Columbia Report...Hold on TIGHT!

My buddy and I set out this AM hoping for a good day on the river to soak up the sun and hopefully catch a sturgeon.  Everything was falling into place...sun with little wind.  An easy launch at the mouth of the Deschutes gave us a nice push out to the Columbia.  We paddled out a cut bank at 25' just off the confluence of the two rivers, very fishy looking.  We both set out lines after anchoring in the current, and immediately had action on the rods.  It was so fast after the first cast I was sure we were bouncing down the cobblestones, but that was not the case.  We both set hook and Fish On!

My Buddy landed his barely sub-legal and raced down river to catch up to me.  I was being put to the test by an oversize.  The leviathan leaped right away and I silently released an "Oh S%$#" under my breath.  The thought of a monster landing on me, made me rethink my priorities.  One more time the surface burst with fury and I thought there was no way to land one this big.

This amazing fish put me through the ringer for an agonizing 45minutes, then I saw the bubbles come from the deep.  My arms were screaming from the tension- and I had been ready to cut the line.  I kept on top of it and after the ride across, up, and down river...we got a wonderful look at this fish.

It was an amazing sight to see this beautiful giant glide slowly upward into view.  It took my breath away and I really worried it was just coming up to kick my ass overboard.  My Buddy snapped a picture and I slid the hook out.  The fish rolled and away the beauty went, just like that.  We were floating in the river still exchanging "holy craps" over that.  

Only it was not over for us that day, it was now just after 9am.  We paddled back up to the anchor buoy and set out the lines.  Two more sub-legal sturgeon released at the yaks.  Then it happened again!  My buddy was hooked up for the ride of his life, and this fish was ripping him and his yak through the river!  It launched out of the water landed with an explosion!  This fish beat up My Buddy for over half and hour until he successfully released it at yakside.  Now he was the one with the shaking hands and sore arms.  Oh, pain...sweet pain.

This was an amazing trip, weather and fish both shined on us that day.  No other boats to speak of, well the barges worried us some.  We released 16 sub-legal fish, all within 2 inches or less of being legal!  No complaints here, very very very thankful for our day on the river.
-Scott    

that's FREAKIN AWESOME!!!

Great report too!!! Thanks for the narrative. - Yo

That is awesome!! nice monster, you guys killed it. great write up.

Too bad not one keeper for all that action.

You know how it can be.  We have always gone with catch, photo, and release.  This trip we thought it would be ok to keep one since that pool quota was still needing to be met.  And of course we can catch fish all day long, but not a keeper.  They were all very nice fish too.  Some of the sub legal were really thick -and fought extremely hard for their size.  Just awesome, I'll take a day like this anytime.
-Scott

Gotta love that!  That sun sure warmed up yesterday.  I was upriver about 70 miles we had some good weather and hot fishing too.  I have refrained from trying to catch a oversize from the kayak fearing that the battle would last forever really stressing the fish, but if you guys are landing them in 30 to 45 min that's pretty good.  I think I'm gunna get out there and do it.

Gotta love that!  That sun sure warmed up yesterday.  I was upriver about 70 miles we had some good weather and hot fishing too.  I have refrained from trying to catch a oversize from the kayak fearing that the battle would last forever really stressing the fish, but if you guys are landing them in 30 to 45 min that's pretty good.  I think I'm gunna get out there and do it.

30-45 minutes is amazing in a kayak for big oversized like that..  Nice job getting into some great action! 

 

-Allen

What's the fresh water kayak record for largest fish?

Thanks for the exciting report.

Great lookin' dino Scott. Congrats.

Z

Most epic! Nice work!

 

Fishtastic.  Congrats.  And thanks for the photos and report. 

  Im sure I would have "loaded my shorts" if I got a chance to see a Leviathan like that along side my OB!  Damn!~.

damn, I gotta come check that out sometime soon....nice work!

Such a great days fishing, even though no keepers were caught. Still, it's the stuff fishing memories are made of. Thanks for sharing, it brought a smile to my face after our skunking at Sunset Bay this morning!

Great write up, nice photo.  Thanks.