Willamette Sturgeon

as told by my blog post....



I love fishing for sturgeon. They’re big, prehistoric creature with a pension for burning out drag washers. The winter season just started last month and things have been slow. I’ve fished a number of good holes lately with little success other than a few undersized shakers here and there.

That all changed yesterday.

With an impending low weather system moving in, I figured the bite would be on. That same weather report had me second guessing whether or not I wanted to take the kayak. I don’t have a problem with the rain; I’m waterproof. I am, however, leery about 20mph winds keeping me beached.

I slept in a bit yesterday morning and woke to see things completely opposite of forecast. The air was calm, the sun was peeking out from time to time, and the ground was dry. A quick check on coastal conditions said the same. Game On! I had at least a couple hours of kayak fishing time! I grabbed bait out of the freezer and headed to Elk Rock Island on the Willamette River. I chose this location because the sturgeon hole is up river, and up wind of the launch. Should the weather not cooperate, the river and the wind would help get me back to the launch, unlike some other options.

There were a few power boat anchored up all over the area. I didn’t see any action as I headed directly to where I wanted to be. I dropped anchor, tied up my line, then noticed that I wasn’t exactly where I wanted to be. Drifting back on anchor, I miss calculated where I was going to be. Oh well, this line’s tied up and ready. I’ll give it a half hour or so before I pulled anchor and paddled 25yards to where I wanted to be.

That never happened.

Just 15 minutes there was the tell-tale knock of a sturgeon on the bait. I spun back on the seat, grabbed the rod and gave a good hook set. Immediately the rod bent down to the water and I knew I had a fish to fight. I freed the anchor and started the fight. It was a good fighter. I was close to getting the fish to the boat when it turned and ran back down. Seventy-five feet back down. The second time I got it back up, the game was over. At about 34″ long, it was a shaker – just 4″ shy of the required length to keep a White Sturgeon. I removed the barbless hook, gave it a pat on the head, and let it back to swim to the depths.

Now THAT was fun! I guess I did pick a good spot to anchor! I paddled back to where the fight started, recleated my anchor, and tied on more bait.

I was sitting side-saddle, watching birds fly around and another fieldtrip wandering around Elk Rock when I felt the knocking on the rod tip again. I looked and, sure enough, there was some action. I grabbed the rod, swung back, and was nearly pulled into the river! Fish On!

I pulled the anchor line off the cleat and got one leg back on the boat somehow. What should have been pointing skyward, my rod tip was nearly in the water. My arm was straining to keep the rod in my hand, and reeling wasn’t doing much good. I could pump the rod, and pull in about 10 feet of line, only to lose 20 more. I kept the half-side-saddle seating position and kept the rod perpendicular to my kayak. That makes the fish fight the full side-draft of the kayak in the river. Sure enough, after a couple hundred yards of towing, I was able to get some ground.

As the fish got closer to the surface, it turned tail and ran. Line peeled from my reel and I was really starting to wonder how big this fish was. Again we played a seesaw battle back to the surface. This was my first good look at this sturgeon, and it was a dandy. I got a brief side-by-side of the sturgeon near my paddle, and knew it was a keeper. It kicked tail, splashing me defensively, and took another drag burning run to the bottom.

As I braced the rod (my arms thankful for a bit of a break), I looked up. We’re a good ways downstream from where we started, and I couldn’t even see my anchor buoy anymore. I also knew that we were now in shallower water. However, there are some major rock structures. I had to get this done and over.

I dialed in just a tough more drag and started the game of heave-ho to bring the fish onboard. I had the advantage this time; bringing in more line than the sturgeon could take back. At the kayak, the fish was tired, but still not completely co-operable. After some fuss, I managed to slip a hand through a gill plate and pull it on board. What a fish!



Once out of the water, sturgeon, fortunately, calm down. Their primitive bodies just are not suited for life with gravity. Rod back in the forward rod holder, I unclipped my paddle and began searching for the spot where I started. Nearly a quarter mile later, I found my anchor buoy and brought it back up. The sturgeon, however, thought he might have some strength to get a little feisty. I quickly took care of that with a 3.5# anchor blow to the head, and my CRKT MUK knife helped get him bled out on the way back to the car.

Now, back at the car I had a new dilemma. I don’t have a cooler that is any more than half the length of this fish. And, because of that, I didn’t even bother to bring either one. This was the first sturgeon I kept this year, out of the 30+ I have landed. What AM I going to do?!? I looked up to remember the mini-mart across the street. I layed the sturgeon across all my gear already loaded up in the trunk and drove over. $4 later I had a box of super-cheap kitchen liners and a bag of ice. Need I mention thatkitchen liners are only 24×30? Or that sturgeon have a ton of sharp scutes? Or how about these bags are so crappy they *might* be able to carry a loaf of bread?

Ooops.

Three bags, on the verge of catastrophic failure, and a bag of ice was good enough. Again, I didn’t have too far to go. And it worked out, at least, after I washed the blood off the car. The rest they say, is history….

NICE FISH!!!  What it tape out at?

-Allen

42"
I've got a mark on my paddle for 38, and the shaft is 54, so anywhere between one grip and the end is legal

about 20ish pounds, according to the charts, though it seemed heavier, and i throw around dead fish for a living...

Nice work Isaac! Sounds like one of those day-dream battles!
Hopefully I'll make it up to the Portland area a couple of times this winter to try my hand at some dinos. Let me know if you'd like some company!
By the way, how do you like the RAM Revolution Tube rod holder? I've been looking into getting some of those but wanted to see/hear about them in action first.

