Ron's Fish Rag: 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.