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.
