It was definitely the coldest morning so far this season, as I launched the boat in only 38 degree air temps. Add a north wind blowing around 10 knots and it felt like below freezing. My niece had just tied the knot and instead of taking a honeymoon, they decided to head south this winter. Cristina and Shawn were going to spend today with me in hopes of catching a few fish. Christiane also took the day off work to join us as this was her niece and she didn’t want to miss the newlyweds fishing. Dressing warm to begin was necessary and I handed out a bunch of clothing so they could remain comfortable. We headed out and I couldn’t believe the 58 degree water temps when I hit the throttle! I didn’t want to run far and take them out too early, so I let off soon after and dropped the lines in for a troll. The water temps had gotten a little warmer where we stopped, but I wasn’t sure how these fish would react. I tried a section that should be holding some fish and was surprised that it wasn’t loaded! It took a while for the first reel to fire but we finally got bit. Shawn was right beside me while checking the lines so I immediately handed him the rod. We were hoping for a few walleye to sample before dinner but this one was an over and wouldn’t make the cut. All we could do was snap a few pics and release the four pounder back to the water. Christina had the next rod and she landed a decent northern around 5 pounds. We covered more water in the 2 footers and managed a few other fish with only one of them being a keeper walleye. Shawn had landed one that fell just under the high end for legal size and we were having fish for dinner! I wasn’t really seeing too much activity trolling and decided to change areas completely. All these fish were marking on the bottom and didn’t seem to be moving up to hit the lures, so we were going for sturgeon! When I set up I knew with three lines in the water it wouldn’t take long before one of the rods was bent. About ten minutes went by before Cristina was locked! She had no idea of what to expect and could only hang on for the ride. With much coaching and plenty of burning in the arms, she finally managed to bring the fish up for her first visual. I really don’t think she had any idea of its size until now and absolutely freaked. I was lucky when netting the beast as it turned and curled immediately after entering the bowl. Several pics were taken, but Shawn had to hold it for the shots. There was absolutely no way she would be able to grab the fish nor did she want to! A quick release and it disappeared back to the abyss from where it had started. We resumed fishing in hopes of locking the others up and Christiane nearly got her wish. She had one on briefly, but seconds later it was gone. We spent some time before she finally contacted another and fortunately this time it remained pinned. After a lengthy battle of pain and burning, I finally slid the net under her fish. She definitely wanted a few pictures of her largest sturgeon but wasn’t able to lift it up for the photos. As with the first one, help was needed so I jumped into the picture to lend a hand. Another release and all that was left was Shawn to complete the rotation. They had a few more bites without hookups but then he finally got into one of his own. It may have been the smallest of the day but he still felt the burn from the fight. I was really hoping one of them would hook into a real dinosaur but we would have to settle with only these ones for today. Shawn needed no help in holding his and I was able to take several great shots before the release. As all three of them had caught what we were after, I decided to pull the plug here and try for a few more fish trolling. The floaters were just insane and constant cleaning of the rods was needed every few minutes from the north winds. Although we did manage a couple more fish, they were both pike and we called it a day. I had restaurant reservations and one fish to clean before heading out, so by 3:30 we were done. I’m not sure what the highlight of the day was but between the fish appetizer & the "River Monsters" they landed, life was good! A few tasty beverages, good company and a great meal topped off an absolutely perfect day. It may have been their first time fishing, but I don’t think it’ll be their last. I expect the next time I offer to take them out, there won’t be any hesitations. After today, all they’ll want to know is what time and where! Another great day for fishing!!

The final day had us trying our hand at some early musky that ended unsuccessful. We had decided to start with them and never even had a rip. Although I did mark several that looked like the real deal, it just wasn’t meant to be. I really didn’t want to waste too much time on these hateful creatures and pulled the plug to pursue easier prey. We were off to get Andrew a big sturgeon and hoped for a quick bite. Fast wasn’t in the cards but big was as he battled yet another giant. He had two back to back that nearly took him out from the fight. I thoroughly enjoyed the pain as I wasn’t on the receiving end of it! His dad got in the game a little later with a couple of his own and we were up to four landed by early afternoon. Several misses later Howard latched on to probably the largest one this season. The fight was a long battle as this fish just didn’t want to leave the bottom. When we finally caught sight, we could all see why. I don’t really know just how big it was but only the head would fit in the net when I tried to land the beast. Twice I had her and both times she escaped and went right back down. Eventually the line just popped from too much pressure and she was gone for good. I think we were all a little heartbroken when this happened as it took a while to get over the loss. I don’t even want to estimate its weight but I know it was up there. We went back to sturgeon fishing for about another hour without any takes and decided to pull the plug on it all together. Anything hooked would have just been disappointing after that loss anyway! We spent the last hour or so trolling up a few walleye & pike before calling it a final day. In three days of fishing they had battled a number of big fish and managed several personal bests along the way. As with all good fish stories this one was about the one that got away! I’m sure we’ll all remember that one as it felt like a scene out of "Jaws". Next time I’ll have a bigger net!!

