Back on the water again this morning with Craig & Herm, for day number two! We decided to hit another pond in hopes of a banner day for bass. Walleye would always be a backup, but it was smallies we were after and big ones were the target. Hopefully they would cooperate!

The weather was calling for showers, off and on during the day and we drove to the water with it falling the entire time. Luckily when we launched, it had almost completely stopped, allowing us to run in only clouds.

Our first stop had Herm hooked up later than I expected, but it was a good fish. It definitely wasn’t on fire though, as we were finding out. After missing a couple of fish, Craig too landed another, bigger than Herm’s first one. Although the fish were good ones, they were few & far between!

We hit plenty of the key areas and barely scratched at the fish. After having lunch and waiting out another shower, I decided to go to plan “B” and switched up to walleye instead. We made a long run and settled on a different area in hopes of a few golden fish.

Not long after we arrived, Craig was into the first of many keepers. He boated a nice walleye and this was when it all started. For the next several hours there were plenty of keepers landed, as well as some smaller ones too. With the aid of Garmin, I was able to pinpoint exactly where the fish were positioned, each time we changed spots. The Livescope really made it easy to know where to cast!

The afternoon passed by quickly while they were catching fish and before we knew it, it was time to leave. I packed everything up and headed back to the ramp, ending the day. Although we were originally searching for bass, the walleye made for a great alternative. They were also happy to bring home a limit of fish as well. By having a backup plan, I was able to turn the slow morning into a great day once again. They will both be back again before the season ends and hopefully by that time, the bass will be on fire! It’s not surprising to see the slower than usual start as the season has been unusually late this year. I also hope that the big sturgeon show, soon as their season will end in a few weeks. I guess global warming does exist!!

After several days of high winds and heavy rain, I was finally back on the water with Craig & Herm today! We were going to try for sturgeon and I hoped the big ones would bite. Lately the smaller fish were the only size we have been able to catch and I wanted to use the big net, instead of just carrying it around. With any luck, we would get it wet!

We headed to the area in a big south wind and I wasn’t sure if we would even be able to set up to fish. Although it was expected to switch to a south west during the day, it wasn’t going to happen until later in the morning. We would have to endure whatever she threw at us until then.

After a long run, I idled around and started marking some bigger than usual fish. These were the ones I was hoping to see and it wasn’t long before we were anchored up to fish. It also wasn’t long before we had our first bite and Craig was doing battle with a fish. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a catfish and not one of those big fish I had seen. The next fish was also a cat but twice the size of the first one and required a pic. Shortly after the release we finally got what we had come for when Herm hooked the first sturgeon of the day. As luck would have it, another rod fired and Craig too was into a sturgeon as well. Neither one was the size I wanted, but at least they were the right species!

We continued to fish this area for quite a while and managed to land several more sturgeon before leaving, after lunch. The winds had finally change to a SW and I wanted to try a few other areas and see if some of the big ones had arrived there as well. Unfortunately, after searching both places, I packed up and changed to bass & walleye instead.

Our first spot proved to be empty but the second place had both species and several walleye made it into the livewell for them to take home. The third area was where we remained for the balance of the day and plenty more walleye and perch were landed before we were done. The winds had died off completely however and this had the fish in a negative eating mood. We had to work hard for each bite and many of this fish we saw, didn’t even move. Right around 4:00 we packed up and called it a day!

To say that it was a strange weather day would have been an understatement! We had seen three different winds today and managed to fish through them all with some success. They may not have gotten the monsters I was hoping for but there were still plenty of fish landed making this another great fishing day. Road trip tomorrow for sure as they will be fishing with me again! Hopefully they will have another spectacular day with plenty more fish!!

Adam, Pat & Peter joined up today in search of sturgeon, with a backup plan of bass & walleye if need be. It was Adam’s birthday and I was hoping to get him a big fish, but lately they had been on the smaller side. Would today be the day?

We headed to our first spot and set up on an area that I saw a few fish. Unfortunately, we were relocating after about 15 minutes of nothing. This went on several times before I headed to another place further away. This year has been really slow for the big fish bites and I’m running out of time. With the season closing at the end of the month, I really hope that they finally show. This warm weather definitely isn’t helping either!

