Kelley Point 1/5

[Tacklebuster]

Man what a foggy morning :shocked: Fishing started out way slow. Started off above K-Point then worked my way down past the point into the mud plume. We got a couple shakers above the mud and two below. We moved probably 8 or 9 times for eight shorts. We decided to end the day above Kelley Point where we first started and finally got into some fish. We banged a 45 1/2 inch keeper and a fat 49 at the tail end of our trip. We only managed about 16 fish for the day but we ended up fairing better than most according to the fish checker. He checked 3 keeps all day before us [img]graemlins/berry.gif[/img]

WaterDog and his posse looked to be catching some fish. How bout you 5-Cents? Did you guys find some biters? I looked for you guys around twoish but couldn't find you. I tried hailing you guys a couple of times on 68 when we found some fish but didn't get a response. Hope you guys faired well.

Saw you out parting the brown water as well ******, did you find some biters? Hopefully the smelt show soon.

[Dipnet]

Hey Tacklebuster, we were fishing right below you when you were above KP. We were in the black and white Smokercraft Osprey. We were getting into some pretty good shakers around 2:30. Ended up with 18 shakers and a nice fat 48" :smile: . Several of the shakers went at least 36". After the fog lifted, it was really a nice day!

Dipnet :grin:

[wetaline]

any reports or rumors from st. hellens? Gorge?

[fishingfirst]

Tacklebuster,

Looks like I missed you by a day again. We were out yesterday, ended up with 51 shakers. Had another newbie with me, my friends 8 year old, he had a ball! No keepers, a couple were close enough to measure. One of them spit up a fresh smelt, so they must be in the river somewhere. We had one fish that measured 33 inches, if it would have had a tail it would have been quite a bit longer :shocked: ! The tail was complety cut off (and healed) just below the last set of fins. Hard to believe it fought as good as it did, and that it can survive that way. We fished below Kelly point most of the day, then moved up and fished the mouth from about 3 till dark.

Still waiting for a bunch of keepers, they seem to be few and far inbetween.

Scott

[bassin]

I and a buddy fished below you guy's down along the island across from Catapiller Island. Got two keepers and a bunch of shakers. Man was it FOGGY in the morning. pulled the plug about 4:00. stayed in the same spot all day. All in all not a bad day.

[Tacklebuster]

Dipnet,
You guys were below me. Congrats on the nice keeper Both keeps that I cleaned tonight had smelt in their bellies. When the smelt are in full force, the area that we were in will kick out a lot of big fish. Nice looking SmokerCraft :grin:

Scott,
Glad you guys found the numbers like that. We got into a huge pod on Thursday but today was a lot of scratch fishing. We just couldn't find a big concentration of fish today. Hopefully I'll see ya on the water soon

[fishingfirst]

TB,

I'm beginning to wonder if you really exist????
Maybe you are just a mythical sturgeon catcher, one that some people see on foggy days, low light conditions, possibly after drinking too many beers.

One day we will meet on the water, and by the way..... does your reflection show in a mirror??? :grin: :grin:

Good luck out there!
Scott

[Dipnet]

Tacklebuster, the keeper my husband caught had a WDFW tag in its tail. That's the first sturgeon we've ever caught with a tag! I did catch a springer a couple of years ago on Sauvie Island that had one of those chips in it's snout. The nice checker lady took it and I filled out a postcard with name and add. and I got it back telling me where the fish was raised and when it was released, etc. It was really quite interesting!!

Dipnet :grin:

[Elkhunter]

Fished the T6 area from about noon till dark, seemed the fish were all in one spot, there were a couple of boats, one of them camo tied together seemed to be doing really well. We finally moved closer to them and caught 8 shakers with one "41 with a tag in it's back. First time I had seen one tagged like that. At least the wind wasn't blowing! Not to bad for a sunday, lots of boats. [img]graemlins/program.gif[/img]

[brshooter]

wetaline,
Fished up around Horsetail Falls today. Landed about 25 shorts and hooked one oversized . Squid or smelt. Didn't really matter. Lots of people out today. East wind picked up but it was bright and sunny most of the day. Saturday at the Fishery, they reported 44 keepers caught. Didn't see a fish checker to check today's totals.

Had my brother from Seattle in town along with a lady friend from Munich, Germany. Martina had never been fishing in her life. Never been in a boat besides a cruise ship for that matter. She had a great time and did quite well. Wants to do it again on her next visit.

We did hook one big fish. I was using one of our old back up rods which was only spooled with 50# Tuff line. I have caught a number of oversized fish before, but when I set the hook on this one, it felt like I had hung bottom. It just sat there. I couldn't move it for anything. I worked at him for about 5 minutes. I only got about 10 feet of line in on it and it just wouldn't move. It was like I had hooked a cable on the bottom or something. Then it decided to take us for a ride down river. The reel was screaming while they hurried to toss the anchor rope. Made the mistake of putting the thumbs to the spool in an attempt to slow it down until we could chase it. Broke it off. Guess it is time to put some fresh 80 Tuff line on the back up now. Would have love the opportunity for everyone to take a turn on that fish.

