This was a bit unique. Brian And Shanna came to the house for a couple days. They wanted to fish the St. Clair River for walleye. After a day of the usual crappy weather, we had a nice morning to hit the river.
We were spread around the boat waiting for a bite.
Three of us were fishing. Shanna was catching.
And then it happened...KATHY snagged the bottom. Or so it seemed. I took the rod to try to save 300 yards of braided line (@ $30/spool).
I finally coaxed the fish to the surface where we all got a good look at a sturgeon. I've never hooked one of those (and actually, still haven't) but was able to fight the fish.
It was pretty much like lifting an anchor with a fishing rod. Every time I got the fish anywhere near the surface, it just ran back to the bottom. We had no desire or even any way to land that fish. It was hooked in one of the swim fins on the side by a small stinger treble hook attached to the jig. That eventually broke and the fish swam off. Quite an outing. Not sure I can top that this year. Off to the north woods tomorrow with the Minnie Winnie.
I had to lift the spirits a little after the news last week of the Sea Ray transport delay. That was a tough pill to swallow but there's nothing I can do about that. Just have to roll with the punches. I woke up this morning to a bright sunny 38°. Brrrr. But the weatherman promised that is would warm up so I hitched up the Crestliner and headed to the river.
Unfortunately, I just can't seem to crack the nut on that fishery. It's so difficult for me. Kind of like chewing gum and walking at the same time...I can't do it. The whole game is to keep the boat and jig moving at the same speed as the river current. Any wind causes the boat to move at a different speed so constant adjustment is required with the electric motor. It's not really a relaxing activity.
That said, I had three bites on my first drift and landed two nice walleye. After that, nada, nothing, zilch. Not sure what happened after a stellar start. But there was plenty of river traffic to watch today and it was sunny and comfortable.
It was better than sitting home but I'm about ready to scrap this river thing and move out into the lake.
In spite of my best efforts and planning, shipment of my beloved Sundancer has been delayed. I had it removed from Lake Cumberland and it now sits atop the knoll at Hilltop Marine.
The shipper that I had originally contracted was moving a boat last week from Lake Michigan to Idaho. When he entered Montana, the Montana DNR stopped him and inspected the boat he was hauling. They found zebra mussels and quarantined his equipment. Outside of what I was told was going to be at least a 45 day delay, I don't know how the shipper gets back in business. So...back to square one with the boat transport. I spent a few days on the phone getting quotes and availability and have another mover lined up. These guys are all real busy now so to get into the schedule before the 4th of July is a good thing. The current schedule is for delivery in Mackinaw City at 11:00 am on June 26th. In the meantime, I'll just have to keep myself occupied with the Minnie Winnie, that I just went through four days of exterior polishing with, and the Crestliner. I've got a couple events planned for those toys so stay tuned.
