Sturgeon baits?

[steelheader19]

What y'all:think: use for sturgeon of the bank? I mostly use herring and sandshrimp with scent.

 

[salmon_slayer87]

Bluegill works. So do worms, and even roe. You can use just about anything.
Good luck
Dale

 

[Moe]

Nightcrawler, crappie, herring, sandshrimp, squid, octapus, chub, minnows, shad, bluegill, salmon bellies, salmon chunks, trout heads, trout fillets, smelt, tuna balls, sucker meat, ets....

 

[mikeredding]

What about hook size?

 

[Hipshot270]

Why fish from the bank? Hook size...5/0 6/0 7/0 all depends on how big your bait is. Call me....I'll answer any questions. Always take a variety of baits. Sand shrimp is the go to bait. Herring, anchovy, smelt and squid are good too.

 

[hunt-fish-trap]

what about eel?

 

[muskieguide]

eel is good. there are a couple secret baits ill tell you about too

 

[Hipshot270]

Lamprey is not legal. isn't that an eel? What secret baits?

 

[hunt-fish-trap]

where does it say that it is not legal? pacific lamprey yes is illegal but eel is not mentioned at all. The eel that I am referring to is the ones caught off of the coastal regions in salt.

 

[Born2Fish55]

Big Leeches work really well if fresh (cannot use or transport live ones)... There is a blackwater (flood water) pool from a local creek that is always filled with them here in Hillsboro area... some REALLY big ones... ice plunge them to kill, then water pack with sea salt, follow that with quick freeze and vacuum seal. Thread them on the hook 'Wacky' style.

 

[Hipshot270]

Ok. Was not sure about eel.

 

[Born2Fish55]

Lamprey Eels...

Lamprey Eels...

Ok. Was not sure about eel.

Yeah, Lamprey Eels worked great while they come up river, just like Smelt and Shad!!! Sucks that we cannot use them as bait anymore, but once again, we have 'Big Brother' looking out for us! I still have about thirty Eels nicely packaged that I had freeze dried and vacuum sealed for bait. I am still waiting for ODFW to respond about if I can still use them as Crab bait (work good). The ODFW Fisheries Specialist declared that the Lamprey is an endangered part of the fishery.

What is really funny is that these so called "Fishery Specialist" say that they are endangered, yet I was at the same spot I got mine back several years ago and there were hundreds of small Lamprey in just one pool on Rock Creek (Nehalem River system) above Vernonia. Always keep in mind that these are the same "Fishery Specialist" with the State of Oregon (ODFW) that told us to remove the woody debris and large boulders from the streams to allow better flow back in the early 70's!!!! They are also the same ones that implemented State of Oregon Hatcheries that took fish from one system and introduced them into other systems tainting the gene pools and destroying some great fish runs!!!

But even without that there are still certain baits that those old Sturgeon consider to be Cordon Bleu on the dinner plate of the fish world...
My list of favorites move around depending upon the season... keep in mind that what ever is in the river at the time works*!!! Moe hit it on the head with his listing...

Smelt*
Shad * (belly meat strips or whole fish)
Lamprey Eel* (now illegal)
Nightcrawlers* (after a good heavy rain)
Bluegill* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Crappie* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Squawfish* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Carp* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Yellow Perch* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Walleye* (small belly strips or whole fish)
Fish scraps* from cleaning
Salmon skeins*
Crayfish* (Crawdads)

and now the best for lower river (I fish the Columbia out John Day and the Basin)

Shark strips
Ghost or Mud Shrimp
Anchovy
Herring
Squid
Shrimp or Prawns
Sardines
Tuna (oily canned type poured into pouches made from women's nylons)
Mussels
Razor clams
Octopus (rings)
Chicken Livers (upstream for both Sturgeon and Catfish)
Pork strips soaked in Berkley 'Shrimp or Herring' flavor Gulp scent
and the list goes on...

 

[Ifishforfood]

while were on the topic, are there any sturgeon being caught in the columbia right now?

 

[Ifishforfood]

while were on the topic, are any sturgeon being caught outta' the columbia right now?

 

[Ifishforfood]

while were on the topic, are there any sturgeon being caught outta the columbia right now?

 

[hunt-fish-trap]

they are still gettin a lot of oversize out there.
and lamprey are def on the decline in the willy. When I was a kid we used to catch them in the clack all the way up to high rocks. no I dont see any at all. of course the water clarity is all gone to poo and the slime on the bottom is worse than just 10 years ago. soooo saaaaad

 

[Born2Fish55]

they are still gettin a lot of oversize out there.
and lamprey are def on the decline in the willy. When I was a kid we used to catch them in the clack all the way up to high rocks. no I dont see any at all. of course the water clarity is all gone to poo and the slime on the bottom is worse than just 10 years ago. soooo saaaaad

Yeah, there I can see it, anything that has to swim the Willamette Sewer System has to adapt, mutate or die! And the only cure is to seal off the river to the uncontrolled major polluters.... Portland, Salem and Eugene. Of course the Farmers, State Highway Division and all of the other small cities/townships are to blame as well. We were on the Willamette during a pretty decent rainstorm and we could not believe what was washing out of the 'overflow' pipes in Portland, nor how bad it smelled!!!! Everyone thinks I am crazy because I practice 'Catch-n-release' on all Willamette River Fish (probably should do the same on the Columbia). I basically only eat fish from the Columbia down in the tidewater of Astoria, nothing upstream of Knappa... all 'Catch-n-release' from there on.

I see Lamprey all over in the Nehalem system... Rock Creek has pools filled with them. I also know of four other major Clatsop/Columbia Country streams that have them (and good runs of NATIVE FISH in them).