Day two in the quest for big fish saw us on a different body of water, targeting smallmouth. I wanted to have both of them land fish in excess of five pounds and had plenty of places to try. We were faced with the dreaded cold morning once again but this time it would hopefully work in our favor. With water temps between 55 and 64 degrees, it really had the fish spread out. I headed to a fairly shallow area to begin and instructed them on how to fish the twitch baits they were using. Once I was satisfied that they had it down, we moved in to the zone. Howard was working the bait pretty good and had the first take on it as well. Although not the trophy we were looking for, the 3.5 pounder was still a welcome treat on the light tackle. He immediately went back to fishing once the bass was landed and not long after had an even bigger one on the line. This time it was over 4.5 pounds and things were looking up! After a great fight, I was able to slide the net under her and he finally had a fish worthy of pics. In the next couple of hours Howard managed to have several more on, landing most. He even had another 4.5 pound smallie to add to the one he caught earlier in the morning. As I had live welled them, he was able to get a few nice double pics before being released back to this area. Andrew wasn’t as lucky with his fishing and only managed to land one small bass just under 2 pounds. Although they both had several more follows, I decided to pull the plug when the sun appeared. The overcast skies had given us the advantage but now our presence was known and all we could do was watch the fish swim. I made a long run and decided that they were going to continue with the same baits. In the next place, both of them hooked up almost immediately but too much pressure was applied and both fish were gone. I think Andrew was the only one to land anything here but Howard had his chances too. Light line and tiny hooks require finesse but too much pressure caused early releases! We kept moving and I stayed pretty shallow hoping for quicker action, but only a handful of fish were caught. I had wanted to try deeper and headed to another area a little further away to give it a try. They dropped down to the abyss and once they got back in the groove, the games began. After several misses, they hooked up in tandem and both good fish. A couple of four pound bookends came aboard and were put back quickly due to the pressure change. At these depths, you don’t want to keep them out too long as fizzing would be required. We stuck it out in the deep for the balance of the afternoon with only incidental fish here & there. I think more fish were lost than landed as it proved difficult for them to keep tension on the rods. We ended with a fish Andrew landed and called it a day. Although no fives were caught, they still had a fair share of quality bites and Howard managed another personal best, twice! Tomorrow I think I just might take them back for more sturgeon action. Who knows, maybe they’ll get another personal best one more time!!

Howard & his son Andrew were with me all the way from Virginia for three days looking for personal bests. They said they were up for anything so I planned on giving them everything! They had also brought a cold front with them and we began the first day with air temps below 50 degrees. Maximum water temps were 66 degrees and warmer than the highest air temps for the day. Along with the cool air we had major cloud cover and winds from the NE blowing 10 to 20 knots. Not ideal conditions to say the least! Two days before, I had 71 degree water and over 70 degree air to fish in, but that was all gone now! I started in an area trolling for pike & walleye and after about 90 minutes we had only a handful of fish to show for our efforts. Although Andrew did manage to land a really nice walleye of 5 pounds and his personal best, I wasn’t satisfied and decided to switch gears completely. We headed elsewhere and targeted the sturgeon for several hours, in hopes of a few big bites. Well as luck would have it, they both managed to land monsters and a few hours resulted in most of the day. We stuck it out here as this seemed like the smartest thing to do. These fish were somewhat active and we were hooking up every half hour or so. Never leave fish to find fish is my motto and I wasn’t about to change it today! About mid afternoon I needed to show them a technique for the second day of fishing and thought it would be a good idea to orient them. We relocated to another area and I instructed them on drop shotting the depths. We were over smallies and walleye and I knew someone would catch a few fish while class was in session! It was a little tricky with boat positioning due to the wind direction and this made feeling the bottom for them difficult as well. Eventually everything fell into place and they were able to fish correctly. So much so that they both missed a few bites before Andrew finally locked up on his first deep water bass. He followed it up with a walleye and gained the confidence he needed, when adjusting his line over various depths. Although Howard didn’t land anything here, he at least had the basic knowledge for tomorrow. We would be fishing much deeper water and feeling the bottom properly was an absolute necessity. As the day was getting on, I thought I would drop the lines back in and try another troll in hopes that the fish were more active. Due to the windy conditions and direction it was blowing, my biggest nemesis was to be the floating weeds. They were everywhere and constant cleaning of the lines was needed to ensure the lures remained free of them. It took a while but we eventually got to an area that produced a triple header. All three rods went off simultaneously and they were locked! To my amazement they were all different in species. They had caught a bass, walleye & pike from the same general area. A little while later we had another double and two walleye came aboard. Although we weren’t crushing them like I had hoped, we were picking at them and that was alright. As Howard still hadn’t caught a big walleye, I combed the area for a while searching for larger eyes. Eventually a deep line went off and I knew he had exactly what we were after. A good walleye about 4.5 pounds was soon in the net and his personal best too! We trolled a little longer and only had one small walleye which I found attached while bringing in the lines. The weeds were just a pain in the butt to have to contend with and I decided to call it a day. They had experienced a pile of different things today and tomorrow would be the same. Different lake, different techniques and hopefully bigger fish. I would be heading somewhere looking for personal best smallmouth for them. Today Howard had landed one about 3.5 pounds and thought that was great. It was also his biggest, but I knew he would get bigger! This was a great starter day for them and with any luck, it would only get better. Another great day for fishing!!

