Thursday after talking to Dr. Dean and arranging our ramp fee, we headed up to the dam and on advice from the good doctor, decided to try worms on bobbers to see if the rumored flatheads were in attendance. The first cast yielded a 17# flathead for Roger. He caught two more in the 5# range while I was a spectator. I did catch one 10″ channel cat which would turn out to be the only one of the day. The real excitement started when my own bobber suddenly started cruise around the pond and then disappeared. When I set the hook, the war was on. After a little major pole bending, suddenly this gigantic tail appear and it was plain to see that I was hooked up with an enormous paddle fish, the first of my life. Shortly, a barrel of a body surfaced and then a serious dive carried the fish under the boat where he hooked up on the bottom and broke me off. I was thrilled and disappointed at the same time. Thrilled because it was a first for me and disappointed that we did not get it to the boat for a picture. I estimated the weight between 75 and 100#. I have had a lot of big sturgeon in the boat and this fish dwarfed them all.
Later, we caught four shovelnose sturgeon, the most I have caught in one day. The water was a little high and full of weeds which made mess.
Fun trip and always love new experiences. This was Roger’s first trip to P 4 and I’m sure not the last.
Dr. Dean was right on and thanks for the trip down the ramp.
