M
mustardthetrout
Since I knew everyone else would still probably be busy trying to squeeze in one last fall salmon, I decided to go hit the Gilbert River to see if any sturgeon were biting. I love fishing this river; it's small, secluded, in a great setting, rarely is crowded (except for one time a group of bank fishermen had a contest to see who could hit "the guy in the boat" first), and is loaded with sturgeon of all sizes.
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The one problem I have with this river is the difficulty in accessing the good sturgeon holes. The fishing gets better closer to where it drains into sturgeon lake, but the only accessible boat ramp I can think of is at the other end of the river where it drains into the Multnomah Channel. As a result, paddling all the way down and back is very "Heart of Darkness" and I wish there was an easier way to launch closer to sturgeon lake. I know you can launch in the lake itself, but it's closed to fishing and I'm worried people would get the wrong idea if they saw me with rods.
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The fishing was very good though; lots of oversize fish and shakers. In the shallow Gilbert River they also fight very well, with most of the fish jumping at least once. All of the fish were caught on smelt, anchovies, and pickled herring. I lost three good ones in the same submerged tree stump, so when I hooked the last fish of the day I immediately towed it downstream of the snag so I could have a better chance at landing it. Just as well, as that fish ended up being a nine footer and the biggest one of the day! I couldn't get a decent picture of it because my camera died and I had to use my crappy phone camera, but you can still get an idea of its size.
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I always have bad luck with posting pictures on this forum. It seems like every time there's some sort of a problem and I have to resubmit them. Hopefully this time they'll show. Anyways, great day of fishing!
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The one problem I have with this river is the difficulty in accessing the good sturgeon holes. The fishing gets better closer to where it drains into sturgeon lake, but the only accessible boat ramp I can think of is at the other end of the river where it drains into the Multnomah Channel. As a result, paddling all the way down and back is very "Heart of Darkness" and I wish there was an easier way to launch closer to sturgeon lake. I know you can launch in the lake itself, but it's closed to fishing and I'm worried people would get the wrong idea if they saw me with rods.
[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/?ui=2&ik=704870d936&view=fimg&th=150ee3f1b65227b2&attid=0.1&disp=inline&realattid=1939368cf0a4988f_0.1&safe=1&attbid=ANGjdJ-zdZFJQa04ZIe5-qQolmVDXTYc22XDZmn5ItQoPOyZx9jTTrJ4TFvj99Z_vFGYoYKkSLEWCVbnnvUJhir13vPyhSBaTmK0ctdLbhaEqCYFuvhBGSV39RlrQ7I&ats=1447214914883&rm=150ee3f1b65227b2&zw&sz=w1342-h547"}[/IMG2]
The fishing was very good though; lots of oversize fish and shakers. In the shallow Gilbert River they also fight very well, with most of the fish jumping at least once. All of the fish were caught on smelt, anchovies, and pickled herring. I lost three good ones in the same submerged tree stump, so when I hooked the last fish of the day I immediately towed it downstream of the snag so I could have a better chance at landing it. Just as well, as that fish ended up being a nine footer and the biggest one of the day! I couldn't get a decent picture of it because my camera died and I had to use my crappy phone camera, but you can still get an idea of its size.
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I always have bad luck with posting pictures on this forum. It seems like every time there's some sort of a problem and I have to resubmit them. Hopefully this time they'll show. Anyways, great day of fishing!
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