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How to fish for sturgeon (I think...)How to Fish for Sturgeon (I think...) Click for hundreds  Sturgeon
fishing can be about as frustrating as fishing gets, requiring more
commitment than most folks are willing to give. It is also the most
rewarding of any type of fishing I've done, bar none! The
thrill of setting the hook into what bites like a pollywog, then feels
like a big log, then runs like a freight train, peeling off line with
complete abandon is, well, unforgettable! There's just nothing else
quite like it! So,
here are some of my ideas of what it takes to catch a sturgeon. Now,
I'm no expert and I don't claim to be. I am, however, very, very
determined and am willing to fish for weeks on end, trip after trip, to
catch a keeper. At my skill level, that's about what it takes. Location Much
of my success has been fishing near the ship channel off Decker Island
on the Sacramento River, just a few miles below Rio Vista,
California. I generally anchor in exactly the same spot there, very
near the ship channel and the flats off the channel. I generally find
water that is about 20 to 25 ft., and drop anchor. I've also done
pretty fair around Light 25, downriver from Rio Vista.There is also an
excellent spot on Suisun Bay that is even more productive, but I'm
sworn to secrecy about that hole. The secret to catching sturgeon is
not so much where one fishes because sturgeon move around quite a lot.
I am more content to stay in one spot for several hours waiting for the
sturgeon to come to me. Some of the expert sturgeon fishermen believe
in moving around looking for sturgeon on their fishfinders. Maybe
that's a trick I've got to learn yet, because some of those guys catch
a lot of sturgeon. I turn off my sonar while fishing - observing
.0000000001% of the river can't be worth much! Shhhhhh! That's
another very important issue in the pursuit of sturgeon. I believe that
noise bothers sturgeon a great deal. Prop and motor noise created by
passing boats is no help. Hollering, noisy fishermen nearby isn't any
help, either. If a heavy object is dropped onto the deck of the boat, I
believe that any sturgeon within hundreds of feet have been spooked.
Sturgeon like a quiet river. I think fishing after nightfall is one of
the best times to fish for sturgeon because the boat traffic is likely
much reduced. If a noisy bunch of drinking fishermen or an
inconsiderate boob with a blaring radio anchors near me, I just move
on. They're probably going to ruin the sturgeon fishing for everyone
near them. The Balance Beam: Here's the
rod and reel on the balance beam, awaiting the little nibble of the
mighty sturgeon. This system is so sensitive that even crab nibbles
cause the tip to wiggle slightly...or is that little wiggle a 100 pound
sturgeon?! When a sturgeon takes the bait into it's mouth, the rod will
dip down, greatly exaggerating the movement of the bite. The fisherman
then grabs the rod and sets the hook - but sometimes it's prudent to
wait for a bit more activity. Actually, it's best to hold the rod in
hand while awaiting the bite, and I do that when it isn't too cold. Most
sturgeon and striper fishermen I know use the balance beam system. I
set the reel on free spool (many guys lock it down) with the clicker
on. An unusual "suicide" run by a sturgeon - taking the bait suddenly
and swimming away with it - is no problem (unless the reel is locked
down). The line will play out smoothly and the clicker will alert the
fisherman. A sliding sinker arrangement is used, the sinker stays put
and the line plays out freely through the sleeve to which the weight is
attached. This
system is also excellent for striper fishing. Stripers will hit the
bait hard and run with it a short distance. With this system the fish
will not feel any resistance. Tides The
tides and currents are a very important issue when sturgeon fishing.
The California Delta is a huge estuary, influenced by ocean tides. The
water of the entire area of the Delta that I fish is continually rising
and falling, moving in or moving out. Yes, the river flows upriver, or
backwards, on every incoming tide. It seems that the behavior of all
fish is influenced to some extent by the up and down, in and out
movement of water. It
is, it seems, the deeper tides and greater volume of outgoing water
that turns on the sturgeon bite. Sure, sturgeon are caught on high
tides with slow moving water as well, but I don't think they are caught
near as often in those conditions. It would seem that the more water
that moves out, the more movement of bottom debris - and sturgeon
food - the more likely the sturgeon's desire to feed would turn on. So,
I like to time my sturgeon fishing to the deeper, faster outgoing tidal
movement of water. I have been reading some expert opinion that fishing
shallow in faster moving water and fishing deeper in slow moving water
helps. Many other fishermen agree that the outgoing tide is best for
sturgeon fishing, especially for the bigger sturgeon. Of course, one
cannot always time fishing trips to just the most ideal conditions.
