I was back on the water again today after yesterday’s outing. Although there was no report, plenty of small walleye were caught and the guys even managed to bring home a limit of them! Today was a different story with Jim & Matt holding out for the sturgeon bite. I only hoped it would work out!

We were set up and in less than 15 minutes, had or first bite! Matt took the rod as he hadn’t caught one before and it immediately took to the air. It wasn’t a giant but it was a really good starter fish!

The fight lasted over 5 minutes with some powerful runs and dogging on the bottom. Eventually Matt managed to bring it up and he officially landed his very first sturgeon! Several pics were taken and it was returned to fight another day.

We went through a series of smaller fish for a while before Matt managed another decent one. The fight was great for the fish’s size, but over in less than 5 minutes. Jim had been with me last year hoping for another big one and shortly after, he got his wish. I reared back on some serious weight and handed him the rod to do battle! This was definitey the one we were looking for!

Although Jim’s fish never breached, the powerful runs were awesome. It ran out so much line and each time he reeled the line in, the sturgeon took off again! This went on for over 10 minutes until the runs got shorter and Jim was able to bring it to the net. This was definitely a much better fish!

We had reset the lines after releasing the last fish and now other boats were beginning to get closer. I hadn’t seen anyone hook up the entire time we were here, but they had seen us fighting fish, multiple times! It was only a matter of time!

The hookups continued to come and Matt soon battled another good fish, bigger than his first one. This time however the fight was deep and the sturgeon never came off the bottom. It’s always a good sign when these beats act like submarines!

Matt enjoyed his battle with this fish and after 10 minutes, he finally brought it up for me to net. It was a long one, but not too thick. It was however bigger than the first one he had landed earlier in the day. I shot several good pics and he returned it back to where it belonged.

We made a move or two and managed a few other smaller sturgeon before we pulled the plug on this area completely. I had wanted to do a little searching in a couple of other areas nearby and it seemed like a good time to explore.

The first spot seemed void but our second area showed some signs of life. I anchored up and in less than 15 minutes we had our first bite. As it turned out, this was a feisty sturgeon that fought like a champ for its size. Jim had it right to the boat in no time, before it took off right back to the bottom. This turned out to be the only bite from here, so I decided to make a long run to another place that I had checked earlier this morning.

With limited time remaining in the day, I idled around and anchored up on a bunch of fish. This was the first time I fished here this year but it seemed like there were better numbers of big fish on the bottom!

We had been holding for about 20 minutes when one of the rods started to bounce and I set into a decent fish. Matt took the rod and fought it for about 5 minutes before I slid the net under his catch. The water was a bit colder where we were and the battle didn’t last nearly as long! Despite marking plenty more big fish, this turned out to be the last bite we had and by 4:00, we were done.

Overall today was a great day filled with plenty of action. They had done battle with numerous fish, both small and large. Hopefully the remaining days for sturgeon will be equally as good and the weather will cooperate enough for me to fish them. With only a week left in the season, I want to get in as many days as possible, searching for these giants. Who knows, maybe someone will catch the biggest fish of the year and their lives too!

Eric had hoped to be able to fish for sturgeon today, as he had this species on his bucket list. The winds were already blowing hard from the west and expected to increase as the day went on, but we were going to give it a try!

Unfortunately anchoring up in the big waves didn’t last and we were forced to vacate the area much sooner than I wanted. The electric motor just didn’t have enough strength to hold us firmly in position with the 40km west winds. Also we were bouncing out of the water constantly, adding to the problem!

I decided to search another area in hopes of locating a few fish to try for, but ended up pulling the plug on this species altogether. We were going to try for walleye instead. Even this wasn’t easy as a slow troll over the area only produced one quality bite. Although I was marking fish, they didn’t seem to want to eat. We even tried dropshotting with a slow drift and this didn’t work either. After several passes in both directions, I called it quits and moved to another spot further away.

The run to the next place wasn’t pretty with waves building from the increased winds. When I arrived to fish, I realized that it wasn’t a good choice and had to abort. We just couldn’t fish here in a cross wind and 3 to 4 foot rollers. It was more like an ocean than a lake! I headed to another small spot nearby and found it to be the same. These two places were supposed to be guaranteed spots and had been holding plenty of fish in the previous days. Too bad we wouldn’t get a chance to see it today!

I finally decided to completely abandon all the areas I wanted to fish and head back to the other side, in hopes of smaller waves. This proved to be interesting at best! I was surfing 4 & 5 footers the whole way back! Once we arrived, I saw that it wasn’t much better to fish. At least we were closer to the ramp though and thoughts crossed my mind of ending the day!

We stuck it out all afternoon and moved around plenty, trying to get into more fish. At one point later on, I moved back out to a flat that I hadn’t been able to fish earlier. It was here that we remained for the balance of our time. With each drift there were multiple hookups and several other smaller walleye came in the boat. Some were keepers that were released and others were unders. All I know is that somehow we managed to salvage the day, despite the wrath of Mother Nature!

Today wasn’t easy, but Eric had a good time regardless of the hell we went through. It’s not always about the fishing, but rather the journey getting there. Having a boat that can handle conditions like today doesn’t hurt either! All I know is that I was glad to finally have it on the trailer at the end of the day. I’m sure that our bodies will be sore tomorrow after the roller coaster ride we had today!

