Weekend in Astoria

[Shaker-King]

We went to Astoria Sturgeon hunting this weekend for the first time. We weren't really sure what to expect with hearing everything about the shallow fishing. We stayed at the Crest Motel that is about half way between Astoria and the John Day ramp. Thanks for the suggestion "The Greek". As we were getting into the Columbia just above Tongue Point there were several boats directly in front of us.



We decided to try the area in 28' of water. After 45 minutes my rod goes down and a sturgeon jumps out of the water at the same time, what a fight! He jumped out of the water 3 times and tried to run away several times. He ended up being 48", and the best fighting Sturgeon I have had. By-the-way I had taken "Almost Perfect"s advice and had gotten some lighter rods than the Tiger Sticks we had been using. The lighter rods do make the fight a lot more fun except when the rod is bent in half and I start worrying about it snapping in half, thanks TB. We got a few shakers then about 3:00 the wind and waves were about to drive us off the river, when we got a 46" to cap off the day.



Then from other recommendations here we headed to Sturgeon Paul's. Is that sweet or what? We set the cooler down give them some money and we have clean vacuum packed fish.

To cap of the evening the view from the motel.


Sunday morning this brute (54") came in the same area about thirty minutes after throwing out the anchor.



He was the only keeper we got for the day but we had several shakers that were between 40' and 44 7/8". The one that was 44 7/8" tested our ethics but he will fight another day.

If you can't tell from the pictures the weather was better than I could have hoped for. I had never thought about Sunburns and Astoria together before.

I want to thank everyone that has posted advice on estuary fishing, it helped a lot for us to have a great time.

[P-ride]

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for the pics and report. Glad you guys had a great time and some gators! Nicely done!

[Tacklebuster]

Great job guys
Those light rods are awesome down there. You will hook more fish and have a better time getting them to the boat. They are especially fun in shallow water. Next time your in the area, find yourself a place to fish in about 6 to 8 feet of water

[Shaker-King]

I hope that the next time we get over that way we will get into shallow water. We also want to take some time to just explore the area to increase our familiarity. This time it was like the blind leading the blind. "There's some boats that must be a good area."

[traks44]

great pictures, I have gone sturgeon fishing only a few times but would really like to hook into one of those keeps for ounce instead of all those tiny shakers. Thanks for the report!