Ron's Fish Rag

RediSets on the Columbia

The Columbia River…

For a dedicated sturgeon fisherman who has fished the San Francisco Bay Area all of his life, the Columbia is Mecca. It is the place we all talk about with reverence and hope that someday our fishery will become. My first trip to Mecca begins in an area outside Troutdale, Oregon, at a place the locals call The Fishery.

As this is my first trip to the Columbia and hopefully not my last, I figured the best way to get an understanding of the area and local techniques would be to hire a guide. I chose “Sturgeon Frank” Russum as my guide (http://sturgeonfrank.com/)  as I have become aware that he is well respected among his peers and long-in-the-tooth in terms of experience on the Columbia. I was joined on the trip by three fishermen from Alaska. You know this is a good place to fish when people from Alaska fly in. First on the agenda was to go catch bait.

This time of year the big sturgeon come in to take advantage of the annual shad run. So we started out our day at a place they call the Shad Rack. We used small silver and red spoons (not sure what they were called) much like a tiny trout lure. We also hooked a couple of Springer salmon, both of which shook the tiny lure before they reached boat side. They saved us the trouble of releasing them since we couldn’t keep them anyway. We quickly caught about 12 shad with some being over a foot in length.

We then headed down river to get below the deadline (the closure area) so we could fish sturgeon. I brought my Accurate 665 on a 7 foot Seeker which later I realized was a bit of a disadvantage. Frank’s rods were all two speed Avets on six foot sticks. The current in the river is such that it necessitates the use of 2# balls at times, depending on the depth being fished. So the shorter stick and low torque reels can really reduce the fatigue factor when checking bait, not to mention the advantage of fighting a large fish in fast moving current.

Anchoring in the Columbia was a little different than on the Sacramento. They use a float and anchor retrieval system. The anchor is a rocking chair style with 300 ft. of rode. When setting up, Frank would first drop anchor and throw his floats over the side. Then he would take the boat 30 yards or so downstream and drop the baits, one at a time, with about 50 ft. in between each one creating a hook pattern as he went back to connect up to the anchor. This allowed him to cover a fair amount of territory with his scent line.

We put out four rods with big baits (shad). On the fifth rod we had a smaller bait (smelt) to draw in some smaller fish. I think he probably did this to keep the action up just so the typical client would not get too bored. However, I was really not interested in what I could frequently get on my own turf. For me, it was go big or go home. We initially anchored up in about 50 ft. of water. On the smaller bait we draw hits from smaller fish and we landed one keeper size fish which we released. We managed to hook two oversized fish - both came unbuttoned early in the fight. 

These fish can really pull! The shad we were using as bait were over a foot long. According to Frank, it’s rare up here to have a fish under 100 pounds take the shad. Unfortunately, we could not keep one hooked up that day, but we did have a few chances.

DAY 2

On day two, Frank was not available so I went with another guide Dan Ponciano (http://www.columbiariverfishing.com/). Great guy. Dan’s gear and boat were meticulously maintained. I vowed previously never to leave my gear home again just because you really never know what you’re going to get with a guide. Especially since their gear gets a work out from every greenhorn that comes along. I have to say though that both the gear used by both Dan and Frank were top of the line and obviously well taken care of.

We did the same routine in the morning for shad and then ran to a little spot farther down called The Wall.  I left my accurate 665 home opting for the Tiagra 30 wide two speed instead. After my experience the day before, I figured the low end torque would really be an advantage with these fish. Also on the boat were two guys from Massachusetts.

 

  

We ran four rods, two with big baits and two with small. Dan used slices of shad on one of the smaller bait rigs and squid on the other. We caught a few shakers and had a couple of bites on the bigger baits at The Wall. I was really focused on getting a bigger fish so I ran the large shad the whole day. Later in the day, we moved up into shallow water. I had a number of hits on the shad, but just could not seem to hook up. 

