Sturgeon

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and to that I would add so is a question. So I know the truck is new and must be from this season so that also means that the fish on the back bed are also this years. Mike, good going and it's great to see so many fish on one truck but my question is, where did you catch them all?

This is the perfect lead in to a full powered sign up for the sturgeon fest and now maybe some of those late sign up types will give us "river mouth" folks a bit of a look for a sign up for yet another gathering. I can't wait for my chance at the river this week-end cause I know how good those rascals are on the smoke and in the can.

Tim
 
Tim -

Those were tonight's fish. I came home from work and the river was dead flat. My favorite time of the tide had just passed, but it looked so good I called Kay from the bridge and said we had to go fishing. She said the three of them would be ready, but they had to stop at the store for dinner fixin's. Out we went to the sands and I rigged up the poles while the girls cooked up the pork chops. Nothing but crabs for an hour or so, then a couple shakers. Next thing I know, dinner's over, there is a fish flopping on the floor and another one biting. We got several shorts, two 45s, and a 47. They all came after the mid point of the ebb, which is usually dead there. We tried to get the last one, but the current stopped and the bait was dragging, so we pulled up and high tailed it just ahead of a real ugly looking black cloud coming up the creek.

I got the first one, let Jamie take my second, and grandma wouldn't give up Tiffany's pole for the third (and biggest) one. Tiff did land the first fish, but it was a stretch to get it to measure 44", and no way could we coax one more inch out of it.

Tomorrow is Jamie's first softball game, so the fishing will have to be on hold. Then I have overtime Wednesday, Thursday, and probably Friday. So the river is all yours for the evening high tides the rest of the week. If there is no wind at the Desdemona station the next few evenings, get across the channel to my spot on the sands at high tide and sit it out until the bite hits. Usually it is the first two hours, but today it was the fourth hour.
 
Hey Tim -

You do any good? How about Raven? I gotta tell you, that was one fine ride across the channel coming back in. Pretty steep. We were heading over to the flats to check in with you, but the Warrenton entrance came up first so we tucked our trim tabs between our legs and went in. That's the roughest I've seen it this year.

We got just one short all morning. The kid who was with us hooked him, and had a blast. He had never caught anything but a little trout before. Tomorrow about 6:00 I am taking the young man back out for another try. If you tell me the bite was better where you were, I might just shoot over there instead of the sands.

According to the Desdemona weather station, the wind hasn't let up any this afternoon. WNW at 16-18 knots all day. Maybe it will blow itself out overnight. How come it always does this on the free fishing weekend? I don't think I have ever caught a fish on a day I didn't have to tag it.

Thanks for the smelt. The crabs really liked them.
 
Hey Mike,

Didn't bring anything back but still had a great time and AND with my own keys. All are our action was with that one good flurry that involved the big rascal that just kept going towards the dolphin. When I finally put on the brakes was when he straightened out my hook. After we got in I went to Englunds and purchased some new hooks and tied them up for tomorrow. Just after my fish Judy had on a shaker I think that came up, jumped and rolled, then spit the hook. Our only other bite was a flounder that I had on the cutting board ready to bonk and even he spit the hook and flopped back in. It was Judy's fish and she wanted it felted for the fry pan. I think we did as well or better than most and I'll start out there in the morning.

Raven Dave pulled in just behind us and he, like you, didn't have much nice to say about the crossing. I'm sure glad I came back across to fish or I would be fishing alone the balance of the season. Dave did have one fish that was a whopping 45 1/2" depending on the way you layed his tail out. Good thing the kids have all left home cause if he splits it with his pardner and only takes home half it will be a lite supper at the Raven house tonight.

Tomorrow has got to be a better day. See you at the dock.

Tim
 
Friday night and Judy and I are getting ready to hit the river in the morning. We should be up there between 5:00 and 5:30 to head out for another attempt at trying to get our years sturgeon catch caught up to that of the TyBoo. Alas I fear I don't have a chance of doing that cause we don't have a Sturgeon Queen on board the Lynn Marie. That gal sure knows her stuff when it comes to hooking those big fellers. Hum, I wonder if she'd consider fishing on a different boat?

Oh well, even if we don't catch anything we always have a good time and that is really what it's all about. The boat, the family, and the sharing of all the fun.

We'll give you all a report tomorrow after our return and if others are interested, come join us on the river or at the dock.

Tim
 
Spent seven hours on the river and I still have bait for tomorrow. Only one short shaker for us but boats below did catch fish using Anchovies, I only had smelt.
Got back to the dock and found Greg, the guy from Portland with the old Laurna Joe. He came back for another try at sturgeon but this time brought his wife, daughter, and dog. Got a chance to tell him where we'd been fishing so maybe they'll give it a go on the evening tide and have a bit better luck than us. Sure hope so otherwise he'll be starting from scratch in the morning like the rest of us.

Tim
 
I only got out fishing for a couple hours this weekend. This evening after dropping the kids off at camp. Nice water, but no fish.

I did make it down to the dock to say hi to Greg and his young son yesterday. Never did see Tim.

One more week, and this sturgeon season will be a bust. We only landed 14 keepers this year, but we did waste a bunch of prime time with the three oversized fish we got to the boat. I will have to get out a couple more times to beat last year's mark of 16 legals. We probably spent three times as long fishing this year as we did last, but the weather and the fish wouldn't cooperate. Oh well - the salmon might show up soon.
 
