Well gents I have spent the last three days on the water where all the other boats are fishin (over 20 in the channel) watching my rod ends like a hawk..skunked x 3. My neighbors in their boats pulling in some stripers but no Sturgeon. I have used anchovies like Jeremy suggested, salmon roe like our local guide suggested and live ghost shrimp that the guys in our bait shop suggested.... had some bites, the ghosts disappeared and the roe sucked out their little bags but everything else Ive struck has been weeds or a empty hook or weight bouncing the bottom I think... currents strong about 2 hours before change of tide so had to use a 14oz pyramid then work back down to 8oz as current drops. Tried a hole at 80ft and ridge between holes at 40ft and some channel dropoffs uptide and down tide. So my mission remains on, its going to be January for my first sturgeon.. picked up some anchovie oil and some anise. Its now or never. Plus side near on 70 degrees today and no wind absolutely beautiful day, Mt Diablo in pic just before sunset tonight.
Gordon
Loc: Charleston South Carolina
Baddonut wrote:
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the water where all the other boats are fishin (over 20 in the channel) watching my rod ends like a hawk..skunked x 3. My neighbors in their boats pulling in some stripers but no Sturgeon. I have used anchovies like Jeremy suggested, salmon roe like our local guide suggested and live ghost shrimp that the guys in our bait shop suggested.... had some bites, the ghosts disappeared and the roe sucked out their little bags but everything else Ive struck has been weeds or a empty hook or weight bouncing the bottom I think... currents strong about 2 hours before change of tide so had to use a 14oz pyramid then work back down to 8oz as current drops. Tried a hole at 80ft and ridge between holes at 40ft and some channel dropoffs uptide and down tide. So my mission remains on, its going to be January for my first sturgeon.. picked up some anchovie oil and some anise. Its now or never. Plus side near on 70 degrees today and no wind absolutely beautiful day, Mt Diablo in pic just before sunset tonight.
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the... (
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Nice story Baddonut. Hope you get your fish this month. Beautiful picture also. Good luck
SMELT. SQUID. Pickled Herring. night crawlers added. Use elastic thread. If no fish. or very bites go HUNTING with fish finder if you see them on bottom or use for depth changes. Deeper holes with other depths 10 or 50 less. 80 ft deep is great in big river harbors. Fish the area where its slightly shallower ( front side ) as current fills hole with your bait all fish in hole will search towards current to find it. Dip bait and change out baits every cast with more pickle juice or oil. if can inject it with syringe will never quit emitting scents. WD40 straw is like a needle. Fill wd40 straw with anice and use the wd pressure to push in meat.
Move every 20 minutes if no fish unless having too much fun.
I use the pre tied with the white big huge braided looking line. I put a loop ( kite knot ) very easy one overhand with loop size you want. Leave leaders 2 or 3 ft. cut tail fins off so they lay on bottom. you have to hook them backwards from other fishing. Changing baits a lot refreshes the scent. Put used bait back in pickle or oil jar. It works. I made simple pickled fish recipe online recipe. just put whatever fish ( whole ) you buy. use few days later. You can get ROLLMOP Pickled HERRING. Completely different bait technique dont have replace sometimes even after several fish landed.
20 minutes... no fish in boat... move hundreds or other places. Use fish finder to HUNT. Then target exact location. Have to anchor hundreds or more feet ahead ( upstream from them ) line will be behind boat let alone anchor. you are targeting deep holes DOWNsTREAM of location.
Let Me know if you will ever be in Northern Oregon. I will take you for Spring Chinook. Shad and Sturgeon if here in Late May. Best Spring Chinook will be in few months. Can go ocean fishing too up here on same trip if feel like it sometime. The next 5 months are best for Salmon... Sturgeon are year round. In early part of year we can take a fish. later gets hit and miss for taking any Sturgeon. It can be cold now but Quota starts on - 1\1 every year for sturgeon
May be in Oregon in two weeks time, will let you know! Not sure where yet.
Let me know if your this way too! Thanks for the tips will try and try again! Am also setting up boat as shes a cruiser not a fishing boat and dont have a good rod holder so been hanging on by hand!
K. I will be ready to maybe meet you at Oregon Coast for Lingcod.. rockfish and Crab. Its about 120 bux
Give me warning.
