Helium Head:
Saw an opportunity to get some fishing in yesterday afternoon and caught two Sturgeon. First a little over 4’, second one a little over 3’. First one was hooked by its tail, ended up pulling me around for some time giving me impression it was bigger that it was. Lots of fun.
UPDATE: I can do a better report! Kayak, poles, everything was loaded. Nice afternoons were rapidly disappearing and the decision to go fishing was being made for me by my indecision ... three days in a row. Having missed most of the summer season due to my broken ankle I really needed to be getting out. Watched some videos on NWKA and I was suddenly motivated! Jurassic Park was calling, only 30 minutes away! Leftover Herring and chunks of raw pork fat carved from a recent roast were thrown in a cooler and away I went. Two road construction delays later I finally got to Swan Island Boat Launch and in the water by 3:00.
Out less that a 1000 yards and I was marking fish on the bottom, noticed time on my fishfinder was 8:31 am, dropped my pork fat with some shrimp cure and got a hit, no really! I couldn’t believe it either as I had just stopped paddling, dropped my line and was still drifting a little. First thought was that I snagged on something, sturgeon don’t go for moving bait do they!? He started towing me around the basin, a couple times he headed for a barge but by then he was tired enough that I had no trouble leading him away. At 8:41 I was able to get him to the surface to realize I had snagged him by the tail and explains why he was fighting above his 4’. Took some video of him and then after another minute got him close enough I was able to easily pull the hook out.
I then anchored close to where I caught him, dropped the pork fat, still on but kind of muddy, and enjoyed the sun for about 1/2 hour when another kayaker snuck up behind me to say hi! He had been out for several hours at the other end by the dry dock and had caught 4 sturgeon if I recall. He said he mostly does Oregon Kayak Fast Fishing ... after chatting for a while I just had to ask what “fast” fishing was, and got a response of laughter and “bass fishing ... bass!” Fortunately we were distracted by another small sturgeon jumping out of the water. This was a regular occurrence around the basin, anyone know why they do this?
He was calling it quits for the day as he ran out of bait, I offered some of mine buy he declined and headed in. I switched to herring and then I, fortunately, got a text reminding me I was meeting a friend that evening. I called it quits in the hopes of the fishing gods acknowledging my exit with one more fish and sure enough I get a strike! Reeled in a smaller sturgeon, a little over 3’, and then headed in. Even though I was only on the water for under 1 1/2 hours I’m glad I got off my butt caught some sun and some fish.