Bad news. They extended the sturgeon retention season on the lower Columbia. According to the local paper, instead of closing after July 3, it will stay open through July 10, be closed from July 11 through July 14, and then open again for two days. Why in the world they did it like that, I don't know. My tag is full, but Kay and the girls still need a few. Now I'll never get the boat cleaned up in time for Blakely.

We went out yesterday and sat down on a hot bite right off the bat. Had several missed bites and six fish in just a couple hours. No keepers. Today we went to the same spot, but the wind was blowing and the water was bouncing, and we did nothing for a couple hours. Then we went to a calmer spot, and about an hour later got the first bite. It was a 48" fat feller. Since we only had one available tag on board, we called it quits shortly after.
 
OK I'm going again,
Tomorrow is another day and I'm going to give it a try since they left the season open and I haven't filled my tag. Shoot, I haven't even hardly started to fill it so I gots to go. Same plan but different week-end and because this one is longer I either have a better chance of catching a legal or getting skunked at least one extra day this week. Life is so depressing when your not catching. But, I know it's even more depressing if you're not fishing.
Where's the guy that keeps talking about "Teach a man to fish"? I think I need a lesson.

Tim
 
Back out this evening. Got a few shorts and one oversize. I don't know how big he was, but a couple of the passengers got a good look at him a hundred or so yards out when he came up and rolled, and they said he was huge. All I saw was the end of the splash because I was watching the line disappear from the spool. I had him coming toward the boat for a bit, but decided to just bust the line off. At one point, he had more than 150 of my 200 yards of line out, and I thought I would have to break it then. Nice water on the incoming with the wind blowing the same direction, but it was a little bouncy crossing the channel on the way out just after low water.
 
Got out this morning and anchored up along side of Raven Dave and crew about 9:30. While I was getting set up they hooked a fat fish that went evry which way but in and after about 10 minutes with one mis hit net bonking, a broken pole, and a hand over hand retrieve they finally netted a real fat fish that turned out to 59 inches. WOW

After about a half hour it was my turn to put on the show and I got my second keeper of the year, a nice 54 incher. I didn't put as much entertainment but since I was alone i did have to catch and net the thing myself. By 10:30 I was done but did stick around almost another hour just for fun but the tide was going slack so I beat feet for home.

Tomorrow is another day and I'll be back to see if I can get number three. Won't be alone though cause I'll have my brother along. So far I haven't been able to hook him up with one of these big guys so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for another good day so we'll skip the ocean opening and hit the river.

Tim
 
Tim,
Good going on the catch! To bad you didn't have the camera crew on board for some pics.
Sounds like Tyboo Mike is still giving some fish sore jaws also.
Went crabbing the last two day up in the Everett area. Took awhile to get our limit of 5 each. It's good to get some limits for some fine table fair. The commercial guys have pretty much cleaned the entire area. It won't take long for the sports guys to get the rest.
Jim, Work Release
 
Did the Lynn Marie venture back out this afternoon? It looks like the TyBoo crew picked a good time to call the season a wrap today. The wind didn't let up any, and a couple hours ago it started getting worse out there. The weather stations say 16kts, with gusts over 20 kts, blowing the wrong way. No fun for no fish.
 
The Lynn Marie hasn't called it a season YET! I did leave the boat tied up though and went home after a day of catching a shacker, what I think was an oversized (since I spent 15 minutes and never saw it before lines chaffed and broke), and had several other good take downs that I couldn't keep on long enough to get to the net let alone into the boat. Maybe they'll keep things open a bit longer and I'll have one more chance.

When I came over the hill and saw the ocean this afternoon I knew I made the right choice by not going back out cause all I could see were white caps as far as the eye could see, and that wasn't far with all the gray clouds and rain. Still, our weather is nothing compared to what the Byrdman and folks in the south are dealing with, so my whining seems a bit trivial. I wish those folks my best.

Tim
 
Since we missed out on the Blakely and SJ trip that I scheduled three weeks of vacation for, and because the ocean is too lumpy to fish, I had them DFW guys extend the sturgeon season for a whole month. According to the paper today, it will reopen tommorrow and stay open for retention in the lower river until August 15. I guess my boat isn't the only one doing lousy this year. Maybe I'll go slide her back off the trailer.
 
Hi Mike,
Save some of them for me am coming down tomorow and am going to try going out of deep river. We were there before they closed it and caught several smaller ones but nothing keeper size. We did get a kick out of watching the racoons on the tide flats there were everwhere, suchie bar? Are they still biting on anchoives?
Thanks Richard
(UncleRichie)
 
Well don't worry about me cleaning them out, Richard. The boat is still on the trailer. We have a bunch of business crap to tend to tomorrow, so it is doubtful I will even see the water except driving across the bridge to town.

I imagine they will still bite on the anchovies, but the last (and only) time I tried them this year, the crabs got them first. I still use smelt exclusively.

Have fun. You going to Ilwaco? You might run across B~C there.
 
UR, I hope to have the anchor dropped in Baker Bay tomorrow, you'll be upriver but we may venture above the bridge if fishing is slow....we gots to try to catch a few whilst Mike is preoccupied.
 
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