That is why most of us fish for sturgeon no matter the conditions. But
the results will likely be best with the outgoing currents, especially
in muddy colored water. Bait Sturgeon
seem to like shrimp above all else. Of course, sturgeon are caught on
most anything including worms, clams, shad, sardines, lamprey, etc.,
etc. Two types of shrimp seem to be the most popular: ghost shrimp and
grass shrimp. Ghost
shrimp look like naked babies, pinkish in color and generally pretty
docile. They can put a good pinch on careless fingers, and handling
them can be entirely too entertaining. I usually attach one to each
hook and I use two hooks. If the ghosts are real small, I'll use two
per hook. Grass
shrimp are small twichy little guys and several can be put on each
hook. I have learned to load on as much shrimp as I possibly can to
each hook. A third shrimp, the mud shrimp, is more expensive and probably less popular because of the cost. The mud shrimp looks like a ghost shrimp that grew up in a tough neighborhood. They are stinky, dirty and a bit bigger. It is said that they put more scent into the water. Recently
I have been using lamprey "eel". It is not actually an eel, but a fish.
They are pretty expensive (I just paid over $21 for one large one) but
based on hours of use lamrey is the cheapest bait available. Lamprey
cannot be nipped away by little stripers or crabs. It is like tough
beef and stays on the hook 'til cut off with a knife. Lamprey seems to
attract sturgeon quite well, but not much else seems to like it. When
the little nippers do try to steal it, there's no chance that it will
be stolen. I add smaller chunks of lamprey every couple of hours to
keep the scent strong and fresh. In the past, most of my shrimp baits
have gone to the little thieves, but that doesn't happen with lamprey. A
wise fisherman once convinced me that "big bait means big fish". I
believe it. After all the expense of the boat, the electronics and the
many other expenses of this addictive hobby of fishing, trying to save
50 cents per cast on bait is a bit ridiculous! The more bait the
better! After all, the bait is where all of the fisherman's efforts
and expense actually meet the fish. That's not a good place to save
some pocket change. Bait
(other than lamprey) should be checked often. I check it every twenty
to forty minutes, depending on various factors. If there's a bunch of
nibbling going on by other fish (or the detested mitten crab), or if
the current is especially fast, the bait should be checked more often.
If in any doubt at all, reel in and check the bait! Bare hooks don't
catch many sturgeon. Even lamprey should be checked every hour or so
for accumulation of debris. When
fishing the faster currents, it is a good idea to use shorter leaders
and maybe even add a bit of weight very near the hooks. The bait should
be on the bottom! Bait that is floating a bit off the bottom, twisting and turning in the current, is not as likely to be taken by a sturgeon. Setting the hook: The net: The often neglected sturgeon net is a critical part of a sturgeon fisherman's tackle. The netting ages over time and becomes weak. A popular sturgeon video shows two very experienced fishermen nearly lose a sturgeon when their old net failed and the big sturgeon fell through it. At the moment of truth, the net failed because the netting was old and weak. Check your net regularly for breaks and weakness. New netting every couple of years is well worth the investment. Stay in touch: Hold that rod! When the mighty sturgeon lightly nibbles your offering, your window of opportunity is very small. If you have to reach for your rod in response to that nibble, you may miss your opportunity. Keep the rod in hand as much as possible, have the reel in freespool and the clicker on. When the reel gives up a small amount of line - click, click, click - that may be a huge sturgeon sucking up your bait. That means it's time to thumb the spool tightly and set the hook -- hard! I believe the sturgeon often simply crushes the bait, then spits it. That can be a very brief moment, and it may be your only opportunity to set the hook. Fishing line: Fishing
line is a sometimes controversial issue among fishermen. I favor 50 # to 80#
super braid. It's very small, the diameter of is much smaller than equally rated mono, and it doesn't
stretch. The small diameter is to the fisherman's advantage in moving
water - it doesn't tend to float up. And the hammer like set the fishermen makes to hook a sturgeon
doesn't lose it's punch at the fish's end due to line stretch. The hookset
is critical in sturgeon fishing. Don't force the issue: Don't try to overpower a keeper sturgeon; it just can't be done. Play the fish to exhaustion, let him run when he's so inclined, and don't allow him rest when he's inclined to rest. Have enough drag on your reel to make him earn every yard of line he takes, and when reeling in don't force the issue. Some sturgeon have more endurance than others, a very few wage long fights. When a sturgeon tires, he comes to the boat rather easily. When he's belly up or simply not trying to move any longer, you've likely won the fight. Poke him with the fish knocker or some such item, to be sure he doesn't have another run left in him. If the poke doesn't cause him to move, that's when it's time to net him. Easier said than done: Patience, patience and more patience. Sturgeon seldom cooperate in just two hours of fishing time. You aren't likely to catch a sturgeon in a short fishing trip unless you are among the luckiest sturgeon fishermen. It takes time, so expect to invest a lot of it. Most of us have to be very patient, it's the very few who catch sturgeon regularly. Make notes: When you spot a fisherman that you know is good at catching sturgeon, and he's at anchor bait fishing, mark his location on your chart or in your mind. He's probably over a productive hole or trench. Maybe he's over a clam bed. Those are places that attract sturgeon. If you reel in a clam attached to your hook, and that happens often on the Delta, you may be over a clam bed. When fishing for sturgeon, that's a good place to be. TrackbacksWeblogs that reference this entry
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