Friday the 13^th and Justin was joining me in search of several firsts. He had smallmouth, sturgeon and walleye on the list and I aimed to complete it. I just didn’t know how the winds would play into the plans for us today. A big west to start, followed by a bigger north west around mid-day would make it a challenge, but I was ready.

I decided to begin with sturgeon and after scouting several of the regular areas, that were void of fish, I made an even longer run. I had been getting plenty of sturgeon at this spot, but they were on the smaller side. Hopefully today they would be big!

Justin ticked off his first species no problem and boated double digits throughout the morning. Despite the big waves, we were still able to hold enough to see the bites. He was amazed at how strong these things were and enjoyed catching each and every one of them! We stayed on them and he ended it with a bonus, redhorse sucker before we were done.

Smallmouth was the next target and he got into a smaller one quickly on a blade. Despite the slow bites he still managed to tick another fish off his list. I hit a few other areas near this one and he finally got into several more decent sized fish on one of them. The fish were biting lightly and many others were completely missed as well. After catching as many as we could from here, I decided to try one other place, looking for a few bigger bass.

I had made a long run to a small area and realized just how bad the north west winds were, along the way. When I finally stopped to fish, we were in rollers, being blown up current. It didn’t seem to matter however as Justin was locked up on his very first cast. He finally felt the power of what a big smallie was like on this fish and boated his best one of the day. He soon followed it up with an even better one and was loving the blade bite. We stayed in the area for a while longer and managed a few more fish before leaving, to try for walleye.

With limited time remaining, I decided to try a deep-water spot before we were done. Despite the cross drifts I was still able to make several partial drifts over the area and boated a few perch in the process. Justin had many hits from walleye but was unable to keep any on them pinned until the very end. It was literally in the last seconds before leaving that he finally managed to hook and land his very first walleye. Talk about getting it done under the wire!

This day was definitely a challenge with all the species we targeted and the conditions we were dealt, but we got it done. Sturgeon, bass, walleye and perch along with a bonus redhorse sucker were officially added to his list today. This may have been his first-time fishing here, but it won’t be his last! He plans on doing it again the next time he is in the city and probably through the ice as well. I will likely see him after the Christmas holidays and hopefully we will have safe enough ice to get it done. Either way, we’ll find somewhere to fish when he’s here again. Great times were had by all today!!

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.!!