When fishing the large baits they wait until the fish literally begin to load the rod up before they set the hook. It can be somewhat frustrating for us California boys who are used to swinging for the fences at the slightest provocation. Especially since it is almost guaranteed that a 100 pound plus fish is tugging at the bait.

Dan had said early in the day that we would probably head in around 3 pm and time was beginning to run out. Literally, at the wire, I began to get hit. The fish came at the bait three times, but each time he would drop it right before I was able to pull the trigger. Finally, on the fourth hit, he literally started pulling line off the reel and I hammered him. The fish turned down stream and headed out. I was running about 10 pounds of drag and he was walking away like I wasn't even there. I did not gain an inch of line back until we were released from the anchor. I never had to go into low gear, but it was close. These fish are amazingly powerful. Before long we had my eight footer belly up alongside taking pictures. They cannot use barbed hooks so the release was much easier. We rolled him back over and sent him on his way, no worse for wear.

  
 

I have to say this was a great experience. The Gorge is magnificently beautiful. The osprey and bald eagles are everywhere. Both guides I fished with were very experienced and most importantly concerned about the welfare of the resource. I would recommend them both to anyone looking for a world class fishing experience.

 

 

Sturgeon-On a Roll

Since I returned from Pyramid I have been able to get out after sturgeon at least once a weekend and the fishing has been phenomenal. Not just for me, but for many of my friends as well. The Pittsburg area, the Cut’s, and the sloughs have all been producing well. Both the shrimp baits and eel have been the best working baits; however, I have been hearing that pile worms are working as well. 

My strategy has been simple.

 1) With the wind this time of year you have to take into consideration the tide and wind direction in relation to each other in order to maximize your chances.

2) In the big tides, fish shallow; in the small tides, fish deep.

3) Keep a variety of baits in the water. Lately it seems to be changing from day to day. 

4) If you have fish under the boat and the conditions are favorable, stay put! Eventually they will get hungry.

Here are some picts from my last three trips.

On 4/27 I went solo for this 55 incher

 

On 5/2 Cory and I went out and he caught his first keeper- this 47 incher. 

On 5/8 Lou and I went out and I caught this 62 incher.

 

May you all have flat water and big fish!

Ron

   
  
 
 

  

Pyramid Lake - April weather just too good to be true

After a failed attempt at salmon due to weather the week before, I headed up to enjoy the festivities and fishing up at Pyramid Lake. This year's turn-out was impressive with probably 200-300 folks camped out on the beach. Alan and I headed out first thing Friday morning at dawn.

We decided to start out on the far side by LA Rock with the idea of working the shallows for big fish. The plan almost came together when I hooked a 8 to 10 lb. class fish. I fought the fish to boat side and it slipped the hooks (barbless) only to have it go after the lure again. I managed to hook the fish on the surface a second time only to lose it again after a short battle. Talk about aggressive! Our technique the first day was to use Lyman's behind a planer board. Hot colors were fire tiger and purple/black. We stacked two rods on the same planer main line. Doing this we were able to work the shallows from a distance.

 

The next day Alan's dad Jack joined us and we moved out into deeper water to try and get on some numbers. The bite took off and it was almost wide open. We fished out on the 200 foot line at 30 feet on the wire from Warrior to Pelican. The hot lure started out to be a frog colored flatfish, but later we switched to orange, black and copper spoons. We had great quality fish up to 4#'s with 41 being brought to the boat.

We headed back in around 3:30 for the potluck. I cooked a cajun tri-tip and Al served smoked pheasant. The food was excellent! Someone also brought duck sausages that were out of this world and as usual cheese cake was also to die for. After some good conversation next to fire it was off to bed (early bird...).

The next day was Sunday so we were again up before dawn looking for a few more before we headed home. Worked the shallows along Windlass Bay for some good action on the Lyman's again. I have to say it is really something to hit the shallows at first light. We were hitting fish almost every pass. We then moved back out to deep water as the sun began to warm things up.In the deep water, the hot lure turned out to be the rainbow trout double flutter.

