Trip Plan - Willamette Sturgeon Tomorrow

Nice work DC! Dino action heats up. Wish I was closer, I'd love to fish that with you guys.

Z

I still have a little sturgeon meat in the freezer from a guided trip a few weeks ago with my Dad, so I wasn't planning on keeping any.  But the second one just looked so tasty, I could not resist.  Plus this other guy loaned me his fish holder thingy, so I thought I would share.  He was pretty stoked too.  He CPR'd a 38.5" keeper in my spot while I was coming back from my sleigh ride.  He was hoping for a bigger keeper.  Here's a shot of his fish.

That must be a great SPOT, I didn't think my SPOT on the top of the AOTY would last long with the smell of sturgeon blood in the water...  Nice job, unidentified angler I'd recognize that knife anywhere

Huh?  Wha?  Okay.  I was going to stretch it out, but I started to feel bad, so I asked myself.  "What would Mr. Taters do?"  And decided to make it more obvious. 

Yes Spot suprised me.  I was glad for the company, especially on a day like today...for the pictures I mean.  I'll let him tell the story in full.  He does it so much better. 

Anyone interested in joining Wali and I tomorrow AM? There's fishes out there....

~9am, George Rogers Park.

I'll post more later but I thought Y'all might like this photo.   

Wait a minute......  ;-}

SWEEEEEET!
-Scott

ok so which one of you gets to play lee harvey oswald and say, "that's my face but not my body"?

I'll post more later but I thought Y'all might like this photo.   

AWESOME photo!!! Now that's some stoke.

Z

It certainly wasn't the easiest day of fishing every.  The river was high, the current was ripping and the fish were just barely cooperative.  DC has his home turf wired though.
When I arrived, he was tucked back in his little slice of hog heaven laying it to the shakers.  Me?  Nada for 3 moves....  I didn't dare anchor up in the main channel as there was a lot of debris in motion and I was already having a hard enough time keeping my bait down with 10oz of lead.  
After the powerboaters started showing up, DC shot back across the river to try out the flats.  Good move too.  As I watched, he put another shaker in his boat and then layed into something heavy.  So heavy in fact, he opted for the sleigh ride.  That was it.  I'm usually not one to follow a bite but I couldn't take it any longer.
Within 5min of stealing DC's spot, I was into something with a little power.  It was close but a beach measurement showed my one and only fish to be inside the slot limit.  At a skinny 38.5" there wasn't a lot of meat so back she went.

------ Much dead time passes, during which DC makes the following statements -----
"I'm over the ****** <as bait>  it's all about the squid now"
"I love it when somebody says something about their rig and as if on queue, they hook up"
"I've caught a lot of fish out here but I still haven't gotten a keeper"
"Sometimes you have no idea that you have a fish on until you go to bring your gear in.  They're just down there happily munching away on your bait..."


One lost anchor later (Mine) DC suggested we toast our victories with a scotch back at his place...... but maybe one more drop 1st.
For this one last drop DC produced the Holy Grail of sturgeon bait.  His 4 time frozen, smaller than the hook, multiple fish catching, nasty old Crypt Keeper MAGIC POSTAGE STAMP.  
This thing is like one of those relics of a Saint they hide behind the alter of a Catholic Church.  Freezer burn was the last of this things woes....
As I watched, he mounted this on his leader with a small piece of worm.  The hook dangled bare below making the whole presentation look like something from the imagination of H.R. Giger.  As adamant as he was about the mojo in this thing though, I didn't dare laugh.
15 or 20 actionless minutes later, DC looks at me and says "Well, I guess the magic's gone...." and tries to retrieve his rig.  One good pull and BAM! His broomstick of a rod goes friggin bendo.  The rest, as they say, is history.

I like the "creative" nose to fork measurement  

I like the "creative" nose to fork measurement  

Hey now boy, them's fightin words.     Lol!

I did the best I could with a moving fish and flexible metal tape measure.   
I encourage the mods to review the images and make any necessary adjustments or deletions. With any luck I'll manage a bigger one before the year's end anyway.

-Mark-

Nice work fellas!! Sounds like a fun day!

Sounds like a great time. I'm still surprised that I'd never seen anyone kayak fishing that area before. I fished there routinely before I got my kayak and never saw any of you guys.

Looks like a great time, I love sturgeon sleigh rides! Hopefully I can get into one on xmas eve...