Beginner needs help

[SNDSLGR]

Hello all, nice forum you have here, I have been lurking for awhile and have enjoyed the info.

We fish trout and Steelhead but my 10 yo son and I are interested in bank fishing for sturgeon. Trouble is I have no clue how or where to go. I have a couple rods/reels available to me for loan from a friend but I dont know squat about the propper rigging, bait, or location.

If someone could give a brief description of a standard rig and a few suggestions nearest to Beaverton I would appreciate it. Some decent kid friendly, non-combative bank fishing please.

Thanks for your help.

Travis

 

[buddah426]

first of all welcome to the most informative forum you will find about oregon, lots of people willing to help out.

now about sturgeon fishing i've always run a 3 way swivel and put about 18" of leader to a hook from the side eye. run a 6-10" leader to a torpedo weight, weight depends on flow, just enough to set up on bottom. i've caught sturgeon on some pretty off the wall stuff but from the bank for some reason i've done the best with 3 nightcrawlers and a sand shrimp wrapped to the hook.

now where to go... you can always try kelly point if you dont mind the elements, its the mouth of the willamette at the end of marine drive. or could go to kellog park in milwaukie, fish from the boulder bank to the left of the boat ramp. and then there's always meldrum bar, pretty popular and can park right out there and sit in truck while watching pole...

hope this helps and you and your son have some fun fishin... welcome again.

 

[Raincatcher]

Great way to spend time with kids!

Great way to spend time with kids!

Hello all, nice forum you have here, I have been lurking for awhile and have enjoyed the info.

We fish trout and Steelhead but my 10 yo son and I are interested in bank fishing for sturgeon. Trouble is I have no clue how or where to go. I have a couple rods/reels available to me for loan from a friend but I dont know squat about the propper rigging, bait, or location.

If someone could give a brief description of a standard rig and a few suggestions nearest to Beaverton I would appreciate it. Some decent kid friendly, non-combative bank fishing please.

Thanks for your help.

Travis

SNDSLGR;
Welcome to the absolute best you could hope for in fishing forums. You will find a ton of potential new fishing buds here who are more than willing to help out,as shown by buddah. I am not the go-to person for sturgeon,but it sounds like he has some sound advice for you. Don't forget to check out the archives for a mind boggling amount of info on just about any species you have in mind. Also, check out the favorite resources in the other topics related to fishing. Be sure to put the search feature to good use,it will give you an amazing number of posts to spend time with. If you do get into a sturgeon with your lil guy,be sure to let us know and remember, we all crave pictures of other fisher folks conquests. Again, welcome. Be safe.
Barb

 

[SNDSLGR]

Cool thanks folks!

Leader wt.?
Hook size?

Thanks again.

 

[buddah426]

Cool thanks folks!

Leader wt.?
Hook size?

Thanks again.

i use a 40 lb braided line for both main and leader, only because it's whats on my reel and i havent had the need to replace it yet. as for hook size, i use a 1/0 j hook and very important here "MUST" be barbless per the odfw!!! no questions. you may also want to use a lighter mono line for your lead line so if you get snagged you have a better chance of not loosing your whole rig even though the lead is the most expensive these days.

gl and good times!!!

 

[joemomma]

Now I fish out of a boat, but I think the rigging could be the same! However I would expect a little more snagging from the bank, might be the reason for a dropper lead line mentioned above! I fish 65lb braid with a slider clip and a 5/0 or 6/0 brads pre tied leader! The slider clip goes on the main line and clips on to the weight, this way this sturg feels little resistance, when sucking on the bait! Just thinking about it, I think I would use a barrel swivel slid up my main line and tie another to my main line and dacron leader. Then I would tie as short as possible piece of say 20lb dropper leader to my weight ( friends use railroad spike's) that way you got the brake off capability and the less resistance factor! Sturgeon 99% of the time are lite biters, ya gotta hammer him hard, when you know they got it! IF ya use mono for main line that is fine, I have landed a 10 footer with 40lb mainline from a boat, that is around 500lbs of horsepower!

 

[luv2fish]

Hello all, nice forum you have here, I have been lurking for awhile and have enjoyed the info.

We fish trout and Steelhead but my 10 yo son and I are interested in bank fishing for sturgeon. Trouble is I have no clue how or where to go. I have a couple rods/reels available to me for loan from a friend but I dont know squat about the propper rigging, bait, or location.

If someone could give a brief description of a standard rig and a few suggestions nearest to Beaverton I would appreciate it. Some decent kid friendly, non-combative bank fishing please.

Thanks for your help.

Travis

Lets start with the rod. A rod over 10' in length I use shakespeare ugly stick 12' rated for extra heavy action. It has a good tip which even translates the ultrasoft biting of sturgeon when they do it.
A reel which can handle good spool of atleast 30 lb mono. Barbless 6/0 hook .


