The fishing season rolls on and I have been hitting the lakes, rivers, and streams. From crappies to muskies and everything in between, I’ve been a multi-species fish hunter this summer. One particular trip to Lake Pepin with Dave2 stands out more than the others.

We were after walleyes on this outing, fishing in almost the center of the lake with about 10 miles of open water in either direction. The preferred bait seemed to be a jig and twister tail but also tipped with half a night crawler. Willow cats work even better for walleyes, but they seem to be harder to find than walleyes, plus crawlers are way cheaper.

Dave2 set the hook and immediately announced: “This is really big!” A moment later he guessed that he was dealing with a big lake sturgeon. Landing one of those prehistoric monsters is a tall order when you are geared up for it and almost impossible when you’re using much lighter walleye gear. Without warning the fish rocketed out of the water giving us a terrific view of a giant that looked to be longer than Dave2 and probably twice his age.

Throughout the years I’ve seen my share of lake sturgeon. My exposure and experience with these ancient fish grew exponentially this past winter when I spent the better part of a week on Lake Winnebago trying to spear one. Each day at the close of spearing I headed to a weigh in station and saw some huge fish. I took photos and even posed next to one. In the end, I had a pretty good idea how to estimate the size of fish. I’m bringing up this background information because the fish that Dave2 had on his walleye rod was well over 100 pounds, and I can say that with confidence. We had very little chance of actually landing it. The line broke and the monster fish sank back to the depths of Lake Pepin.

We fished on and caught a few walleyes when history repeated itself. Dave2 set the hook on another fish and immediately called it correctly that he had another sturgeon on the line. This one was only half as big as the first, but still too much for normal walleye gear. Several times the fish was one and a half arm’s length away but never quite close enough to grab by the tail. The end came as you would expect with the line breaking again.  

After the second sturgeon was lost forever, we talked about how awesome it would be to actually get our hands on a fish that big and that old plus it would make for a great victory pose photo. The final tip of the cap would be to return the protected fish back to where it belonged.

Once again, we returned to walleye fishing, but I can’t remember if we caught anymore because of what happened next. For the third time that day, Dave2 set the hook on a fish announcing that it was something big. It wasn’t a hundred pounds big, but bigger than a trophy walleye. After another extended and careful fight, a 3-foot lake sturgeon made its way close enough to the boat for me to swipe at it with the dipnet. An instant later the pride of Lake Pepin was curled on the bottom of that dipnet.

Catching a few walleyes is always fun but it was a genuine treat to see, hold, and get a photo of a lake sturgeon, a true Wisconsin legend. It sure made up for sitting on the frozen Lake Winnebago for four days in below zero temperatures, staring at a hole in the ice and never seeing a thing.

Didn’t get enough Dave this week? Visit “Outdoor Trails and Tales with Dave Beck” on Facebook for photos and video of Dave’s adventures. You can share your own photos and video with him there as well, or by emailing him at dave@piercecountyjournal.news Also, check out OTT content on Instagram @thepiercecountyjournal