Well another tournament is in the books! Though this was a tournament I had never experienced in terms of the species, it was still a blast. This was very laid back and what I would refer to as a fun tournament. There wasn’t very much seriousness in terms of being competitive, but rather excitement and rallying around those who were catching. They had a total potential entry of 350 tickets to get into the competition, and they sold every single one! The amount of boats on that stretch of river was truly remarkable and with that being said the amount of families out enjoying the day was great to see. What a great way to introduce kids into the sport, which I embrace, and is a great reason to hire me as your next Rainy River Sturgeon Guide! Now onto the fishing
The fish were moving that day and were not steering off of one particular contour line….if you were not on the contour line the only thing you could do was watch and cheer-on those who were. The fish were near the shallows, I would say about 50-75 feet from shore. The largest fish caught was a massive 68″ and caught about 75 feet from the Ol’ Champion that I was sitting in. That was when I truly realized this was a fun tournament. Not only was everyone cheering for that older gentleman to get the fish to the boat, but there were people actually pulling anchor to give him some room for the best chance to be successful. I was astonished and had immediately decided that I will fish this tournament every chance I get. It goes to show what great compassion and comradery that our sport shares among anglers. As far what was brought into my boat was only 1 Red Horse Sucker. I knew where I needed to be about 45 mins into the tournament, but with the river being littered with boats it was impossible to get to that contour line. I could only sit there and watch, which I did thoroughly. With that many people being so close it was easy to see some of the small differences people were doing with their presentations. I turned this into a learning opportunity along with taking the time to heckle the boat next to me a little bit. There was 3 guys who had showed up on the river Friday evening and did not plan on leaving the river until Sunday (yes they slept on the boat). Great group of guys and a fun bunch of guys to B.S. with through the day.
I will be back on the river in a couple of days to continue pursuing the prehistoric fish. My set up that I was using was a Dobyns Rods DC 908 Ultra Mag SB – Champion Series, paired with 80 lb Power Pro, an 80LB swivel, 6 oz sinker, and a 5/O Gamakatsu Hook. If you want to get out yet this year or in the future are looking for a Rainy River Sturgeon Guide just give me a call and we will get you set up on some fish! You can contact me on this website or by clicking here —> Northern Water Excursions LLC – Rainy Lake Guiding, Tours, or Training (northernexcursion.com)