Great fish and great write-up.  I may have to give that a try soon.  My wife is sick so I have been taking care of her, the kids and other stuff so I am racking up the WAF points

Heck Yeah!!!!  Awesome job and great write-up!

What were they biting?

Nice work Isaac! Sounds like one of those day-dream battles!
Hopefully I'll make it up to the Portland area a couple of times this winter to try my hand at some dinos. Let me know if you'd like some company!
By the way, how do you like the RAM Revolution Tube rod holder? I've been looking into getting some of those but wanted to see/hear about them in action first.

Any wed/thursday and I'm game! That's the tough part. At least i have at least one day to fish for sturgeon and springers on limited days.  As for the Revolution, I'm a fan of it, but it's quite a reach all the way up by the sonar shield, especially since its a tube design.  One of these days I'll try it mounted on my RodPod and see how it works.

Great fish and great write-up.  I may have to give that a try soon.  My wife is sick so I have been taking care of her, the kids and other stuff so I am racking up the WAF points

Thanks, its a fun fishery! Doesn't take much more than a salmon rod and bait to fish for them.

Heck Yeah!!!!  Awesome job and great write-up!

What were they biting?

Thanks! I was using some nasty bloody frozen herring. When it comes to sturgeon, I prefer whole fish as bait instead of shrimp or squid. The fish are bigger. The bites seem to come faster. And the sturgeon don't mind if the baits been refrozen a couple times (though you might lose WAF points the third time the bait goes in the freezer).

Way 2 go!
Great fight story and fish porn!
What could be better than a bloody boat and the dilemma of not enuf ice chest and your less than an hour from your front door.
Sweeeet!

Nicely done!  I hope to get out there to give them a try soon, assuming I've earned enough WAF to ensure that my SWMBO* lets me.


*she who must be obeyed

Good job.  Great story.  

Sturgeon is on my winter list, however I have a question.  They seem to be caught in either fresh or salt water which is kind of weird for a long-lived fish.  Salmon do it, but once they commit to salt water a return to fresh is fatal.  Do sturgeon move back and forth between salt and fresh at will?  And, do the fishing techniques and bait differ between fresh and salt?  

I answered my own question by looking up Sturgeon and White Sturgeon in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_sturgeon

Still interested in the bait used for fresh vs. salt water.

Do sturgeon move back and forth between salt and fresh at will?  And, do the fishing techniques and bait differ between fresh and salt? 

Sturgeon are considered anadromous but they aren't as obligated to that lifestyle as salmon are.   Many sturgeon never feel the need to enter the ocean and stay in the river with an occasional trip down to the estuary.  Other sturgeon will venture out into the ocean once or twice in their life and others do it all the time.  There have been white sturgeon tagged by scientists in San Francisco Bay and later found living in the Frazer River in  Vancouver, BC.

I don't believe you are allowed to fish for sturgeon in the ocean proper, so I don't know if there is a preferred bait out there.   In the more brackish waters of river estuaries like near Astoria fresh ocean going bait fish (herring and anchovies) are popular baits.  As you move up the river smelt and shad become more popular bait.  Pretty much what ever is currently in the system that the sturgeon are cued in on is going to be the best bait to try.

Brian

Nicely done! Great story! I want to start fishing for sturgeon. I need to get some proper gear for it and start fishing some of the holes in the Chehalis and in some other coastal rivers.

I have heard that anadramous white sturgeon only spawn in the Frazer and Sacramento rivers here on the West coast. Not sure if that's true, or not. Makes you wonder how far those things travel.

Nice work Isaac! Sounds like one of those day-dream battles!
Hopefully I'll make it up to the Portland area a couple of times this winter to try my hand at some dinos. Let me know if you'd like some company!
By the way, how do you like the RAM Revolution Tube rod holder? I've been looking into getting some of those but wanted to see/hear about them in action first.

Any wed/thursday and I'm game! That's the tough part. At least i have at least one day to fish for sturgeon and springers on limited days.  As for the Revolution, I'm a fan of it, but it's quite a reach all the way up by the sonar shield, especially since its a tube design.  One of these days I'll try it mounted on my RodPod and see how it works.

Great fish and great write-up.  I may have to give that a try soon.  My wife is sick so I have been taking care of her, the kids and other stuff so I am racking up the WAF points

Thanks, its a fun fishery! Doesn't take much more than a salmon rod and bait to fish for them.

Heck Yeah!!!!  Awesome job and great write-up!

What were they biting?

Thanks! I was using some nasty bloody frozen herring. When it comes to sturgeon, I prefer whole fish as bait instead of shrimp or squid. The fish are bigger. The bites seem to come faster. And the sturgeon don't mind if the baits been refrozen a couple times (though you might lose WAF points the third time the bait goes in the freezer).

Dude I'm off Wednesdays (technically I have biology lecture but they don't take attendance!) I'll be down for some willy dinos in PDX here pretty soon. Busy this Wed. but not the next.

J

I'm going to use the handline. I had 20lb floro on their last time, and broke off to easy with 20lb+ fish. There's no drag with the handline, so I gotta go big on the leader.

I'm thinking 80lb leader. Anyone see any disadvantage to a leader that big for sturgeon?

Besides NOT being able to brake off if I need to?

  Rock on! I've got lots of use or lose vacation time the next 2 months. I'd love to hit the road for a Wed. sturgi expedition. Is it getting close to time for another NWKA sturgi day? (I have a longer anchor rope now)