Wrath of Mother Nature

Shut down by the winds for a couple of days, I was once again cancelling this morning’s trip, due to the weather. Torrential rains and winds greeted us as we idled out, only to return back minutes later, to wait out the storm. After almost an hour, I was forced to send them home instead! After another half hour or so, I pulled the boat out and readied it for travel, back home. The rain eventually stopped and so did the winds. The skies even cleared, bringing nicer weather! I would be be able to salvage the afternoon client.

Stephanie was flying solo today and we headed out just before 11:00 am. By now, the winds had picked up and the lake was once again rough. Go figure! I headed offshore to an area holding good fish but after 4 drifts without even a touch, I decided to try something else. We headed over to find some sturgeon and try for them. It had been incredible the last couple of times out, but today was a different animal. Several days after doing so well and now the fish were gone, due to the weather. I idled around, all over, in search of groups of these dinosaurs, but nada. I was forced to pull the plug and make a really long run in 3 footers to hopefully get on the fish.

After our long, grueling travel to the spot, I was beginning to second guess my move. Despite this, I decided to set up and prepped the rods, in hopes of a miracle. Rod holders were pretty much useless so we were forced to hold them instead, feeling for any light biters.

After about 15 minutes, Stephnie had what seemed like a possible bite and I instructed her on what to do. Seconds later the line was tight and the rod was bent. Fish on! She did battle with her first ever sturgeon and although not giant, it was a decent one. She was thrilled and so was I to see that something actually bit in these conditions. Several pics and a release later and we were back in the game, hoping for more.

Another 20 minutes had passed without anything happening and then it did. I felt a few tugs and reeled into another fish. Stephanie was passed the rod and her second sturgeon was on the line. This one was insane and after swimming directly at the boat, decided to run around the motor, tangling the line. I had to trim it up and even at that, it was tough to untangle the disaster. I don’t even know exactly what I did, but it worked and the fish was free. Or so I thought! Turns out that he had decided to head to the front of the boat and around the electric motor that held us anchored in place. I had to stop the hold and lift the motor out of the water, in order to free this fish once again. This sturgeon had tried all the tricks to get off, but in the end, found its way into the net instead. Talk about an ordeal. This was an insane fish! Stephanie was elated to have caught her second sturgeon and it was a clone of the earlier one. We tried for a little longer after the release, but the winds had gotten even bigger, making it more difficult. Time to roll.

After packing everything away and strapping things down, I headed back in the direction of the boat ramp to finish off the day. The run was nasty to say the least, running with the huge rollers. We did manage to stay dry however, all the way back. The last 30 minutes were spend drifting and dropshotting close by and a couple of walleye and 1 mooneye were caught before we were done.

Today was a very interesting one to say the least. Mother Nature has been showing her teeth lately and I don’t like it. Between cancellations and battling the elements, it has been a grind. I only hope that she calms down some so that I can take advantage of the fall bite, before the boat gets stored. Plenty of days left before the end of the year and I want to be out as much as possible. Hopefully better days ahead!!