Put a slider on your mailine and then put a bead ...so that the slider doean't dig against the swivel and weekens the knot. Then tie the mainline to a swivel . Tie a leader say 12-18 inch to the other end of swivel. Clip whatever weight use want to use to slider and cast and your fishing.
I mostly use sand shrimp with worms as bait and score on that.

Now i'm not sure if your 10 yo can do the casting, you can do it for him and show him the ropes.
I'm kinda sceptical using shorter rod for sturgeon from "bank". I've seen lot of people doing that and mostly results in loosing fish.

 

[Seon]

I've noticed that mono line is used for the leader. Why not wire?

 

[The Nothing]

I think wire is overkill. You'll actually notice most people use dacron leaders for sturgeon. I've been successfully using the same 65# braid for leaders so far this year as well.

 

[SNDSLGR]

Thanks for all the suggestions this far.

So I have been out 3 times now and 3 times skunked. I did have one take my bait this morning but I lost him getting the pole out of the holder, time for a new design there.

Anyways, I keep seeing others using a 3-way attatched to the mainline, then about 18-24" of lead leader and only a few inches of hook/bait leader. Wouldnt that set up leave your bait dangling off the bottom, flappin in the breeze? I thought I read that sturgeon only like dead-lifeless bait laying on the bottom, not true?

 

[The Nothing]

does sound very backwards to me, but i've seen the same. I've also seen those same people skunked...

 

[BlackTalon]

sturgeon setup

sturgeon setup

I do what joemomma and luv2fish said out of my boat.

Evan

 

[SNDSLGR]

Finally! My first sturg from shore! It was not very big but made me happy, a little assurance that mabey I am on the right track anyways.

Got him using the short leader rig with a sand shrimp.

 

[Hawk]

that's a Reel Beauty Bro.....................Great Job......................................................................................................:clap::clap::clap:

 

[FishTastic]

I am very much wanting to get in to sturg fishing this year. I used to go with a freind out of his boat using his gear, short stiff rods and level winds.

THAT IS A SWEET FISH AND A GREAT PIC! Where is the location that you can fish off the dock like that? (assuming that is a dock you are on?)

I have seen the Ugly sticks for sturgeon, I am having trouble selecting a reel for this. Any suggestions? Model / size / spinning or level wind? Thanks so much. There is also a place that I see many people sturgeon fishing on the washington side on the way to Ilwaco WA.

 

[SNDSLGR]

That is at Gilbert boat launch on the Mult. channel.

I dont know much about sturgeon yet but I have been fishing my whole life. Bottom line is this.. can you cast a level wind? I can and it still took me a couple hours to get a decent cast. Tossing big weight and using two hands is a whole new game.

Reels,
I did lots of reading and the two most popular reels are the Diawa Sealine 50h and the Penn 321 GT. I went to buy a Diawa only to realize that there is no levelwind mechanism on this reel... which is why it casts a bit farther they say. That also mean you have to use your thumb to track the line onto the spool evenly as you reel in, fight a fish etc... , no thanks.

There was a few guys on the dock with me and they were all talking about how far one of them could cast his Diawa. He mabey got 20 yds on my cast and I am new at this so I dont think its a huge diffence.

Pole,
Most opinions are 10' or longer for bank fishing, I was sceptical but now I agree. Mine is 12' Ugly Stik in Xtra-Heavy and I am glad to have it when you need to throw a 10 oz weight.. the 15's really seem bulky. More importand I would think is to match a proper reel to the type of pole you buy. I have seen two guys now mis matched and they both had a hell of a time getting out there. (i.e. spinning reel on a bait pole, or baitcaster reel on a spinning pole.

I am leaving on vacation for 10 days but you are welcome to tag along with me next time I go. Like I said, I am just starting but am happy to share what I know so far.

 

[FishTastic]

Hi and thanks for the information. I would like to tag along and check this out more. May go buy gear today and give it a shot this weekend. Feel free to message me when you go out next and I will likely want to meet up and watch.

How does one get to this Gilbert Boat Launch?

 

[liquidplumber]

Hi and thanks for the information. I would like to tag along and check this out more. May go buy gear today and give it a shot this weekend. Feel free to message me when you go out next and I will likely want to meet up and watch.

How does one get to this Gilbert Boat Launch?

Take some squid 6 to 8 " long rig it like smelt

 

[Snager]

I know a spot in your area its the columbia slough, ive cought huge green sturgeon over there try using Baby salmon. Sturgeon are very agresive when they see baby salmon.

 

[The Nothing]

huh?!?
i'm pretty sure Green's are not legal catch
nor is using salmon as bait...