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I have not posted much lately but I have been having pretty good success throughout December on the sturgeon. The bite has been anywhere from insane to reasonable and has tapered a bit as the water has dipped close to 40 degrees.
I decided to end 2016 with a sturgeon fishing trip. I was excited to go out because I just bought a new Tekota 500LC to replace the Cardiff 400 on my Okuma 8.5' XHvy salmon rod (light sturgeon rod). I have liked the Cardiff well enough but I have had to repair it a few times and I have always felt that it was a little light for sturgeon fishing. The new Tekota is much heavier but feels much stronger and takes much less effort when reeling in heavy weights or fish. I was concerned about getting a line counter reel since I will mostly be making short casts for sturgeon, but the line counter is not affecting my casting distance in any meaningful way.
As to the last trip, I got to Swan Island a bit later than I normally would - not arriving until about 8:15. There were already a few trailers in the lot and a few more arrived while I was getting rigged up. My original plan was to fish near the mouth of the harbor, but since there were already a few boats working that area I decided to give the current a try. I prefer fishing away from most folks since when I do hook a good fish it will tow me around and I worry about tangling lines or anchor lines.
The bite was really slow for me all day long and because it was pretty cold out there I was kind of slow to pick up and move spots. Each time I pulled my anchor my hands would get wickedly cold. I should have put on rubber gloves to pull the anchor but I was just feeling kind of lazy most of the day. I probably moved spots about 10 times during the day with most spots producing nothing and the good spots producing a fish. I was enjoying my new reel, but not really giving it much of a test in fighting fish. By 3pm I had only caught 3 shakers and one keeper sized fish.
Part of the frustration was that I was marking fish in lots of spots but I believe that, based on the nature of the bites, that most of them were pikieminnow or something else. All day long I would get these sharp pecking bites, definitely not sturgeon. Still not sure what they were. Each time I would find a spot with a lot of fish on it the outcome was about the same. Maybe one sturgeon and a lot of pecking bites that amounted to nothing. Part of the reason for not moving spots more quickly was the fact that I kept getting these bites that I hoped would turn into a sturgeon. Eventually I decided that I was going to go back and fish the mouth of the harbor (where I had originally wanted to fish). When I got to the spot there was one other boat a few hundred feet from where I wanted to fish.
I was marking a lot of fish and I knew that they were sturgeon. I cast out and sat and waited as I felt fish after fish rub against my line. Definitely one of the tricky things about fishing the harbor (for those who do not do it) is differentiating between a fish rubbing against your line and a fish biting on the bait. I think the line rubs feel more like someone plucking a guitar string or just a steady pull with no bite. I think it is caused by the line catching on the scutes, either momentarily (twanging) or for a short bit. You need to filter those out and try to detect the thunk, thunk, thunk of a biting fish. I try to move my casts often in the harbor since there are a ton of fish, but usually the biters take a bit more time and luck to find.
On my second cast, I was intently concentrating on the twanging on my line when I felt a thunk, thunk, thunk. I waited and it felt like the fish picked up the bait so I reeled tight to set the circle hook. I was excited to feel the pull of a good fish, finally a reel test
I was so bummed when the rod snapped (out with a bang). The funny thing is that it really wasn't even all that loaded when it happened. It did pull sideways though because the fish took off towards the rear. I think it was the rod bending sideways with the guides on top (versus say a normal vertical bend with the rod bending down with the guides on top) that did the rod in.
Man, I could not believe that I finally got a new reel, finally found a good bite and I broke that rod. Fortunately I always bring a light sturgeon rod and my normal heavy sturgeon rod (Lamiglas BFC 7' and Saltist 40). In the next hour I caught two more fish before calling it a day.
Both of the final fish were good sized as well. So, I guess the moral of the story is that I should follow my instincts on where to fish rather than worrying about other folks. It was a long, cold day and I only managed 7 fish, but at least I got into some nice sized fish and I did get a good test on the new reel.
A followup to the story is that I decided on New Years day to go out and replace the broken rod. I really like the length and action of the rod that broke so I figured I would just get the same model. I figured no big deal, but after going to Fishermans, two Bi-marts, two Dick's and Sportsman's warehouse and coming up empty I was even more bummed.
I saw lots of 9' rods that were nice, but I feel like the 8.5 foot is borderline long already. I saw a nice 8' rod, but it was one piece and I really do not want one piece rods over 7' long. I would have preferred to buy locally but I really wanted that exact rod (or matching specs). Luckily I was able to find the rod on Amazon. Hopefully it will show up on Friday as promised. Happy new year everyone.