Alyssa was with me this morning for a real multi species fishing day! We met just after 7:30 on the coolest morning since way back in May. Air temps had dipped down below 50 degrees overnight and the winds were blowing 10 to 15 knots from the NW when we launched. Extra clothing was definitely required for the run to our first location! I had brought everything but the kitchen sink for today’s outing as I wanted her to catch a pile of different species. First up were pike & walleye and we trolled a lot of water, monopolizing on aggressive biters. With the water temps hovering around 68.5 degrees, I knew some of them would barely make a sound and was ready for the slightest click on the reels. Her first fish was a healthy northern of 7 pounds and a few more in the same range were soon to follow. Along with the pike, she also managed to catch four walleye that would be travelling around with us throughout the day. They were definitely going to be on the menu for her to enjoy! Floating weeds were the biggest issue here as the high winds from yesterday had them all over the area I wanted to fish. Eventually I just relocated to another section of the lake in hopes of clearer water to troll. As luck would have it, the surface had only a fraction of what I had dealt with and I was glad for our decision to move. Once the lines were in, I realized that the water temps were even cooler over here and at 66.5 degrees, searched for slightly warmer. We trolled up many pike while I tried to find higher water temps and ironically, no walleye. I had a concentration of fish holding in a small area that saw almost 70 degrees and worked it pretty hard. Along with the pike, she also managed a largemouth bass and a small musky. It looked like everything except walleye were using this area today! As I didn’t want to wear her out too early in the day, I informed her that we were going to fish for the big ones last. Once she had her fill of all these smaller fish, I pulled the lines and re rigged for the beasts! Sometime around 1:00 we hit the sturgeon zone and I set up in hopes of a quick bite. Well she got her wish as I don’t think we were there for 5 minutes when she was into her first fish. I could tell by the way she was able to control it that this wasn’t the one I wanted her to experience. Although fun, it was below the average size I was use to seeing and after only 5 minutes, I netted her catch. It was still big, just not big enough! I took several pics and she released the fish before we went back to the waiting game once again. This time it did take a little longer to get bit but when she hooked up, I knew this was the one I wanted her to see. After the initial run, it decided to take to the air and now I had a confirmation, it was giant! For the next ten minutes or so, it was going to be a struggle for her as the fight would be intense. She fought it like a champ and managed to get it boat side in record time. It did however take everything she had, but it was worth it! When she finally got a visual, I don’t think she could believe her own eyes. I even had a hard time getting it into the net as it remained straight instead of curling in the mesh. I really need to get a bigger net! Once aboard, I had to sit Alyssa down and place the fish in her arms for the pictures. There was no way she would be able to do this standing and she wanted pics. Ironically, the only one tired after the battle was Alyssa, as she slid the fish over the rail and it disappeared back to the abyss. I gave her the option to try for another, but she declined and we moved on in search of smaller fish for her to battle. I dropped the lines in and trolled the area that had produced this morning, only to get bit from pike again. I had forgotten just how bad the floating weeds were and didn’t remain here for long. One more stop along our way back had similar success and by 3:00 we called it a day. She had managed to get 5 different species of fish today and topped it off with a couple of beasts. One in particular nearly took her out! It was definitely the largest thing she had ever landed and I’m pretty sure it will be the topic of conversation for quite a while. It was definitely a great day for fishing with the best saved for last. Sort of like icing on the cake!!