When you pop your kayak fish cherry make it count!

I took a friend of mine, Richard Denham of Holy Moly Outdoors, out kayak fishing for the very first time last week. I've always appreciated the passion he has for helping educate new and experienced anglers alike.

He has always wanted to catch a sturgeon and had failed with several attempts on Puget Sound rivers. I convinced him to come down to the Rose City for a little visit to Jurassic Park. I put the Oasis in at Swan Island in the morning and we cruised out. I started marking scattered sturgeon and then a 10' thick layer on the bottom of fish. I swung around the corner of the last dry dock and a giant 20' thick ball of sturgeon appeared on the fishfinder. I put the brakes on and without any wind instructed him to drop his 1/2 herring over the side. No sooner than it hit bottom he had a bite and then the rod loaded up. I told him to set the hook and shortly after the fish peeled 60'+ of line I knew we had hooked a big one.



After a long 25 minutes we brought the fish to the surface when it made its obligatory return to the bottom. Over the course of the fight the fish had towed us several hundred yards. Fortunately, it was low tide and a small sand beach was exposed. After another 20 minutes we got the fish back to the boat and towed it over to beach. This not only provided a great opportunity for a photo but also allowed us revive the fish by pulling a lot of water over the gills. By the time we got to the beach she was revived and ready to go. A couple quick snaps, some giant smiles, and she returned to the murky water. The fish was around 7' long and quite plump. It was Richard's first kayak fish and his first sturgeon ever. I had to laugh as we caught many more sturgeon during the day he was asking how much a Hobie cost....so it begins.

Also he put together a great video with an awesome soundtrack of this big fish.

Great report and awesome video! Makes me want to go sturgeon fishing this weekend.... : )

Ok it's official I want to do that! 

  Now that is how to pop a sturgeon virgin's cherry.

  Great fish for Richard. I'd bet he wants to come back for more....

  Way to help a guy out Tyler.

Great fish and a great way to catch them!  Awesome!

Sweet catch!

That is nice.

Hanapa'a!!!

Awesome video and pictures!  This has always been a dream of mine!  Congrats on the amazing catch!!!!