A new spot and several fish markings had me excited to set the lines. I was sure that they would catch some fish from here and it didn’t take long. Adam was first up, seeing as it was his birthday and he landed a decent fish pretty quickly. The others followed in sync with fish of their own, when they managed to hook into a double pretty quickly. As luck would have it, one of the fish turned out to be a big walleye and Peter’s personal best. It may not have been gangbusters but we were getting into fish and that’s all that counted! We had periods of time that we waited, but the next bite always came. More often than not, they came in the form of a double header too! Adam fought one that I really thought was a heavier sturgeon only to find out that it was a fat catfish when it came to the boat. This was definitely the biggest one I had seen in several years and the largest one Adam had ever caught too! Plenty of pics were taken of all the fish but especially this one!

Time was not on our side today as they were only here for a half day and we were nearing the end. I decided to fish till noon with the fishing starting to pick up and was glad that I did. In the last half hour 4 more sturgeon were caught, including one of the better fish at the last minute. I love ending on a high note!

This morning may have started out slowly but we stuck it out and were heavily rewarded. Although the sturgeon may not have been the ones I wanted, they were still fun to catch. The cat & walleye were just an added bonus and a surprise to us all. In the end, the half day turned out to be a great one and everyone left having caught some of the biggest fish of their lives. I know Adam will be remembering this birthday for some time to come!!

Alex & John were with me before for sturgeon and hoped to get into them again today. The bite had been slow lately, but hopefully this would be the day it would start. With the full moon having passed I could only hope!

We rolled out from the docks by 7:30 and scouted two areas, without seeing much in the way of big fish. I ran all over the lake and set up on the third one as it showed some fish. Unfortunately, after over an hour and a couple of moves, we still had nothing. Time for a complete change!

I ran them to a bass area and here they began to hook up. John had the hot hand with several big fish on a dropshot. Alex had a few chances but only managed to get one decent fish before we left the area to try for sturgeon once again.

I ran back to one of the furthest places we had searched in the morning and set up after looking all over the place for marks. In the last couple of hours, we had shots at 8 bites and they managed to land 5 sturgeon and one walleye. It wasn’t what I had hoped for but at least they caught the right fish!

Today may have been a perfect day for weather, but the fishing was definitely subpar! The high sunshine, zero wind and insane almost 90-degree day for October, wasn’t what I expected. I don’t think the fish did either! The water temps actually climbed up to 70 degrees by the end of the day, making it feel more like summer. With less than one month remaining in the sturgeon season, I hope the weather cools off and sends them into a feeding mode soon. Regardless of the outcome today, both Alex and John had a great time and that’s all that counts! They had a picture-perfect day and caught some fish too.!!

Rich was back for the third or fourth time this season, in search of big bass and walleye. He would also be joined by his girlfriend in the afternoon, in hopes of getting her a few bites too. Hopefully the conditions would let us get it done!

We ventured out in a light NE wind that made it difficult for drifting. What we were able to do however was locate the walleye on the Livescope and cast to the schooling fish. It was good to see them, but their attitude wasn’t great! Most of the fish didn’t want to know anything about us or they just followed the baits and didn’t eat. We did however get plenty of decent fish and a few overs in the time we fished. Floating weds and a reduction of wind was making it even more difficult to get bit and the high sunshine didn’t help either. Eventually we just gave up on the walleye and headed elsewhere for bass!

We pulled up on an area that was holding good fish the last time I was out and Rich began casting. It didn’t take long before the confirmation was made and Rich loaded up on a good one. The next hour or so saw plenty of others and he was hammering them good. Slight bait changes saw many more smallies before we departed to pick up his girlfriend. It’s always hard to leave them biting!

The winds were completely dead when Jen arrived and I decided to hit a walleye area first in hopes of a few more fsih. We worked it hard for about an hour or so and struggled to get bit. The fish were still there but in a bit of a funky mood and they weren’t eating. Only a few of them managed to come aboard so we opted for plan b and the smallies. We were going back to where we left them biting!

Rich didn’t waste any time once we arrived and was into another big fish on his first cast. He also hit a few more after, confirming that they were still here. With a little help, Jen even managed to get several bites and boated a couple of beauties, including her personal best! They had to work hard for their bites, but the size was definitely worth the effort! Almost every fish was big from here making the stay very worthwhile! So much so that there was never a need to hit another area before we were done. By 4:00 we headed back to take out.

Overall, today was a great fall day both for fishing as well as the weather. Despite the slow walleye bite at the start of the morning, there were still a good number of fish landed. The bass fishing however was on fire with big fall smallies! There were so many footballs caught today that it felt like a different lake! All I know is that they both left completely satisfied with the outcome and Rich can’t wait to get back out again. Plenty of fall fishing action ahead and hopefully mother nature will allow us to stretch it out into the next month, before we’re done. Great day for fishing!!