I decided to end 2016 with a sturgeon fishing trip. I was excited to go out because I just bought a new Tekota 500LC to replace the Cardiff 400 on my Okuma 8.5' XHvy salmon rod (light sturgeon rod). I have liked the Cardiff well enough but I have had to repair it a few times and I have always felt that it was a little light for sturgeon fishing. The new Tekota is much heavier but feels much stronger and takes much less effort when reeling in heavy weights or fish. I was concerned about getting a line counter reel since I will mostly be making short casts for sturgeon, but the line counter is not affecting my casting distance in any meaningful way.
As to the last trip, I got to Swan Island a bit later than I normally would - not arriving until about 8:15. There were already a few trailers in the lot and a few more arrived while I was getting rigged up. My original plan was to fish near the mouth of the harbor, but since there were already a few boats working that area I decided to give the current a try. I prefer fishing away from most folks since when I do hook a good fish it will tow me around and I worry about tangling lines or anchor lines.
The bite was really slow for me all day long and because it was pretty cold out there I was kind of slow to pick up and move spots. Each time I pulled my anchor my hands would get wickedly cold. I should have put on rubber gloves to pull the anchor but I was just feeling kind of lazy most of the day. I probably moved spots about 10 times during the day with most spots producing nothing and the good spots producing a fish. I was enjoying my new reel, but not really giving it much of a test in fighting fish. By 3pm I had only caught 3 shakers and one keeper sized fish.
Part of the frustration was that I was marking fish in lots of spots but I believe that, based on the nature of the bites, that most of them were pikieminnow or something else. All day long I would get these sharp pecking bites, definitely not sturgeon. Still not sure what they were. Each time I would find a spot with a lot of fish on it the outcome was about the same. Maybe one sturgeon and a lot of pecking bites that amounted to nothing. Part of the reason for not moving spots more quickly was the fact that I kept getting these bites that I hoped would turn into a sturgeon. Eventually I decided that I was going to go back and fish the mouth of the harbor (where I had originally wanted to fish). When I got to the spot there was one other boat a few hundred feet from where I wanted to fish.
I was marking a lot of fish and I knew that they were sturgeon. I cast out and sat and waited as I felt fish after fish rub against my line. Definitely one of the tricky things about fishing the harbor (for those who do not do it) is differentiating between a fish rubbing against your line and a fish biting on the bait. I think the line rubs feel more like someone plucking a guitar string or just a steady pull with no bite. I think it is caused by the line catching on the scutes, either momentarily (twanging) or for a short bit. You need to filter those out and try to detect the thunk, thunk, thunk of a biting fish. I try to move my casts often in the harbor since there are a ton of fish, but usually the biters take a bit more time and luck to find.
On my second cast, I was intently concentrating on the twanging on my line when I felt a thunk, thunk, thunk. I waited and it felt like the fish picked up the bait so I reeled tight to set the circle hook. I was excited to feel the pull of a good fish, finally a reel test
I was so bummed when the rod snapped (out with a bang). The funny thing is that it really wasn't even all that loaded when it happened. It did pull sideways though because the fish took off towards the rear. I think it was the rod bending sideways with the guides on top (versus say a normal vertical bend with the rod bending down with the guides on top) that did the rod in.
Man, I could not believe that I finally got a new reel, finally found a good bite and I broke that rod. Fortunately I always bring a light sturgeon rod and my normal heavy sturgeon rod (Lamiglas BFC 7' and Saltist 40). In the next hour I caught two more fish before calling it a day.
Both of the final fish were good sized as well. So, I guess the moral of the story is that I should follow my instincts on where to fish rather than worrying about other folks. It was a long, cold day and I only managed 7 fish, but at least I got into some nice sized fish and I did get a good test on the new reel.
A followup to the story is that I decided on New Years day to go out and replace the broken rod. I really like the length and action of the rod that broke so I figured I would just get the same model. I figured no big deal, but after going to Fishermans, two Bi-marts, two Dick's and Sportsman's warehouse and coming up empty I was even more bummed.
I saw lots of 9' rods that were nice, but I feel like the 8.5 foot is borderline long already. I saw a nice 8' rod, but it was one piece and I really do not want one piece rods over 7' long. I would have preferred to buy locally but I really wanted that exact rod (or matching specs). Luckily I was able to find the rod on Amazon. Hopefully it will show up on Friday as promised. Happy new year everyone.