All in all we had beautiful weather, great fishing and great friends. We brought at least 60 fish to the boat. We only kept a couple with this being primarily a catch and release trip. 

 
 
 
 
 
  
  

 

The forces of wind and tide

I hit the water with my good friend Rob at first light, anxious to get him his first keeper. We set out hoping to catch the last of the flood tide. When fishing deeper water the beginning and ends of the tides are really what I refer to as "Prime Time". They are usually the most productive parts of the day.  

I could see from the wind forecast that we were likely to have a steady westerly. I always develop my plan for the day based on wind and tide, direction and magnitude. When the wind and tide are moving in the same direction the boat will be far more stable with less movement. This translates into a far more enjoyable day and makes it much easier on the anglers to maintain focus on the rods. The trick is to find a location that is holding fish for every wind direction and tide combination.

We started our day in 54 feet of water in the Pittsburg area with plenty of fish marching under the boat. We had our share of small taps, but no major pull downs or action. Both Rob and I were using JPS and ghost initially as our choice of bait. At the start of the ebb the wind began to kick up to 15 knots so I was forced to make a move to water more in alignment with the wind direction. We found a good spot holding fish in 27 ft. of water and stayed there until grass began to inundate the lines. By the middle of the ebb the wind had backed off a bit so we moved out into deeper water to escape the grass. We set up in 37 ft. of water again with good marks showing. I managed to catch a shaker finally so we were encouraged that the bite could turn on.

With the ebb slowing down and heading into Prime Time again, I cracked a fresh package of eel thinking now would be the time to get the best possible scent into the water. In about ten minutes, I had a nice pull down, but couldn't connect. Knowing that the eel was most likely still on the hook (one tough bait) I dropped it right back down. Sure enough he came right back to it and with a good hard hook set, it was game on! The reel immediately started peeling line and I could tell the fish was heavy so I handed the fish off to Rob. While this is Rob's first legal sturgeon, he is no greenhorn to the sport. He has fished marlin and tuna and spent quite a few days with me fishing halibut. Rob had no problem fighting this little fatty and in short order we had his 56 inch sturgeon in the boat.

Mission accomplished!

 

Deaf Community Sturgeon Challenge

 
On Saturday I was invited to participate in a unique Sturgeon Derby put on for the Deaf Community. Many of the local guides like Kevin of the Lucky Strike and private boaters donated their time in support of the event. Many business owners such as Stingem Pro Fishing and others donated prizes for the raffle. One of the events sponsors, Restoring Hope, a local nonprofit, provided a barbecue after for all of the anglers and people involved.

I was fortunate to fish with Oracio Munoz from Manteca and Steve Liu of Fremont. Steve had fished for sturgeon once before and is an avid diver and spear fisherman; Oracio had fished, but never for sturgeon.  Both men are young fathers. Oracio showed me pictures of his young son and Steve has an 11 year-old daughter. Both of them were quick to learn the nuances of sturgeon fishing and were very engaged.

We left Martinez Marina just before 07:00 and headed for shallow water to set up for the big ebb. Water temp. was 56 degrees and we set up in 12 ft. of water. Our first fish was a striper which I handed off to Oracio, but it turned out to be just shy of the legal length to keep. Things were slow at the first spot and when the wind began to kick up on the flats, I decided to make a move toward the cuts for some shelter and perhaps a little better bite.

We spent another couple of hours in shallow water (9ft) for the biggest part of the tide without luck and then moved up into 24 ft. of water for the end. Action picked up slightly on the moves and then finally I connected with a nice one. I handed this one off to Steve and prepared the boat for the struggle. It was obvious real quick that we were not having any luck slowing it down (seems to be the story of my life lately) as the fish was not even reacting to 7#s of drag that we were putting on it. Oracio was quick to clear the other rods and deck of chairs. He immediately took up a position as camera man with the video camera. Being in relatively shallow water I elected to use the windlass to pull the anchor rather than deploy the float as I knew we had plenty of line at that point and I knew the float would take longer. I conveyed to Steve to just maintain pressure and not try and gain ground while I did so. My concern is always that when you pull anchor the boat will move in the opposite direction to the fish putting additional strain on the situation. 

