, they all saw its mass. Dan actually helped Ed to pick the thing up for some pics and it was all Ed could do just to remain seated for the shots. The re entry afterwards was spectacular as it swam off and into the depths unharmed. What a way to end this fishing! If this happens to be the last time that I fish for them this season, it won’t matter. It will be a great way to end the sturgeon year!

After everything was put away we headed somewhere to try fishing for bass & walleye. I knew it wouldn’t be easy with these cross winds but figured we’d give it a try regardless. Dan’s first cast locked him up on a nice smallie and the anchor mode on the electric motor made everything easy for me to attend to. Ed & Angie both missed fish that I’m pretty sure were walleye too. The bites were light and didn’t stayed pinned for long! I moved again and in the next spot, the same thing happened. Ed did manage to catch one walleye however that made it into the well for Dan to bring home. I didn’t stay long here either as the winds were just insane. I decided to switch it up and go to a troll.

As I began to work a break, the three of them with rod in hand trolled behind. Ed was the first one to hook up and unfortunately it measured 22 inches and had to be returned. He missed a couple of others soon after that didn’t stay pinned as well. Eventually Dan locked up on one but once at the boat, we realized it was also an over and would be returned after a pic or two. We trolled a little longer but boat control along this break wasn’t easy and by 4:00 we called it a day. The run back was going to be interesting anyway and taking out would surely be a challenge in a SE wind.

I was definitely right about the run back as the waves were at a 45 degree angle and got bigger the closer we got to the launch. The ramp was also hell with huge waves crashing against the shore and no docks to tie off to. These idiots had removed them three weeks ago for absolutely no reason! I had to swing into the sailboat marina behind a break wall just to go and get the trailer. I let everyone out on shore afterwards and loaded the boat with water rolling over the back deck. It didn’t take me long to pull out and I was just glad it was all over without incident. In fact, the whole day went without any problems. Ed had driven a long way with family to finally catch sturgeon and they definitely did that. They even managed to get into a few smaller fish afterwards as a bonus when the sturgeon fishing became un doable. Before Ed pulled out, he made a point of booking the following year on the same weekend for these dinosaurs again. They all had a great time and experienced some of the best fishing for these prehistoric animals. Who could ask for anything more!