You on phone list?
we use pickled roll mop hearing hear on the columbia river near goldendale and catch a lot of sturgen. has to be tied on with thread. cant hurt to give it a try just dont eat the bait
Nope, what phone list! Jeremy my numbers 925 690 7166
Baddonut wrote:
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the water where all the other boats are fishin (over 20 in the channel) watching my rod ends like a hawk..skunked x 3. My neighbors in their boats pulling in some stripers but no Sturgeon. I have used anchovies like Jeremy suggested, salmon roe like our local guide suggested and live ghost shrimp that the guys in our bait shop suggested.... had some bites, the ghosts disappeared and the roe sucked out their little bags but everything else Ive struck has been weeds or a empty hook or weight bouncing the bottom I think... currents strong about 2 hours before change of tide so had to use a 14oz pyramid then work back down to 8oz as current drops. Tried a hole at 80ft and ridge between holes at 40ft and some channel dropoffs uptide and down tide. So my mission remains on, its going to be January for my first sturgeon.. picked up some anchovie oil and some anise. Its now or never. Plus side near on 70 degrees today and no wind absolutely beautiful day, Mt Diablo in pic just before sunset tonight.
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the... (
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With these big tides I do not know why you are working such deep water. This was my sturgeon routine for over 15 years. Big tides go shallow. My perfect scenario is a minus tide on the out go. I would highly recommend you run about 10 miles west and try San Pablo bay. Look for the pumphouse off of Hamilton field. It is in about 16' of water. (looks like a shack on a bunch of pilings). It is easily visible from the Petaluma river channel. Head towards Hamilton field and drop anchor in about 10'. On a big minus tide the water should start getting muddy in the last 2 hours of the out go. That is when the bite will go on. Sturgeon feed in the shallow water of San Pablo bay. The big tide will turn over the bottom, and also provide enough current to keep the boat straight. Choice of bait is really not that critical. I have used primarily shrimp baits. Grass shrimp is my favorite, then ghost and mud shrimp. Eel will work well too. I have used scents but find the scents bring in more stripers. Keep this in mind. In nature there is no free lunch. Right time and place make much more difference then bait on the hook. This area of San Pablo bay is very muddy flat bottom with miles of the same depth. There is no structure on the bottom, so your exact spot is not as critical as the right depth. In short, 8-10' of water at the last 2 hours of a minus out go. Good luck. If you have any questions about San Pablo Bay send me a private message.
Baddonut wrote:
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the water where all the other boats are fishin (over 20 in the channel) watching my rod ends like a hawk..skunked x 3. My neighbors in their boats pulling in some stripers but no Sturgeon. I have used anchovies like Jeremy suggested, salmon roe like our local guide suggested and live ghost shrimp that the guys in our bait shop suggested.... had some bites, the ghosts disappeared and the roe sucked out their little bags but everything else Ive struck has been weeds or a empty hook or weight bouncing the bottom I think... currents strong about 2 hours before change of tide so had to use a 14oz pyramid then work back down to 8oz as current drops. Tried a hole at 80ft and ridge between holes at 40ft and some channel dropoffs uptide and down tide. So my mission remains on, its going to be January for my first sturgeon.. picked up some anchovie oil and some anise. Its now or never. Plus side near on 70 degrees today and no wind absolutely beautiful day, Mt Diablo in pic just before sunset tonight.
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the... (
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Describe the rod you are using?
Baddonut wrote:
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the water where all the other boats are fishin (over 20 in the channel) watching my rod ends like a hawk..skunked x 3. My neighbors in their boats pulling in some stripers but no Sturgeon. I have used anchovies like Jeremy suggested, salmon roe like our local guide suggested and live ghost shrimp that the guys in our bait shop suggested.... had some bites, the ghosts disappeared and the roe sucked out their little bags but everything else Ive struck has been weeds or a empty hook or weight bouncing the bottom I think... currents strong about 2 hours before change of tide so had to use a 14oz pyramid then work back down to 8oz as current drops. Tried a hole at 80ft and ridge between holes at 40ft and some channel dropoffs uptide and down tide. So my mission remains on, its going to be January for my first sturgeon.. picked up some anchovie oil and some anise. Its now or never. Plus side near on 70 degrees today and no wind absolutely beautiful day, Mt Diablo in pic just before sunset tonight.
Well gents I have spent the last three days on the... (
show quote)
I always had best luck using live grass shrimp, as many as you can cram on the hook. Diligence watching the rod tip is a must. Sometimes a bite can be so subtle you can barely detect it. I spent years missing the bite. you must focus on the rod tip 100% of the time. Even then I have gone many times without bites. Sturgeon are elusive but trust me, if you persist you will catch. I always had best luck at slack and outgoing tide especially after a rain. Good luck.
Thanks great info I fish deep coz that’s what folks around are doing but your info is crystal clear and I’ll give it a go! Updated my rod holders and no can see the tips together to see if I can hit the bite! Cheers Jim much appreciated!
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