I received an Email a while back for a possible 8 people from Melanie. Today we were one short but it didn’t matter as I had a second boat to share the load. My buddy Mike was with me and it was decided at the start that I was to take the 4 guys and Mike got the 3 women. The guys wanted to fish for sturgeon and the girls just wanted smaller fish. We parted ways and I headed to the area that produced each time out this year. I was sure we could hook up with a few and after marking them, dropped anchor above the arches. I had to try three times before I pulled up and realized that the blade was all bent. When I tried to straighten it, it just snapped from the weld. What a piece of shit! I did have another heavier anchor and had to use it as a backup to secure us. Normally I would have stayed about 15 minutes in one place without a bite and moved to another area. Because of the type of anchor I was using, I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to hold again and stayed put for almost three hours. We went through a lot of worms here but it was from all the smaller fish and possibly goby minnows. These things were like piranhas! All we managed to get for our troubles were a couple of missed hits and one freshwater drum. I did eventually make one move and was able to get the anchor to hold but the results were still the same. Lots of used worms! With very little time left in the half day outing, I switched gears and went somewhere that I knew we could land some fish. We drop shotted for about 30 minutes and caught  several perch and one good walleye before heading back to the dock to meet the others. I had decided earlier that we were going to go back out for another hour or so and when the others left, we did just that. One hour turned into almost three and they caught em good! There were six overs that had to be tossed back and one under too. They did however manage to take back with them 4 keeper walleye and a half dozen jumbo perch. I can’t tell you how many they missed but it was at least 75%. It didn’t matter though as everyone had a blast and they all caught fish. I think we all lost track of the time during this as it wasn’t until Stephan got a call that we realized it was 3:00. Time to go and back we went! They had a great afternoon after a dismal morning trying for what I thought would be a sure thing. I guess like in life, there’s no guarantees in fishing either!!

Miserable conditions yesterday caused a cancellation and I was able to take a road trip to the states with Christiane to stock up on some well needed plastics. This morning I was back on the water with Dominic & his 6 year old son Joseph for a fun filled day. We started out fishing for sturgeon and Dominic got to tangle with two giants. The second one was almost twice the size of the first one and he fought both of them like a well trained veteran! Although not the numbers I was expecting, I was still glad that he did get to play with a couple of them. Watching him lift them up for the pics was quite comical too as I don’t think he realized how hard it was to pick up something that wiggly and slimy. We managed to get several good shots despite the difficulty in holding something that large. Both creatures were released unharmed and bolted right back as fast as they could. By 10:30 I decided that we weren’t going to wait any more and packed up the sturgeon gear to relocate to a walleye zone. I wanted to see the little guy in action and his dad set up his spin cast combo when we arrived. I gave them a drop shot rig and baited his hook with a worm as we were also in a great perch area. His dad got the usual soft plastics and I hoped he would be able to get into a few bass and walleye. Well, Joseph managed to land a couple of perch and then a 5 pound walleye on his set up. It darn near took him overboard during the fight and although I did brace his rod, it was all him! This little guy had just landed a beautiful walleye and likely his largest fish to date. All of this on a five foot spin cast outfit as well. He obviously had a little practice before as I watched him pitch the rig back into the water after we took some pics. Not only was he back in, but he managed to get into a few more walleye and perch all by himself in the remaining time we had. His dad too had changed over to a worm and was also landing walleye and perch right up until the time we were done. The flat calm conditions we had through the day, all of a sudden changed to a good chop from the west creating some white caps. The water had blown up into two footers in less than 20 minutes and looked like they were still increasing. I was glad that we were only out for a half day and pulled the plug about 12:30. We had misty showers in the morning and flat calm conditions and now the sun was out and it was back to blowing again. Quite typical of the conditions this season! I wonder what tomorrow will bring? Dominic & Joseph left the lake with a sense of fulfillment, as they both had caught some of the biggest fish of their lives and in only a half day of fishing. Who could ask for anything more!!

