Desdamona Flats

[swampy]

Fished anchovies and smelt today and it was absolutely dead ...one or two boats with keepers ... one shaker for me ...lots of boats above the bridge by John day ...should have coho fishin' ....

[Hookset]

I fished the flats last weekend and saw many boats waiting for fish and not catching. You have 2 options. Keep waiting and hoping fish show, or spend some time searching and trying new locations, I prefer the later. Over the years, locations and conditions change. What worked last year and the hot spots in the past aren't holding true this year. You have to move around to locate fish. Example, usually, the outgoing I found great bites fishing shallow from 6 to 12 feet. This year my best bites are fishing deeper water on the outgoing, from 16 to 25 and I know some are even fishing up to 40 feet on the outgoing. This same water depth is working on the incoming. That's not to say shallow won't work. Just keep moving to locate fish.

About bait, with the amount of anchovies and sardines in the lower river, I'd only fish fresh anchovies or shrimp, save the smelt for fall/winter fish. We limited all 3 days using shrimp and/or anchovies. We found once you located the fish, they were very aggressive.

If you notice, many of the past favorite locations around the Desdomona sands are nearly vacant at times with other boaters, like the Skippanon flats. The best fishing this year so far, is not in these area's. Of course, everything can change in a day.

I know you weren't asking for help, just thought I'd offer anyways.

good luck,

hook

[swampy]

Thanks for the tips Hookset ...I am new at this sturgeon stuff and so I need all the help I can get ...how long does the season last down there ??

[Hookset]

The season has a quota of 40,000 strugeon for the lower river, copied this years regulation for you below.

"Buoy 10 Upstream to Bonneville Dam: The lower Columbia River is open to the retention of sturgeon. The daily limit is one fish with a 42-inch minimum and 60-inch maximum length restriction. A sturgeon retention prohibition has been adopted for the lower Columbia River during August 16-September 15, 2001 to ensure the sport catch stays within the 40,000 annual catch guideline for the three-year period of 2000-2002. The retention prohibition may either be extended or shortened based on sturgeon catch prior to August 16. Angling for sturgeon from a floating device is prohibited from Beacon Rock upstream to Bonneville Dam, effective May 1 through July 15, 2001".

A couple more tips. The general guideline is move every 30 minutes if your not getting bites. Rules are meant to be broken. Like getting a hot bite in a spot the day before, only to arrive early in the tide the next day. Waiting the tide out could pay off breaking the 30 minute rule. Another item is to always have some currrent. Sturgeon (concentrations) travel in current looking for food and slack water is more of a hit or miss. Fish the edges and channels of depth change. Think of these as travel corridors. Even a couple feet can make the difference between a hot spot and nothing. Carry binoculars, always pays to know whats happening around you. At the same time don't crowd people and NEVER motor over their lines or even close. Give plenty of room. People remember these brainless boaters traveling to fast and to close while on anchor and/or anchoring/cruising over their lines. Some of the worst offenders like to travel at half throttle in between boats creating large wakes and then expect to anchor directly below you. Ok, enough.....could write a book on poor examples of boater etiquette.

The fish are there, you just need to find them.

hook