I have not been out fishing much lately. In September I fell cleaning my deck and cracked my sacrum - definitely keeping me out of the kayak. Last weekend was my first trip out in 7 weeks and I only caught one small bass. This weekend I decided to focus on sturgeon.
Glad that I did since I had a rocking good day! 11 sturgeon, 3 keeper sized, 5 just short, 3 dinks. Plus I lost an 8+ foot fish after a 25 minute fight. It snapped my line after it did a power dive. If I had landed that fish it might have been my best day ever.
Launched off of Oak Grove Blvd. Day started off bad. At my first spot, I hooked 3 drag burners that all pulled off the hook. I missed the next 4 fish. I checked everything and all seemed good. I was puzzled. I decided to change hooks even though my present hook seemed OK. I also decided to bend the hook out a bit to open the gap. Hooked and landed my next three. Then the bite died.
Moved to a second spot where I was marking a ton of fish, but there was no current. Fished half an hour without a sniff. I was amazed to mark so many fish without any biters.
Pedaled up to one of my favorite low current spots up towards Cedaroak. Apparently, the fish gods felt that I served my penance last week. The bite was amazing. I could not count to 100 without getting a good bite. I landed 3 keepers and 5 that were just short. Keepers were 41-46".
Then I hooked up with a monster. Fought it for 20-25 minutes with my drag cranked tight as I dare. Several times I thought I might flip when it would surge and rip out drag. It came up and breached/rolled then dove making another long line peeling run. I slammed my thumb against the spool to slow it down, but then the line just snapped. I was crushed. Break was on the braid. I guess I should re-tie more than once a year (DOH!).
I went back to my anchor but did not catch another fish. The outgoing had finished during the previous battle. I still was getting some bites, but only from dinks (or perhaps catfish). So I pulled anchor and headed home with a big smile. It felt really good to be back out there doing what I love to day!
Here is one guy I could release in the water.
Nice fat 42" fish.
Had the big one on for about 20-25 minutes. Most of that time my rod tip was buried in the water.
Love fishing for those dinos.
_________________
Fish tremble when they hear my name
A ship in harbor is safe -- but that is not what ships are built for.
--John A. Shedd, Salt from My Attic, 1928
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