Gaetan & Michel joined me today on probably the nicest fall day this year! It started out cold but eventually made its way into the upper 60 degree range. Sunshine and no wind had us shedding clothes early and they stayed off all day. Too bad the fishing wasn’t as good as the weather!

We had started with sturgeon, but unfortunately hours later with very little on the sonar, we were relocating. I did use plenty of worms but they were almost all on gobies! One tiny walleye was caught and we were done!

After pulling the plug on the big fish, I shifted over to bass & walleye and only saw one good smallie from our first stop. The second place however had both Gaetan & Michel catching bass & walleye. There were some quality fish landed but it didn’t last long! The full moon had these fish lethargic where we had fished and limited success was had.

I tried several other areas with similar success before they called the day at 3:00. They had a long drive back in traffic and had to get on the road earlier than I expected. Our last spot was fished briefly and only saw a couple of missed fish in the 10 minute we were there. I’m sure I could have refined it a bit and come up with several more, given the time! Overall today was slower than I would have hoped for but it was a beautiful day to be on the water!

Maxime & Jacques were my guests today on this breezy fall outing. We were going to start with sturgeon and once again move on to the smaller fish afterwards. Hopefully the predicted winds would be wrong and we would be able to get to all the areas I wanted to fish!

As I set up for sturgeon, I was surprised not to find any other boats in the area. We were alone and I loved it! With lines in, we waited for our first bite and finally got it after one move. Maxime brought to the boat a juvenile fish, but it was his very first one ever! I released it after a couple of pics and we waited for more. The next bite turned into a double and they both landed small fish once again. In fact, there were several more baby sturgeon and a couple of fat, Redhorse suckers brought to the boat afterwards, as well. Wanting to find something bigger for them to fight, I relocated after a couple of other small ones and hoped for a bigger bite!

I had been waiting only for a short time when I set into some heavy weight. I passed the rod to Maxime and he finally got to feel the power of a big fish. This thing stayed on the bottom for almost the entire battle and only ran a few times. I’m not sure why but it really didn’t fight like it was supposed to! What should have been a gruelling 15 minute battle ended in about 10, when I slid the net under his fish. It was long and thick and should have fought a whole lot harder in my opinion, but we finally had one!

Maxime held his fish for several pics and released it back soon after. We tried fishing for a while longer but only managed a few smaller ones before the winds began to blow. We were forced to leave the area and change up to a different species!

I spent the remainder of the day moving from one spot to the next and trying to fish effectively. The W/NW winds were howling and not easy to fish in, but we did manage to grind out the day. Maxime lost a goof fish in one spot and followed it up with a high end keeper walleye. I was marking plenty of fish on the first drift but the winds were blowing me at a 90 degree angle to the current. It wasn’t easy to drift the area properly and we almost always missed our target. Jacques managed to get one small bass from here before we moved on to another spot to fish.

Our next area turned out to be our last but at least it produced a few good smallies for Jacques. The winds were blowing even harder now and we were ready to leave. The waves were easily 3 to 4 footers with a few monsters in between. Fortunately we were going into them but I still had to tack a few times in order to get back to the ramp, safe & dry!

Despite the difficult afternoon conditions, both Max & Jacques managed to catch a few more fish. I know that if I had of been able to get to all the places I wanted that they would have caught even more. The highlight of the day would have been the spectacular rainbow that appeared in the sky after a light rain! Mother Nature is starting early this fall with her idea of a joke and I expect plenty more days of pain & suffering! Hopefully there will be a few easy days coming up as well for all to enjoy!

Darren, Mark & Dave were back this weekend for what was supposed to be their annual, 2 day trip. Unfortunately the weather took us out the first day, but not the second! They were going fishing!

I made a little road trip due to the big westerly winds scheduled and was glad I had done so. It took Darren but one cast to get the ball rolling with a nice smallie! Hopefully the rest of the day would be the same!

We were fishing current breaks and both Daren and his brother Mark were hammering the bass. Dave was having a little difficulty getting started but I was sure that was going to change. There were too many spots to fish and way too many fish to catch from all of them.

With each move, numbers of good smallies were landed and Dave did finally get in the game. In fact on one spot he was locked up on a nice bass that I was about to net, when I saw a bunch of others following. In a few seconds it went from one to all three! They were tripled up!

The winds were pretty strong where we were and conserving battery power was a priority. I knew that if we fought current and wind all day long that I was going to drain the batteries quickly. I made a few stops in places that were less in the current, but not out of the wind. One way or the other, we were hopefully going to make it last!

Our final area of the day saw them catching the most fish but it was Darren that managed to land the big bass of the day. I’m not sure what it actually weighed but it was a true giant! Meanwhile Dave who had a slow start was ending with a bang. He had managed to find the sweet spot and was hooking up on practically every cast. This went on for quite a while but the others were also holding their own too! It seemed like everyone was ending with a bang!

We had been holding in one area for well over an hour and they were still catching fish. Unfortunately the batteries were about to make us end the day sooner than expected. Eventually, I had to pull the plug and call it quits but only about 15 minutes earlier than expected. We had somehow managed to hold out for almost the entire day in heavy current and strong westerly winds. I guess my batteries are better than I thought!

Overall today was probably the best day so far this fall for numbers of bass. They may not have all been giants but the amount of fish caught was definitely a great change. They had action all day long and finished strong. Who could ask for anything more!!