12-29-12, Swan island basin + kayak = sturgeon

[bass]

I fished the Willamette out of Swan Island basin yesterday and ended up with a great day of fishing. Early in the day I fished deeper (~60') and did fine, but not great. I caught 8 in the first 5.5 hours (first spot) and then 8 in the last 1.5 hours (second spot) with 6 of those 8 being legal sized. The second location I fished was a spot where it shallowed up from about 53' to about 48'. The bite at the first spot came in flurries.The bite at the second spot was just plain hot the whole time.

The funny thing is that I almost did not even fish the second spot because the bite had died at the first spot and the current had really diminished as well. I am really glad I decided to go over there. I switched from my tiger stik to my salmon rod since the current was so slow by that point. I only used 4 oz for most of the day and I probably could have switched to 2 oz at the last spot.

Some nice powerboat guys were fishing upstream from me at first and as they came by me they said that they were marking a ton of fish. I told them I had seen that as well and that is why I was fishing there. At first they continued downstream but they came back about 10 minutes later saying that it looked like the area I was in had the most fish. They ended up doing really well with a couple of fish in the 50s and one monster that was probably around 7' or so.

I did not get many pics since the camera battery came up indicating it was about dead. I took a pic of my first fish and one of my last fish (I was saving the battery in case I got a monster, but it was not to be).

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Overall, 9 of the sturgeon I caught were legal sized and 5 of the others were just short and two were dinks. I think this is by far my best day for keeper sized sturgeon!

I really like launching at swan island, on the way out a bald eagle flew pretty low over top of me. On the way back in (getting dark) there were about 5 guys on the deck of one of the big ships. They yelled hello as I went by. I told them I hoped I was not making too big of a wake and that they should hold onto the rail when it hit. They laughed really hard

 

[waco]

Good day for sturgeon fishing! Great report as expected from you

 

[steelhead_slayer]

Nice to see you continuing to catch fish

 

[bass]

Thanks guys! It was just a really nice day out on the water and the fish were very cooperative. Hard to beat that combo!

 

[TJR_84]

Swan island has some very good spots, couple weeks ago i too the boat out and had one of the best days ever sturgeon fishing. Glad you were able to be on the water on such a nice day!

 

[bass]

Swan island has some very good spots, couple weeks ago i too the boat out and had one of the best days ever sturgeon fishing. Glad you were able to be on the water on such a nice day!

Thanks TJR_84. I have only fished that area twice but both times I had numbers in the teens and marked an amazing number of fish in most of the spots I checked. I also marked what looks like a bunch of smaller fish in the harbor itself. I am wondering if they are perch, crappie or what? I spent about an hour tossing a small jig on Saturday without any bites so it is still a mystery to me. I thought it would be cool to catch some panfish in the harbor and then cut them up and catch sturgeon on them out in the river. I have not done that yet, but I am hoping it is in my future!

 

[alm21]

Awesome. Bald Eagles are good luck. It seems that when I see one, there's going to be a hook up at some point. Out of my last three trips, I saw a bald eagle on two of them. One of which was when I got a 15lbr, the next day I saw one and I fought and lost a nice fish. The third day, didn't see any bald eagles nor did I touch a fish. Which reminds me, when I went to the McKenzie for summers, saw some bald eagles and subsequently picked up really nice steelhead that day. Just say'n

 

[bass]

The question is whether eagles bring luck or whether luck attracts eagles

 

[minnowmagnet]

Dang, 9 in the slot in one day is pretty amazing! Nice report. Way to herd up those big fellas.

 

[bass]

Dang, 9 in the slot in one day is pretty amazing! Nice report. Way to herd up those big fellas.

The interesting thing is how uniform the fish were in size at the second spot I fished. I bet there was less than a 6" size difference between the biggest and smallest. I have never had anything like that happen before. It was weird, but in an awesome way!