Peter & his wife Justine joined me this morning on probably the worst day so far this year. We held at the dock for 15 minutes to let a system pass that showed on the radar to be clear afterwards. Well, even the radar didn’t seem to work this morning as I had to raise the top for the run when it began to pour, while idling out. The winds were out of the NE and blowing about ten knots and expected to increase terribly, later in the morning. All I could hope for was a small window where I could get them into fish! I headed back for sturgeon in hopes of another big one and anchored up. The wind was crossways against the current & twisting the boat around, so I had to right it with the aid of a drift sock. Of course the rain was still coming down so the cover remained up and made fishing a little more complicated. We were having a difficult time detecting some of the bites and smaller fish were nibbling the bait from the hooks. I had to check the lines often to ensure they were still were baited. Rain stopped cover down, rain got heavy cover up! This went on several times during the morning and was a pain in the butt, or so I thought. It wasn’t until the rain got heavy and the wind started gusting that I found out what a real pain in the butt actually was! By now with the cover up and the winds gusting 20 or more from the NE, it began to turn the boat sideways and even the sock didn’t help. The boat was bouncing so much that seeing any bites was practically impossible. Time to fish with rod in hand! I instructed them on what to do & how to detect the bite and we held on with the cover up, once again. The rains fell at times so hard that even the raindrops felt like little nibbles. I was almost getting ready to give up on any chance at getting them into a sturgeon when I felt a good bite on my rod. Seconds later I had the rod loaded and passed it off to Peter to fight. Justine had taken his rod and I slid under both, in order to reel one of them in. As soon as I started to reel, I felt another bite and locked up on a second fish. We officially had a double and they were both fighting monsters. I cleared the last line and dropped the cover in the rain to allow room for the battle. Neither one had realized just how strong these things actually were and struggled to bring them in. The battle went on for a while for both of them and I had to jockey their rods around when they kept crossing each other during the fight. Eventually Peter brought his up and I was able to get the net under the fish. Justine still had a ways to go & I was glad because I had work to do with his beast. Several pics were taken and the fish was released before Justine was able to have hers boat side. I netted hers as well and what had started out as misery was all of a sudden a celebration. A giant double header and both of them landed! I would have been happy just landing one of these dinosaurs but somehow we managed to get them both. I heaved the fish aboard and slipped it out of the net for her to hold. Although it wasn’t easy, she managed better than most men and I shot several pics before she slid it back in the water. Both fish swam away great to be fought another day! After all of this, I decided to go for some bass as Justine had never landed a smallmouth before. All they have back home are largemouth and I really wanted her to feel the power of the bronzeback! By now the winds were real ugly and the waves were getting even bigger so I headed to an area somewhat sheltered in order for them to cast. Peter had wanted to catch on top water and brought along some of his favourite lures to try. The conditions weren’t great but I thought he had a chance when I had a fish explode on a soft plastic while instructing Justine on how to fish it. She had a few takers and landed a couple on the bait and Peter also got his wish with a nice one on the surface lure. Justine missed a few on a blade bait when I switched her up in one of the areas too. These conditions really didn’t help as it was next to impossible to do anything with the wind direction we were faced with. As we only had a half day scheduled, we called the day around 12:30 right after she managed to land one more. This day was a roller coaster of everything from the weather & waves to the fishing and conditions we faced. I think under the circumstances, we fended quite well. They had both battled and landed giant sturgeon and a few smallies were caught afterwards. Justine had caught her very first smallie and now knows the difference in how these bass fight as well. I packed everything up for the run back as I wasn’t sure what to expect. We took a slight short cut to the ramp but still had to run in 3 footers all the way. Fortunately I was running directly into them and had great boat control in the Ranger. Smooth like butter, with a few lumps! Mother Nature didn’t win today, despite all her attempts to de rail us from our quest. For once, we kicked her butt!!

Darren & Dave were with me today on yet another scorcher! We got a later start than usual and headed out about 9:30 instead of the usual  7:00 Am start. I thought I’d see if the sturgeon had finally arrived and ran to where I usually see them. After idling around for a while, I finally stumbled upon a small concentration and decided to give it a try. I had brought everything I needed and moved above the area to drop the anchor. After three attempts, I finally managed to get it to hold and set the lines awaiting our first bite. After a few nibbling pests, we finally had a real taker and Dave landed a small sturgeon to start the day. A quick pick or two and right back it went. The next rod to get bit wasn’t so small. In fact, it took both of them tag teaming this beast to finally bring it to net, after a really long battle. Although Darren was first up, Dave was the one to finish the battle and I slid the giant net under the beast. I have brought many giants into the boat before but this one needed all three of us just to lift the net over the side. I won’t estimate just how much it weighed but only say that I had never seen anything this large before. Photos didn’t do it justice as both Darren & Dave tried to hold the thing for a few pics. The length & girth was just insane! To release this dinosaur they had to slide it over the side and along the rail just to get it back in the water. It took off immediately and I assume, right back to the depths below! We all needed a break after this and I just raised the roof so that we could have lunch comfortably. Eventually we wanted to get back in the water and I reset all the lines and awaited the next bite. Several hours later we had two smallies and 3 more small sturgeon to show for our efforts. Unfortunately the only large one came off in less than one minute after being hooked. Unanimously everyone agreed late in the afternoon to pull the plug and try for some bass & walleye. I re rigged the other rods and let them both drop shot in almost flat calm conditions. Without a drift going, it would be difficult. Dave managed to hook into a really good walleye almost immediately and at least I knew it could be done. Each drift seemed different as light gusts of wind from all kinds of directions changed the angle constantly. I had a hard time reading it and kept missing all my waypoints because of it. Whenever we were lucky enough to pass over the right areas, someone hooked up. Darren managed to nail a nice smallie that would have been welcomed in any tournament angler’s livewell! Several other small walleye and jumbo perch later, we finally called it quits. It was almost 7:00 and we had been on the water for just about 10 hours. The heat was pretty much unbearable without the aid of the roof but the last couple of hours saw it down due to the style of fishing we were doing. We were all fried! It turned out to be a great day with the arrival of the sturgeon and they ended it with both bass & walleye. I know the next couple of days will be bringing pretty foul weather but I will be back out none the less. Hopefully the sturgeon will cooperate once again as my clients are looking for something big and I know just where to find them. Hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate too!

