Swan Island Sturgeon

DWB123 and myself fished the "post apocalyptic"  Swan Island Basin for sturgeon on Saturday. It was nothing short of kick@$$! It was his first kayak fishing trip since moving to the PNW and I was looking to add White Sturgeon as species #18 to my Cascadia Big Fishing Year list. He dipped some smelt on the way down out of the Cowlitz and I brought a bunch of smelt from the previous weekend's harvest. We hit the water at around 8 AM. We were marking large numbers of fish throughout the basin but the density and size of the marks was substantially higher and large the closer we got to the most distant dry docks near the Willamette River proper. We tried with very little luck initially working our way from inside the basin outward. Sturgeon were actively rolling and porpoising near the Coast Guard station and a monster one almost came in the boat with me! Scared the crap out of me and total soaked me as well. A few powerboats were anchored up but not catching much. I slid back into a narrow channel against a dry dock and dropped some smelt in. Within a few minutes I hooked and landed a 3' shaker. Nice to be on the board! Unfortunately one of the washers in my Penn Jigmaster came apart so I has to switch to my heavier salmon casting rod as a backup.



I looked up as DWB123 hooked into a fish himself. I quickly peddled over to help him out and get some pics of his first sturgeon ever.  After that it was pretty much lights out fishing. Scarcely would 10 minutes pass without one of use being on a fish and doubles weren't uncommon. Most fish were in the 3-4' range but we both boated a few fish in the 5' to 6' range. I hooked a particularly large fish that took me on a 10 minute sleigh ride with my wimpy little salmon rod. I don't know who was more relieved for it to be over!





This was not my first sturgeon rodeo but probably the best day of sturgeon fishing I've had. In total we ended with somewhere between 30 and 40 fish for the day. I was up late last night still riding that adrenaline high from catching so many powerful fish. If you've never done sturgeon kayak fishing you should. When you hook those larger fish there is a certain amount of powerlessness that you feel as the fish largely dictates the fight. You are not in control. Its a great feeling both humbling and thrilling.

Love the video and up close photos.  Nice work!

Wow...that looks pretty awesome. I see a trip down there in my future

Looks like a blast!! Thanks for sharing!

I am really happy you guys came down here and had such a good time. The video was really fun and I love the smiles on the faces. Absolutely a wild place to fish, for sure. I went out there on Friday and totally molested the shakers, but only caught a few nice smaller keepers. It looks like you WA boys did real good on the quality-sized sturgeon. The shallower water in the SI basin usually makes for a more intense fight, I think. Thanks for posting. The close-ups are great and really show off the species. I bet the dry-dock workers were loving the circus you guys put on.

Awesome video!  I've never fished that area.  Is there a place nearby to launch a kayak?

Thanks for sharing.

Cool trip!

Awesome video!  I've never fished that area.  Is there a place nearby to launch a kayak?

Thanks for sharing.

Yes you can launch at the Swan Island Basin ramp. It is about a mile paddle to where we saw the most sturgeon activity (see orange area below). Good luck! Let me know if you want company when you go.

Way to get on top of them! I'm glad they were biting for you. So far the only negative report to come out of there in the last few weeks was mine. Love the video - keep up the good work on the big year!

Thank you for the map!  Huge help.  Looks like a great area. 

Those ecstatic smiles are contagious.
Thanks for sharing the fun!

-Spot-

Heading out in the A.M. Friday the 14th to fish the dry docks if anyone wants to show up.  I will probably do another early run Saturday Sunrise the 15th.  I'll be in an orange outback.  See you on the water! Sturgeon on the brain, if you know what I mean!!!

I still didn't get my Swan Island full hot bit experience... but we had a good day. My buddy, me, and my wife each got one to the boat. RumLuck was out there too; he caught at least one. I'm going to give this spot a rest for a while and focus on other stuff, but it's been fun trying it a few times here this spring. Highly recommended, especially for newbies, because there's no anchoring required. Good times!

Congrats  that's super cool!

Congrats  that's super cool!