Great Astoria Trip

Fubby · 06-17-2001, 08:43 AM

I know that there are a lot of you who love to chase the sturgeon. I had tried a few time but did not have much success. My passion lies in the pursuit of salmon and steelhead and I make it a full time hobby. However, I got the opportunity to fish with Lance Deuth owner and operator of Pacific Coast Adventures (WWW.pacificcoastadventures.net). We fished on Saturday June 16,2001 near Astoria. I have been converted! Well maybe not full time but I will spend some time in the future fishing for the dinosaurs of the deep, or shallows.
Lance seemed to know where the fish were all day. There was always something going on. Either someone would be grabbing for a rod that was being bit or there would be a hoop and holler of fish on. I do not have numbers for the day but I know we had a lot of fish on. I also noticed that we did better than the other boats around us. Lance knows the areas well and kept us on the move.
I kept a nice white 45 incher that fought as well as any salmon I have ever caught. Lance uses light rods for the Astoria sturgeon as he feels that you have a better chance with the light bitters.
Bonus! In addition to great fishing and the company, Lance cooked up one of the best breakfasts that I have ever had in a boat. Browns, bacon, and eggs to order. We were the envy of every boat around us. I asked Lance if he cooked on all of his trips and he said that he only cooks on his all day Astoria sturgeon trips when requested.
I have always been anti guide, however, I may have to change my opinion of going with a guide after Saturday. The trip was very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend a sturgeon trip with Lance to Astoria.
[img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Fubby · 06-17-2001, 03:03 PM

hookset - As I said I do not fish for sturgeon much so I paid attention. We used salmon type rods in the weights of 12-25 with 65lb tough line plus. For leaders we used dacron and I would guess it to have been 80lb test. The hooks were 5/0-6/0. Bait consisted of fresh sandshrimp and anchovies. The water depth was 7.5 to 22 feet depending upon our location and we moved a lot. We moved all over from Washington to Oregon.
There is another post by aye fsh that talks about fishing for sturgeon in Astoria. It sounds like they have had some great luck. He says that they use light rods and steel leaders. You might ask him for additional tips. Sandshrimp have been the best bait for his crew in the shallow water. He has also posted some good pictures.
I hope this is what you were looking for.

Hookset · 06-17-2001, 07:03 PM

FS, you answered two questions I had. What was the bait and locations you fished. Without tyring to pry, I was really hoping to gather some info on both of these. The only other item I can think to ask is, did he use any scents on the bait? I actually fish sturgeon almost every weekend of the summer. It just pays to stay well informed. Just like chasing salmon or steelhead.

Thanks for the information. Hope I didn't mislead you.

hookset

Hookset · 06-17-2001, 11:45 PM

Thanks for the report FS, starting to feel a little hungry right now. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Nothing like a good day on the water chasing sturgeon to get the blood flowing. If nothing else, it'll keep you in practice for landing all those salmon and steelhead.

Could you share a few technical obervations that you learned from your trip? Like depth, bait, scents, tides etc... for us non guided do-it-yourself type fisher people? I'm always leraning something and school is always in session.

Thanks FS,

hook