I have to say I was impressed that under this tense situation of fighting the fish, that both anglers reacted to my direction appropriately with nothing more than my gestures. It was apparent to me that they are much more adept at reading body language and have a greater situational awareness through shear sight than the average person.

Once the anchor was up we backed down on the fish. Steve did an excellent job working the fish up to the boat and in no time had it close enough to snare.  Given how much time had transpired and the way the fish was hanging in the water, I figured he was pretty tuckered out. This was not the case with this big boy. As soon as I closed the snare, it was as if I had suddenly turned into a bull rider in some new form of aqua rodeo and yelled "turn him loose"! The thought crossed my mind that this big devil was about to beat me severely about the head and shoulders only to launch me off the stern for the final coupe de grace. Thankfully, I managed to hang on for the proverbial eight second bell. I was soon taking a few pictures of my happy anglers with their 74" prize, then sending it on its way to live another day. Steve would never be the same sturgeon fisherman again, having caught his first sturgeon and at the same time catching a fish that any angler would be proud to hold up as his defining moment after a life time of pursuit.

Steve and I

 
 
  

Oracio Munoz
 

 
 
  
  
  
  
 
 

  

Big Fish day, we had our chance

Set up today at o-dark thirty and caught the end of the flood. Water temp. was 52 deg F. South West wind at 10 MPH. Fishing 54 feet of water. Bait was JPS and Eel.

Friend Rob was with me today and we were looking for his first keeper. Graph was stacked with fish; wind and tide were aligned so the conditions were perfect.  Had a few promising pull downs before the start of the ebb, but couldn't connect. Once the tide turned the wind dropped to nothing and the river turned into a mill pond. It began to drizzle a bit, but conditions for fishing were perfect. 

It was then that Rob's rod went off, not at all like a normal bite, but more like the screaming fish that has hooked himself and is heading out. The first move it made was to head under the other rods and turn for the bow. This forced me to jump on to the swim platform and thread his rod under the others. Once clear, I handed Rob the rod back and began frantically reeling in the other rods. I then ran for the bow, connected my float and turned us loose in the tide, then I started the engine and began backing down on the fish. All the while Rob had not hardly even slowed the fish down and had not even gained and inch of line back. He was down to about 1/4 spool. As the boat began to pick up momentum in the tide, the line loss began to slow. And then as suddenly as it all began, it ended. The hooks had come loose... but what a rush while it lasted. We were both shaking from the adrenaline and it probably took us 30 minutes to regain our composure.

I ended up hooking one shaker after that, but that was it. Both fish came on JPS.

With a little help from my friends

Started off this morning first in line at the bait shop and in walked friends Kevin and Linda. Bait was scarce, but we managed to split a pound and a half of grass shrimp between the three of us, each fishing in our own boats. Kevin said he really only needed three shrimp anyway since he was fishing with three guys to which we all laughed and were on our way. 

The water was flat calm and a warm 54 degrees (much better than the 48 degree trip weeks before). Set up in 56 feet of water about midway through the ebb. Set one rod up with eel and the other with grass shrimp. I was telling Linda today that I have not had a fish on eel in quite some time in response to her comment about most of her fish coming on eel. Long about 09:00 the rod with eel got a nice hit to which I swung for the fences. No such luck on the hook set, so I dropped it right back down. Not a minute later she was on it again, so I swung away. This time I struck pay dirt. The fish immediately headed down river and before I knew it she had 150 yards on me and all I could do was slow her down. I was by myself so there was no way I could drop the anchor and chase her, so I started hollering for the boats nearby. Luckily, one of them responded by dropping their anchor and coming along side. I jumped in and we begin chasing the fish down. Finally we got it to the boat and it's a tail hooked, 51inch fatty. A quick snare and some pictures and she was released to swim again.

