Fishing Jurassic Park (sturgeon tutorial video)

I spent Sunday fishing Swan Island Basin for White Sturgeon commonly referred to as Jurassic Park by the local lower Columbia yak anglers. I try and hit this fishery a few times a year and it's always a joy. As expected most of the fish had moved out of the interior of the basin. It took a few hours but once I had built up a good scent trail the bite became very consistent and downright crazy at time. I caught 7 fish in less than an hour and had a consistent bite for most of the afternoon on cut bait shad. Total count for the 9 hours on the water was 23 fish. Most were small < 48" but I did catch three oversize including one that gave me about 10 minutes of fun.



I also used the day to produce the sixth video in my educational "Cascadia Kayak Angler" series. I went with a Jurassic Park theme just for laughs and I hope you find it enjoyable and educational. I brought every single waterproof and resistant camera with me and tried out many camera angles above and below water. It was a lot of fun and I almost lost my rod and reel once to an aggressive sturgeon bite while messing around with the cameras.

 

First, awesome video! Love the Jurassic Park theme and the underwater shots. Way to get a lot of action on video.

Conventional wisdom says the fish move lower in the estuary after the shad run, and bites are harder to get higher in the rivers. This has been my experience as well. Have you (or others) had success at Swan Island Basin even in the summer months when the water is warmer, i.e. July - September?

Awesome Video!  Thanks for sharing.

Awesome Video!  Thanks for sharing.

Says the guy with a nice looking dinosaur in his hands on the avatar picture.
I love fishing videos almost as much as fishing.

Right on Tyler, another great video/tutorial. Looks like you've personally taken on a new shade being out in the sun so much.

First, awesome video! Love the Jurassic Park theme and the underwater shots. Way to get a lot of action on video.

Conventional wisdom says the fish move lower in the estuary after the shad run, and bites are harder to get higher in the rivers. This has been my experience as well. Have you (or others) had success at Swan Island Basin even in the summer months when the water is warmer, i.e. July - September?

Conventional wisdom is semi-correct. While its true large numbers of sturgeon do gather in the estuary during the summer most of these fish are sub-adults and sturgeon still remain in catchable numbers in the Willamette/Columbia Rivers in and around Portland/Vancouver. I have had exceptional mid-summer sturgeon fishing on the Multnomah Channel and Columbia River near St. Helens.

Report D on pg. 83 is an interesting read on the distribution and seasonal migration of sturgeon in the lower Columbia http://docs.streamnetlibrary.org/BPA_Fish_and_Wildlife/63584-6.pdf#page=77

To answer your question. In 2014 I also managed to catch a couple sturgeon at the mouth of Swan Island Basin during August. I don't expect the July or August bite at "Jurassic Park" to be as good as it is in the winter months but I do think there is ample opportunity to connect with fish there if you move around and put out a good scent trail. Are there better places to target them during those months. Absolutely. However, most of those locales require anchoring in current which is something you don't really need to worry about at Swan Island.

Great info, thank you! I'm looking forward to getting my boy on some sturgeon soon.

Great stuff.  I got to get down and do this! 

Cool video and I love the underwater shots.
Sorry I neglected to introduce myself out there on Sunday. Now I know you are one of the dudes that fishes with Rob. That is great info. I'm glad the Jurassic Park theme has stuck. It sure is crazy out there with big feisty dinos in the winter when the rest of the river is spewing Ovaltine.

Great video!  That would be a fun trip sometime!