A Sturg Behind Every Rock (pics galore)

[5-Cents]

I see on the board that many a sturgeon fisherman are wondering if sturg fishing is good when the water is BLOWN OUT… well I am here to tell you that it’s not just good but…

AWESOME!

What a day today! I had the pleasure of sharing my new boat with Ryan (Willametteriveroutlaw), Cracker Joe, Bobby and XTC for some bang up sturgeon catching!

Things started out fast with this little keeper coming to the boat for me…


Next Chris got in on the action with this keeper…


My turn again with another fresh keeper…


Then Ryan got in on the action…


Next it was Cracker Joe with another fresh, quality fish…


Then Bobby got in on the action...


Oh then Chris Got another...


Lastly Bobby ended up with this PIGOLA!


When we totaled the numbers we landed 9 keepers, keeping 3 at 48”, 51” and Bobby’s pig that was 54” Bobby’s fish was especially nice and very fat! We also landed numerous fish in the 38”-41” class. Action was pretty much non stop with many doubles and a few triples!

The only bait we used all day was smelt. There was debris in the river all day but if you watch the river carefully you will notice that most of the debris follows the same path and we just anchored out of the way, if you go make sure to keep your eyes upriver.

[ 01-30-2004, 07:57 PM: Message edited by: 5-Cents ]

[5-Cents]

My last pic would not fit in the post so here is another post of Bobby's pig :shocked: :shocked:



What a fat piggie [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[blacktail519]

Lordy, Lordy..... Yall put the woop*** on em today NOW. Wow It looks like you guys ran into some thick fog this morning [img]graemlins/eek13.gif[/img] Great job guys on the keepers. I dont know how any fish could have gotten around you boys today. When i came around the corner, I thought your boat was a TROLLER with all those rods hangin out of the back. Looks like ya guys made it work. Its nice to have thAt Extra room. . Take care, Todd

[Boedy]

Nice fish guys glad you had a good day. Nice zipper lip edit job also But I think I see sand Island in the back ground though.

[Fish Hawg]

Wow :shocked: You guys had an awesome day [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Thanks for the report

[David Johnson]

Nice feeesh Bobby

[wootersen]

Well Done !!!


[img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

Thanks for the heads-up the other day about the debris. We had to keep our eyes peeled.

[Riverkeeper]

Mind posting your GPS coordinates? :grin:

Just kidding. Nice job guys. New boat fishes the whole crowd pretty comfortably, eh?

[5-Cents]

The fog was very bad... had to use the GPS a few times... good thing I have a Plastic Jesus :grin:

[high_arc]

[Fish Hawg]

5-Cents, How do the twins push your boat? Do you have a max speed on gps yet? Or are they broke in yet? You have an awesome ride. ....Ross

[Dakotan]

Nice fish guys. Looks like a lot of fun. Great pics too. Congrats

[Lwagg2]

NICE JOB and great looking fish glad you all had a fun safe day congrats [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[willametteriveroutlaw]

5 Cents, Thanks for the ride and a great day of sturgeon fishing..
Nice meeting everyone as well.

[ 01-30-2004, 07:55 PM: Message edited by: willametteriveroutlaw ]

[glowball]

Thats awesome. Glad to see someone having great days on the river. Keep up the good work fellas.

Glow

[5-Cents]

Fish Hawg 43.3 MPH fastest so far as recorded on the GPS. I have not run full out yet but it probably would not be that much faster.

[Mrdorkfish]

Way to go guys FishStyx...You look toasted :shocked: Oh...and nice job of blocking out the backround....nobody will ever figure out where you were And that was nice of you to take the Jr. Nate squeezer out with you

MrDorkfish [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

Some guy named Louis

[ZaQ]

Finally I am not the only one in the group to make goofy faces in pictures. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[TH]

Now that is a report!
Nice job guys.... looks like a great day!

Keep those pics coming!

[Fshklr]

I had a suspicion TCM was headin out today with the watch out for debris by 5 cents this a.m.

Well done on the slaughter guys...

Bobby!!! [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Now thats a pig freshy!!

[skrimmy]

Wow Shane! You're christening that nice new ride in a big way! Nice fish, especially that pig that Bobby got. As tall as Bobby is, that last picture is quite impressive. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[Time Off]

Where's the rocks?

WOW! :shocked: Look at dem Gators! :shocked:

Great job

[Egg Flinger]

Nice Fish I'd love to get back down to the columbia for some keepers

[Bobby Ray]

What an epic day, The greatest thing was landing that pig on my Lamiglas 7'9" 12-25 back bouncer :shocked: talk about putting some bend in a rod....oh you guys would have been impressed with the abuse that rod took.


Shane,
Where are the bears???


Bobby Ray

[ 01-31-2004, 09:17 AM: Message edited by: Jennie@ifish ]

[Kentucky Hog Hunter]

Good Show Carrot Crew...

Bobby...Nice pig and by the looks pretty fresh...

[SKP]

Nice sweatshirts too!

SKP

[Natester]

Awesome Fish

One quick question were those fish behind every rock on the Willy or the Columbia? [img]graemlins/1zhelp.gif[/img]

Thanks for the pics, incredable fishing

[Navigator]

Nice!

[skybuster]

I thought I'd seen it all, but MONOGRAMMED SWEATERS! Excellent day guys!

[TonTo]

Nice fish guys,I realy like the back drop in some of them pics too but a few of them trees just don't quite line up right good effort though,as if I have a clue where that is anyway Keep up the good work. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img]

[husker]

sweet....thats all i can say

[Captain and Marie]

Way~ Impressive!

Don't tell anybody, but I woke up dreaming about you guys! & fish...

he he ha ha

Very nice photos!