The guys who dropped their anchor to come help unfortunately had too small a float on their rode and it sunk, so I told them to tie up along side until the tide slowed and they could get their anchor back. Great bunch of guys. We all had a great laugh when I told them that it would be better to keep my chase boat along side anyway. 

After they moved off, Linda ( Diehard) and Al came by and tied off along side to fish for awhile. I was treated to a great meatball sandwich and plenty of laughs to finish out my day. It just does not get any better than this.

 

Ron

  

Double limits sturgeon 10/25/09

Went solo today and I have to say, while I prefer to fish with someone, solo trips are always enjoyable nonetheless. Got a late start, but ended up with my lines wet by 0830. Fished with one rod using roe and the other grass. 55 feet of water, surface temp. 64 degrees.

First fish came on the flood at 11:30. A feisty little 47 incher; he took the roe bait.

At 12:30 the tide finally turned toward the ebb and I caught a 44 incher, which really gave me trouble because it was foul hooked about a foot up from the tail. Thought I had a striper at first and I was wondering if I was going to have to throw the float and go after it.

Last fish was a 46 incher that also went after the roe.The graph was really lit up all day. I also got two other shakers on the grass shrimp.

Started running my depth finder in split screen mode with one on 50 hertz and the other on 200 hertz. The cone angle on the 50 is real wide so that I am looking at a lot of territory. It's nice because you can get a general picture of the area. The 200 is real narrow so it tells you whether they are in the immediate vicinity or not. Been playing around with it trying to hone in on them a little better.

Another interesting thing is their apparent affinity for the roe. Last year I couldn't buy a fish on it.

Here are a couple of picts:

The 47 incher - tough to get a good picture when you are by yourself.

The 46 incher

 
 

B-Day Sturg

Lou and I headed out for sturgeon with an extra dose of luck given that it was my birthday. First thing in the morning a large flock of Canadian Honkers came right over the boat and one of them let the excrement fly, which turned to a kind of black spray that hit the boat bow to stern. The bird guano gods must have been smiling on me (Birthday) because I was not touched by the foul substance. My fishing partner was not so fortunate.

After the bird adventure we settled in to fishing the ebb tide with lots of fish on the graph, but we couldn't find any takers. We set up initially in 72 ft. of water and stayed there for about two hours until another fisherman came and anchored above us in our line. That was enough for me to make a move. I headed up into shallower water and quickly found a nice line of fish in 50 ft. of water. We picked up a shaker and a few rat stripers toward the end of the tide.

On the flood, the line of fish stayed constant, so we stuck it out. I was fishing roe today along with my usual grass shrimp. I had several nice pull downs on the roe and managed to connect with one that ended up an LDR (long distance release). Finally, an hour into the tide, I hooked up and landed a nice 49 incher, which I released. This fish came on the roe as well. That was it for our luck today. The wind picked up in the afternoon, but it was in alignment with the tide so it was not an issue. Great way to spend a birthday.

Pyramid Lake 10-9-2009

 Another great Pyramid Lake trip this last weekend. It was a real treat to have my wife Deborah as my fishing partner all weekend. Could not have asked for better weather. The quality of fish this trip seemed beyond the norm with many in the 4# to 6# range. Most of our luck came in close at the south end of Hells Kitchen and on into Anderson Bay. The chub were thick and the cutthroats were having their way with them. Hot lures for us are shown below with the frog patterns doing well in the mornings, fire tiger early afternoon and the red colors with black dots by late in the day.  Most of the fish came at 15ft OTW at 2.2 mph. Water temp was 62 degrees so the fish were fired up and ready to fight. Some of the guys were even able to do some vertical jigging this trip with success. A pot luck dinner was organized by the imhooked.com crew and I have to say the food was excellent!