Well, another postponement had me open again, so Keith & his daughter Lindsay joined me for a day on the lake. Lindsay brought along her two children, Avery & Annabelle for a great day of fishing & fun! I knew it was going to be a hot one so I informed them to bring some swim suits as I had a great place for them to cool off. We met up around 7:00 and headed out in almost flat calm conditions, with just a slight breeze out of the south. Perfect day for the kids! It had been a couple of years since Avery or Annabelle fished with me and I wanted to get them into some action. We dropped the lines in the water and began with a troll, searching for some walleye for them to take back for dinner tonight. The first reel to fire was a smallie and Annabelle was up. It fought like all smallies do and she muscled it back to the boat with a couple of other lines attached. A few pics were shot and the release had us right back in the game! Another smallie began jumping behind the boat and I knew it was attached to one of the lines. Avery was up next and struggled to bring this one to net. With a little help from me, he managed to reel it in for some pics of his own. His sister gave him a hand holding the boga as it weighed more than he could handle! Big fish, little guy! Lindsay took the next fish and fortunately it was a walleye and a legal one at that. She had managed to catch the first fish in a series of fish that they would be having for dinner tonight. I was having a hard time locating an area that the fish were active and covered plenty of water searching for them. With the lake completely flat, it didn’t help either! Dog pecker knats were upon us and it was becoming a real scorcher! We had one more reel fire a little later and despite the fact that it was a walleye, it was way over the slot and had to be released. Annabelle posed for another pic and back it went unharmed. It was at this time that I decided to move away from this area and change up completely. I was going deep and we would switch to a drop shot. I set up a bunch of rods and changed locations. The heat was really upon us now so I raised the top hoping to get some reprieve from the sun. Once I hit the deeper water, The kids wanted to swim so out they went. They cooled off in the lake for about 30 minutes before returning to the boat to resume our fishing. I got everyone set up and instructed them on how to fish this presentation and let them lose. Although I was marking fish, they just didn’t seem to be cooperating. Lindsay did manage to get a taker though and she brought to net another dinner walleye. While we were fishing this way, the wind started to pick up and each drift was different than the previous one. Not only was the speed changing but the direction was as well. It got so bad that I had to take the cover down when we couldn’t control the drifts. The top was acting like a kite and moving us along way too fast! With the cover down and wind up, we had a flurry of activity that had everyone hooking up. They managed to put a limit of walleye in the livewell and things were looking up. This brief feeding period only lasted about 45 minutes but we took advantage of it and boated a bunch of fish. Many more drifts proved almost useless as not many fish were hooked afterwards. I offered a swim again and this time everyone agreed! I ran to a mid lake sand bar and got on the electric motor so they could stand up. It was about 2.5 feet at best and a great place to get cooled. Keith joined the kids in the water for a swim and the three of them stayed in the water for quite a while. As I knew there were smallies close by, I decided to slide away a bit and make a few casts with a jig. One took and threw the hooks on a jump but showed me where the others were too. Several casts later I hooked up again and this fish had weight. I knew what had happened and showed the kids what a big fish looked like. Annabelle was still in the water with Keith and wasn’t impressed with this shark like image swimming near her. Lindsay was fighting the sturgeon as I grabbed the tail and lifted it into the boat. It was this fish’s lucky day because I removed a big lamprey from its gill area. A couple of pics from Lindsay and I released the fish, free of the parasite. Shortly afterwards, they returned to the boat and we decided to call it a day. They had a few things to do this afternoon and it was a real scorcher on the water. Everyone had a blast today catching fish and playing in a huge open water park again. I was happy to get them out for another day of F & F. Sort of like R & R but better!