MW [img]graemlins/hearton.gif[/img]

[ 01-31-2004, 08:31 AM: Message edited by: Captain and Marie ]

[Bob Barthlow]

Marie, thats called a nightmare! :grin: j/k

[5-Cents]

A nightmare if you have fins :grin:

[Tagster]

Nice Job, Shane!

Thanks for the email on your performance.

I mean your boats performance :grin:

I'm pulling the trigger next week with the 115s. Thanks for your help!

Tag

[SPAZZ]

[TheRogue]

And of course, Ryan had to call me when he got off the water, knowing I've burned my kitchen passes for another month!!

Way to go.

TR

[justcastn]

:shocked:

[5-Cents]

Tag I dont think you will regret it one bit

[W.C.H.H.]

Nice fish guys!!

[fishnpray]

Good work fellas!

[Waterfish]

5-Cents, Is there much difference in table quality between a fat 54" keeper like Bobby caught, to a smaller keeper? Also, you mentioned that these fish were pretty fresh looking. How do you think they compare to estuary fish - did Bobby keep the 54 incher?

[Fishalot]

Skybuster they might have matching underpants on order to go with the hoody shirts :shocked: , who knows . joke joke


Fishalot

[Sturgeon Tom]

Now that is what I call a day of Sturgeon fishing.
Way to go guys. [img]graemlins/applause.gif[/img] Bobby how long did it take to bring in the HOG. Nice fish.
st

[Bobby Ray]

Waterfish,

All the Sturg we kept were really fresh, you can tell by the color of their skin (usually bright) and the sharpness of their scutes, We released some that were not so fresh looking. Sturgeon in the Estuary taste much better just ask anyone who targets them in that area. I did tag that pig and now it's time for some Sturgeon jerky.

Sturgeon Tom,
It took around 15 minutes, I was using all the back bone that rod had to offer and I couldn't budge it for the longest time.... Fun, Fun

[1 Smart Fish]

[hookumhi]

:shocked: I think were gonna need a bigger boat :shocked:

[Tacklebuster]

If you want to see what a river keeper looks like, just look on the cover of the latest Fishing Hunting News. That thing makes me to think it was eaten. Yuck

Fresh fish do indeed migrate from the estuary to follow the smelt and do return to the estuary in May to feed off shrimp, anchovies, and herring. You have lot's of other fish that come in from the ocean with flood tides when the estuary gets a push of baitfish. A lot of these fish don't come into the river and follow the smelt.

As far as table fare goes, it's all about the quality of the fish and how you take care of it. I can't stress enough about trimming the fillets up to remove every thing but the white meat. Let them sit in a cooler for a couple of days before you eat or freeze it. Lastly, soak in milk for about four hours before you cook it. I am very particular in the way the meat is taken care of before I eat it. I have friends that I will not have dinner with because I know how they prepare it.

Another really good way to tell a river fish from an ocean fish is to look how fat the fish is and pay attention to the belly. A lot of people think just because the sturgeon looks "white" rather than grey it's an ocean fish. Not so, a lot of sturgeon will turn white and look "fresh" when the water temp is cold. The ocean fish will be fat while your river fish will be a little on the skinny side. The bellies of ocean fish are real white while your river fish tend to be grey.

Just because the scutes are not sharp doesn't really mean a thing. How many over size fish do you see with sharp scutes? I catch peelers every year in the gorge that have followed the shad in from the ocean and you are hard pressed to find one with sharp scutes. You will catch river fish in the twenty to thirty inch range that are grey and dark as can be with scutes sharp enough to shave with. I have caught estuary fish that are ocean fish that have had dull scutes. Their bellies were full of "needle fish", anchovies, herring, etc. If it were a river fish it would have mud in the belly.

[willametteriveroutlaw]

5 cents an crew know there stuff when it comes to sturgeon fishing.
Shane,
After I left your boat and hopped into the "Big Boat" we caught a few more shakers (one was 41.5) down below where we were at. You were right, that is one heck of a long run in the "Capt. Sexton" (not my boat).

[5-Cents]

Waterfish,

Bobby is right, you can usually tell the difference between a fresh fish by the color and the sharpness of the scutes. Sturgeon are highly migratory, following feed based on the size of the fish. The Columbia is a rookery for small fish, say under 4 feet... so there are always resident fish that will fall in the keeper range. Once the fish reach a certian size they begin to migrate back and forth from the ocean, estuary and upriver. Studies have shown that Sturgeon from as far away as Canada and California use the Columbia to spawn.

The fresh fish are here from the ocean right now to gorge themselves on the smelt. Once the smelt are gone smaller fish, mostly under 5 feet, work their way back down to the estuary to gorge on sand shrimp and anchovies that will work their way into the bay May-Aug. The bigger fish, 5ft and up will head upriver to spawn below Bonn. and/or to gorge themselves on Shad.

Understanding the movement of these fish and how to tell the difference between migratory and resident fish will help you put a quality meal on the table. Resident fish will be darker color and much more thin than a fresh fish too.

Here is an example of some fresh looking fish, notice how sharp the scutes are and how light the coloration of the fish is...



Here is a resident type fish, notice how the scutes are not as sharp and the coloration is much darker...


Hope this helps

[RIPPLE]

Sweet day o' gators
:grin: RIPPLE :grin:

[live to fish]

Nice fish guys another awsome day.It was good seeing you guys at the ramp the other day,Sorry about my voice.Very nice ride shane.Whats a guy have to do to get a ride in it?

[blacktail]

Good job guys!

Mike

[wts]

Hey 5 Cents,
Nice fish!
Thanks for the examples of migratory VS homeguard.
Do you find tidal conditions effct the bite?
Thanks,
WT

[SHOUGALNITE]

[Fishybill]

That's a white meat slaughter if I've ever seen one!

I am sneaking a tracking device onto your boat!