Willamette River: 4 inches from skunk

[CFishRun]

Fished the willy on Friday.* Fished the rains until they finally blew over. Than tap tap tap....I was hooked into my first sturgeon ever. A great fight and a lot of pull from a 34" fish. I caught three cookie cutter fish and I thought about tagging the fish because all three were right at the 34" mark....unbelievable. All fish caught on a 2" strip roll mop herring with a night crawler threaded on the bend of the hook.

4" from a keeper and a dead skunk what do I have to do this year?

I'm hooked on sturgeon fishing.

Thanks to all for providing the information which helped me get the right bait, in the right water, at the right time, with the right hookset. This site is the bees knees.

PICS below.


Oh yeah fished Saturday for six hours with out so much as a bite. I've got more learning to do.

 

[CFishRun]

no pic oops, lets try again.

 

[CFishRun]

Got it.

 

[STURGEON FEAR]

i fished the willy on sat. and caught 2 keepers a 38 1/2 and a 45 1/2 but the thingf was that the bite didn't turn on until about 2 pm only caught about 3 shakers until 2 pm and moved all over in to provin keeper holes i use anchovies in the st. johns area also squid work there but for some reason they aint very hungry till about 2 in the afternoon then the bite was on till dark that is the 3rd time its worked that way in this late season

 

[CFishRun]

Sturgeon Fear,

That makes sense because Friday we fished the late afternoon and caught fish. Saturday we fished up until early afternoon and quit. The late season as you say is prime after early afternoon. That really helps thanks a lot.

 

[STURGEON FEAR]

im not sure what turns the bite on the water temp didn't move and the flow stayed the same only thing i can think of is maybe after everbody got out of bed and the stores and such started washin the streets and curbs food starts to flow into the river and they get hungry dont really know just my little theory

 

[joemomma]

Now that is funny (previous post) I nailed two keepers (released )and and had my rear end handed to me by a nice little oversize, I had to fight him on the hook cause I forgot to set up for an easy release (fishing solo) on the anchor rope, it was a great day!

 

[fishnquest]

I'm curious what the tide was doing when the fish were biting.

 

[joemomma]

I'm curious what the tide was doing when the fish were biting.

Right now on the willamette, with the river flow low, I fish the outgoing tide to keep my boat straight, later with high flow I will fish anytime. I think they pick up the scent better on an outgoing tide though

 

[fishnquest]

I can't remember ever even getting a bite during slack tide. Seems like outgoing is the best, and bigger tides are better tides, in my experience.

 

[STURGEON FEAR]

i never really paid attention to the tide since up there i didn't really seem to make a difference on the current or the river height im sure it does though