Sturgeon Love

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 ˝ 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.

And with that we have a new AOTY leader.  Way to go Spot!!!

-Allen

Great Job! Way to get it done.. 

Waay to go! Good Fishin! Great Story! 



Wali

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?)

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?)

Thanks!

I copied bsteves anchor system with a slightly larger spool.  One other difference is that I reversed the camcleat so I can anchor off the stern rather than the bow.

http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=2041.0

Nicely done x2 Mark. I think I'll be going out to MC on Sunday and maybe Monday as well.

Rigging question for you...I will be using bait for the first time. I plan on using a slider for the sinker. Should I freespool until I get a take or just let out some line and wait?

Thanks,
Jay

Nicely done x2 Mark. I think I'll be going out to MC on Sunday and maybe Monday as well.

Rigging question for you...I will be using bait for the first time. I plan on using a slider for the sinker. Should I freespool until I get a take or just let out some line and wait?

Thanks,
Jay

Hey Jay,

Definitely use the slider for your weight.  3 or 4 oz should be enough to hold your bait down.  You'll be fishing deeper water so you can't freespool (the current will empty your reel if you do). 

If you use squid, herring, smelt or the like, use the dacron leader on your sturgeon hooks to throw half hitches around your bait.  You'll know you've thrown enough when you run out of leader.

Cast downstream and slightly to the side and freespool until your weight hits the bottom.  The downstream cast helps to mitigate the sway of your yak when it's on hook.  You'll want your line to be taught so you can see the bite in your rod tip.

Sturgeon nibble.  Watch for a little downward tick or bounce (upward is usually a leaf or crawdad).  Take your rod in your hand and wait for a pull then set the hook hard.

Good Luck Bud!  I may see you down there on Sunday.

BTW: Remember that you can only retain Sturgeon Thursday thru Sunday.

Thanks for the tips. Any suggestions on where to get bait tomorrow?

Very nice Mark.  I always know when you get serious about racking up some AOTY points.. (you go into stealth mode and drop off the radar for a few days ).

I knew someone would eventually get a legal sturgeon this year.  My sturgeon trip today was fun but not as productive for me.

Brian

GOING! GOING! GOING! AND IT'S GOOOOONE!!!!! Nice friggin' fish Spot!! That's a beaut of a keeper. Really nice report as well. And good on ya for getting the pics. I know when you get a good fish it's hard to remember to take some but if you do you're golden. And you are shinin' bruddah.. Congrats man!

Z

Nice one! Good report.

Any chance of you posting a picture of the tackle you are using, all rigged up?

I've never fished for sturgeon, but I'm getting twitchy and might have to sneak away from finals this week.

Any particular timing to catch them? low light, tides, etc?

Jason,

The sturgeon rig is a typical slider sinker, bead, swivel, with a 3' 50#-100# dacron leader and a 5/0-9/0 barbless octopus hook.  The hooks can be purchased pretied to the dacron leaders at most tackle shops.  As for sinker weight, anything from 2-16 oz depending on the current and depth.  Typically I use 4 oz.

I'm  sorry to hear you're being hit hard by finals. Next Sunday we're having a big NWKA sturgeon hunt on the Willamette.  If you could sneak out for a couple hours it would a great chance to meet some of the members and maybe catch a few sturgeon.

Brian

Ouch. I'm scheduled to work that day.

Are you guys going out early? I might be able to put in with you guys and take pics and scramble over to the shop after. I don't have to be in until 10am, and can be late, but I don't really have time with finals to get my sturgeon gear together.

I'm working with two salmon rods. two ounces of weight is about the max they can handle. I broke my loomis in half last year setting the hook with a 4 ounce cannon ball at the end of the line.

But I have yet to make a proper anchor etc.

It might be good for me to watch, learn, take pics, and assist anywho.

Ouch. I'm scheduled to work that day.

Are you guys going out early? I might be able to put in with you guys and take pics and scramble over to the shop after. I don't have to be in until 10am, and can be late, but I don't really have time with finals to get my sturgeon gear together.

I'm working with two salmon rods. two ounces of weight is about the max they can handle. I broke my loomis in half last year setting the hook with a 4 ounce cannon ball at the end of the line.

But I have yet to make a proper anchor etc.

It might be good for me to watch, learn, take pics, and assist anywho.

Jason,

I don't know what time you have to be off to work next Sunday, but I think we'll probably start around 7:30 am (roughly sunrise).  If that leaves you some time to join us, I have at least three rods that will work for sturgeon and you're welcome to borrow one.  Also, if you have at least a bow line you can tie off to my anchored kayak temporarily to fish.

Brian