Spot:
All this recent talk of sturgeon lit a fire under me. Wednesday I racked up some WAF points cooking and baking with the girlfriend which gave me the smallest of windows on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) morning. I knew it’d be tight but I just had to take the shot.
This was a spur of the moment deal so I hadn’t prepped anything. The search for my sturgeon tackle was frantic. Loading was a blur. In the end I was forced to double back from the end of my block to fetch a forgotten anchor.
Toyota Hole? Grain Silo? Marquam? George Rogers? The Wall? Scappoose? I still hadn’t decided on a destination when I reached the 1st major street. In the end, I would return to my old faithful, the MC.
Once again, I found myself racing flocks of Canadian geese from one end of the island to the other. A pair of bald eagles stretched and vaulted from their enormous nest. A coyote bounded after a quail it had flushed from dew heavy grass. God, I love this place!
The Channel was quiet this morning. I exchanged greetings with the dock crew and launched from the inside to avoid their lines. Near the corner, a hapless fisher flagged me down and asked me to help dislodge an oversize which had tied itself to a submerged tree. Thought I had it. Was sure I had it. Didn’t get it….. No joy. He thanked me for making an effort and told me that it still qualified as a deposit in my karmic bank account.
While I’d struggled to free the gentleman’s fish, 3 boats filled in the hole on which I’d set my sights. Undaunted, I struck up a conversation as I paddled by, hooted a brief battle with a shaker and nonchalantly deployed my anchor 20 yards below them. For the next hour, I fed sandshrimp to persnickety sturgeon from the end of my line.
I knew a change was needed so I switched over to pickled smelt. Within 15min I had a 3’ shaker in my lap. Another ½ hour of micro bites passed and I added a shrimp to my offering. This time, my rod tip danced. Reeling down, I waited for another good pull and then reefed into something substantial.
This fish was not going to come easily. I was loaded for bear with 50lb power-pro on a Penn 320 attached to a Heavy Ugly Stick but there would be no horsing this bad boy. My job was limited to managing the amount of line it took from me.
I tightened the drag a notch and suddenly realized I was a good 20yards downstream of where I’d been when I hooked up. Time to throw the anchor! Woohoo!
15min and probably 400 yards later, I was again near my anchor buoy but now the fish was tiring. In fact, it felt as if it suddenly just gave up. 70yards of reeling revealed that my power-pro had wrapped around its tail, barely avoiding the razor sharp scutes.
After a quick comparison to the sharpied slot marks on my yak, I carefully reached in and claimed my prize. Maybe there’s something to this karma thing after all.
polepole:
And with that we have a new AOTY leader. Way to go Spot!!!
-Allen
Pelagic:
Great Job! Way to get it done.. ;D ;D
Fishesfromtupperware:
Waay to go! Good Fishin! Great Story! :thumbsup:
Wali
PNW:
Spot - Yeah man! That would be an excellent one for the Yak Fishin' mag, text & all. I gotta get in on this! (also have a fish n' dive. got any specs on your anchor system?)