New personal record sturgeon

[bass]

Yesterday I caught my smallest sturgeon ever from my kayak

I had not been out in over a month and I fished hard on Sunday from about 8:30am to 4:30pm and only landed 7 small shakers (small for a shaker even). The “largest” was probably only about 2’. I worked hard for the few fish that I did catch. I think I moved and re-anchored about 14 times. I never caught more than one fish from a spot (and got blanked at about half the spots). The weird thing is that I was marking fish like crazy at every spot I fished. It seemed like the fish just were not feeding even though the few I did catch seemed to have really fat bellies.

Also as the day wore on I tried about every type of spot imaginable: out in the main current, in side eddies, at the bottoms of holes, the tops of holes, shallow water, deep water, softer bottoms and hard bottoms. No love anywhere. Of course the thing that killed me is that I did see quite a few nice fish jump including one that must have been about 9’ long. I think they were all just jumping to give me the fin.

A power boat friend of mine stopped by to say high towards the end of the day and he said that his experience for the day pretty much mirrored mine. Saw lots of nice jumpers, only caught a few small shakers.

Here is a photo of my record-breaking fish. For reference that is a small piece (about 2”) of anchovy sticking out of its mouth:



Anyone ever catch a smaller one

 

[billfisher]

Nice report Bass, at least you didn't smell the skunk. And had good weather.

 

[TimberTodd]

Thanks for the report. I would say a small shaker is better than no shaker. You avoided a skunk and it sounds like a great day regardless on the water.

 

[eugene1]

Nice looking baby dino!

 

[bass]

You all are right, the fishing stunk but at least it wasn't completely skunky smelling

Weather was certainly nice, but I am really perplexed by my lack of success. Based upon the conditions, number of fish I was marking and number of nice sized fish I saw jumping I really expected to have a great day.

 

[troutmasta]

What a Slug...I mean snail.

Either way nice to get out!

 

[billfisher]

I know how you feel, happens to me when the Chinook are jumping everywhere. That's what makes it interesting.

 

[igquick]

Wow u ain't kidding those r some small sturgeon, but I bet it feels good to go fishing again..nice fish!

 

[minnowmagnet]

Well, John, sometimes sturgeon fishing is just a little too easy, so it's good to go out there and have to work for them from time to time. Not like you even came close to a skunking, so you did alright. That is a lot of anchor pulling you did though. This fall/winter has been really hot and cold for sturgeon for me too and I think it must have something to do with the fact that it hardly ever rains in western Oregon anymore. The water has been low, cold and clear almost the entire time. I am looking forward to sharing another ridiculously lucrative day with you in the near future. At least the weather has been really pleasant, but like you I'd rather catch fatties all day in the rain.

 

[bass]

Wow u ain't kidding those r some small sturgeon, but I bet it feels good to go fishing again..nice fish!

Being on the water was definitely nice, but I think all my sturgeon together weighed about as much as your carp

 

[bass]

Well, John, sometimes sturgeon fishing is just a little too easy, so it's good to go out there and have to work for them from time to time. Not like you even came close to a skunking, so you did alright. That is a lot of anchor pulling you did though. This fall/winter has been really hot and cold for sturgeon for me too and I think it must have something to do with the fact that it hardly ever rains in western Oregon anymore. The water has been low, cold and clear almost the entire time. I am looking forward to sharing another ridiculously lucrative day with you in the near future. At least the weather has been really pleasant, but like you I'd rather catch fatties all day in the rain.

Thanks Brian, I was sort of laughing to myself (when I wasn't crying to myself) about how easy sturgeon fishing is. When it is good it seems like nothing matters. I wish I could understand what is going on in this situation of marking fish and catching almost nothing. I did "equally well" on the outgoing and incoming. The little fish I caught were mostly really fat looking (like they were feeding on something) but I am at a loss to figure out what. Perhaps it was just air in their stomachs from pulling them up. Hard to say.

I even got so desperate as to change baits. I always bring some pickled squid in case I run out of anchovies so I threw some of that on for a while but once again bait did not matter.

While having pleasant weather on a slow day is nice, when the fatties are biting I can't even tell if it is raining or not Although I will say that having a hard day makes me want to go out fishing again twice as much as having a good day. I am chomping at the bit to get back out there and show them who's boss!

 

[Throbbit _Shane]

Still bigger then any sturgeon iv ever caught.

Good report as always!

Tight Lines!

 

[bass]

Still bigger then any sturgeon iv ever caught.

Good report as always!

Tight Lines!

Thanks. You need to bring your pontoon up this way sometime and we will see if we can't just fix you up with a couple of sturgeon.