[ 07-14-2003, 01:48 PM: Message edited by: ****** ]

[5-Cents]

Sorry for the late report but I was entertaining guests last night. :grin:

TB we ended going back into the Willy and ended up getting 25 fish to the boat. All shakers, but decent size, all the fish but one were 29" to 40" and the bites were non-stop. It was fun at least :grin: my one friend that was fishing with us is not a regular on my boat and I wanted to make sure that he caught a few fish.

TB I like your method of fishing. If you dont get a bite in like 3 min you have your wife pull anchor and you move. I need to get my wife tuned up to pull anchor like yours. Do you send her to the gym to work out 3X a week :shocked:

****** I waved at you 4 times before you recognized us in that soup of a fog :grin: Good input on the sturgeon fishing equipment post ******, on your sage advice I went and got 3 new sturgeon poles, you are right you can defiately feel the bite better on a heavier rod, they fight just as good and the rods handle the weight much, much better. Good advice once again [img]graemlins/idea.gif[/img]

[Tacklebuster]

5-Cents,
I have to move if I don't get bit in a short period of time. My wife loves doing the anchor I try to do the pulling but when she is along, she won't let me. She lived in Alaska for a long time and was skilled in the fine art of anchoring. She is the finest person on anchor that I have ever seen. Glad you guys got into some fish. I almost hit the Willy myself. See ya on the river soon.......

[Fishalot]

She not only pulls the anchor well but you should see her set the hook on a gator :shocked: , Glad to here you had a good day.

Fishalot

[Hogmaster]

since skrimmy asked...

reeldick, Dick I and I floated the big Willie out onto the 'Lumbia on Saturday. We got a bit of a late start when I decided to try to figure out how to put the top on the Willie. Wanted it in a down position so we could travel with it, but hadn't put it on before so it was and imitation of Keystone fishermen in the carport while we tried to figure out what brace went where, but finally did. We were glad we took that time though, as parts of Saturday resembled something involving heffers, full bladders and flat rocks...

Dick I had convinced me that it would be a good thing to launch on a real zipperlip spot on the Vancouver side along Old River Road. We drove and drove and drove and finally got there only to see the really big signs stating that permits were required and absence of a sticker on the windshield would promptly ressult in a $66 fine. Since the sign said permits were available at "local sporting goods stores" but there were none, we decided to verbally flog Dick I to no end [img]graemlins/stupid.gif[/img] and bag that idea and started heading to Fred's.

As we got to I-5, however, we decided to instead launch at Portco. For those of you not in the know, this is a nice improved launch up HWY 14 in WA, just across and down from the 42nd Street ramp on the OR side.

When we got to the launch though, the SE wind was blowing big time and there were 3 foot waves blowing right into the dock. It was a real test to get the boat off and the two Dicks on without leaving the Willie on top of the dock! :shocked: :shocked:

Under the circumstances we decided not to work down to the RR bridge or T-6 as originally planned but instead anchored across the river in a couple spots near the 42nd launch. The Willie sure cuts the waves in the rough water, but it was a good test and we did get some splash, but this was really fairly rough conditions...

Bottom line was no keepers but near non-stop shaker action all day. Don't know how many we caught (how/why do you guys count so many?) but it was enough to seriously dent my last year's smelt supply. I figured we would be dealing with dinks so used my heavier salmon gear (Kenai King). They are more fun to play that way!

Noticed the smelt I mentioned in another thread as having been bought from Tony's in OC last year were marked 2/01, so that is when they were available then, for reference if you are choosing to look for local store bought bait.

The weather was ever changing between squalls, though we saw no fog. No other ifishers up in that stretch either...

That's the report...

[ 01-06-2003, 03:44 PM: Message edited by: Hogmaster ]

[Small Fry]

I'm glad to here we weren't the only foolish one's who ventured out on Saturday. As Hogmaster said the weather resembled something involving heffers, (full bladders and flat rocks...) We had different results, Could hardly find a fish. Lori my wife got a 55 within the first 15 minutes on her new Berkley rod I bought for Xmas. Other than that we had 8 fish to the boat all day. I finally got one that measured 40 1/2 about 3:00. At leat we got out. I need more fishing day's.

Hog mastered mentioned using his salmon rods. I bought Lori and I Berkley rods 15-50 Med Hvy, I was very impressed how the rod handeled the 55 incher, No problem. Lori really likes her new lucky rod.

[Chacal]

My father and I fished outside of St. Helens on the big C.

Bunch of shakers, one keeper was caught in the boat next to us of course.

We had a lot of fun and found out just how bad the top on our boat leaks! It was still better than no top at all, but got wet nonetheless. I think I am going to be in the market for a new top sooner rather than later.

Hoping that at some point the $14k Salmon I caught this summer gets a friend in a keeper sturgeon. Then it will only be $7k per fish :tongue:

We were going to try Kelly Point next weekend, but after tonight's news -- dead girl dumped in river at Kelly Point Park -- we might stick to St. Helens for awhile to let the heebie-jeebies wear off.

Chacal

[Tacklebuster]

Dylan,
I haven't seen you on the river lately. You need to get out there soon and chase some gators. If you ever need a ride, let me know.

Chris