Sturgeon pressure, do you make changes ?

[Vic Carrao]

Up here on the Fraser, we have been spoiled for many years. A few years back, if I seen 5 boats in 5 miles while sturgeon fishing I'd be depressed. The past few years we have seen a huge interest in Sturgeon fishing, now if I see 5 boats in 5 miles I'm happy. I am a full time guide who fishes almost everyday, because of the pressure I have changed my strategy somewhat to ensure i don't sting too many fish in one area, saving a few for tomorrow. I try all the tricks known to me to change things up a bit.

I was wondering if you could share a few tips that you use when fishing areas with heavy pressure. I know I have it pretty good, our busy days would be like your quite ones but I would still like to hear if you have found any tricks that help hook fish when you know there was 10 boats in the hole before you.

I have been filming sturgeon under water with a stinger the last few weeks, wow have I learned a lot. Just when you think you know what going on down there, you learn that you really don't.

[Deleted User]

Hey cool, another B.C. fisherman on here. Looking forward to hearing about your area fishing Vic. ... I'm mostly a salmon/steelhead fisherman, but I do some sturgeon fishing with some guys that do quite a bit of it. The 2 things I see that seem to help is: 1 - Move around a lot until you get ito a pod of biting fish to work over, until the bite wanes then move again. 2 - Using a number of different baits and scent additives. If most fishers are using smelt with mediocre results, it's good to have live sandshrimp and crawlers to wrap together; an excellant bait combo. Having some eel and some squid along is good too. The hot ticket for huge sturgeon up near Bonneville earlier this year was using smaller whole shad or filets. A lot of oversized fish taken on that this last summer. And there have been a number fo good sturgeon scent additive formulas to hit the market in recent times. Other than those 2 things, I guess just knowing good holes that aren't fished often and having a top notch LCD fish finder help also. ... Sturgeon guys? .... Hey Vic, do you fish the mainstem Frazer much for salmon? Or just the tributaries? Driving up to NW B.C. in early Sept., usually the month for clearest water on the huge Columbia R. (and Frazer too?), the Frazer still looked a bit too murky to me. The Thmopson R. was sure nice looking! Do you fish there? I remember many years ago when it got publisized in magazines and the boating pressure increased (Buzz Ramsey catching 25+ lb. steelhead with Hot Shots, pictured on mags, were part of that), B.C. closed it off to boat angling. Is it still bank angling only? (That wouldn't lend well for guiding on it). Does it still get a lot of trophy sized steelhead? Mostly in late summer? Thanks for any input on that Vic. - RT

[whitewaterbill]

Hey R T , You need to edit your post for spelling errorrrrrrs

Bill

[whitewaterbill]

Would like to here more about what was learned with underwater camera.

The most popular places on the Columbia fill up with dozens of boats that compete for the fish. This does catch fish, but waters down your chances based on the number of rods in the water. I prefere to fish near these places, but locate a place a ways from the core of boats. I also like to fish miles away from these areas of many boats in places that have been learned or shared from friends. I don't worry about giving the fish sore lips as long as the hole produces.

Bill

[Vic Carrao]

Hi RT, I fish salmon on the Fraser from June to November and the Harrison from August to November, sturgeon on the Fraser year round. I don't fish the tributaries much as they are shore access and too crowded to guide. I do however guide Steelhead on the Vedder from December to the end of March. There isn't much that we don't fish for, salmon, trout, steelhead, sturgeon and even a little carp for British clients. I don't really want to turn this into a spam but If you want to see who I am you can visit my website at www.guidebc.com. (http://www.guidebc.com.) Don't worry, no disscussion board.

The Thompson has gone through alot of changes over the past years. It's now a classified river which restricts guides, boats and non-resident anglers to limited days. The Thompson is peaking right now for Steelhead. This years run is low but fishing has still been pretty good, as you probably know they get hooked an average of 3 times each so even on a low year fishing is still pretty good. On the bright side, the Vedder is doing really well for this early in the season so we should be in for a good year.

Bill, one of the most amazing things i found with filming sturgeon is the way they feed. I have always thought that when you get a few light pulls then nothing then a few pulls again, that this is the same fish not wanting to commit to the bait. This is the farthest from whats really happening. After 40 hours of watching sturgeon I have not seen this once. They either pick it up and drop it,try to pick it up and miss the bait or pick it up and keep it . They don't seem to stop to feed and play with the bait. Sturgeon that I have captured on film swim along feeding on the bottom not really stopping in any one place, they feed while cruising. I was amazed at how I would get a fish at my bait, they would do one of the 3 things mentioned above then continue scouring the bottom. A few minutes or seconds later another fish would swim by and do the same. Only once we seen the same fish cirlce around and come back after missing the bait.

The other big surprise was how often the Sturgeon would pickup the bait entirely, drop it with the rod tip not even flinching.
Because of the mouth being on the bottom, they can swim on top of the bait , pick it up, chew it for a while and you would never know. I use 8 and 9 ft 1 peice Lamiglass rods(cream de la cream) 100 lb tufeline plus,slido with 3 ft of 60 or 80lb dacron leader attached. I didn't realize that dacron floats even when on the river bottom. I would have a 10 to 16 oz weight on the bottom with only a 3 ft leader, the amount of slack in the leader varied on how the weight and bait dropped while sinking to the bottom. Sometimes the bait would drop beside the weight leaving 21/2 feet of floating dacron. A fish would pick it up, swim a foot or two with it in it's mouth then drop it. The rods didn't detect the take because of all the slack in the leader. I have done a little playing around with leader material but I still need to spend more time to really understand whats going on. I plan on doing more video over the winter so hopefully I can learn much more about how sturgeon feed. You never know, you may soon beable to watch it on a clip on our site.

[bajaspecial]

When it gets crowded, I usually try and anchor just above someone else, and catch fish right underneath their boat...that really fires 'em up!

[whitewaterbill]

Vic,

Very interesting observations on Sturgeon feeding and biting....And no detection.

Thank you for sharing with us!

Bill

[Jim]

Hey Vic, one guide to another...what I do and it sure is fun....I go shallow! 2-4 feet deep have had reasonable success with clams in the shallows. Biggest keeper we got last year was in 3' of water...59.5 inches...68 pounds. Vic, have you heard of the tie-master knot tying tool for tying super or braided lines?? Check it out...
www.tie-master.com (http://www.tie-master.com)

RT...email me...runwildrivers@yahoo.com

Have Fun!

Jim

[Vic Carrao]

Thanks for the tip Jim, i have never fished 3 or 4 feet but during spring freshet I will go into 8 to 10 ft. How the heck do you present clams?

[Jim]

I use razor clam diggers...string the hook right on down....leaving exposed at the bottom...sit flat!

Jim