…Five sturgeon in three days: Priceless!
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November 11-13, 2008
The cost of three nights at Brannan Island Park with a berth: $97. Gas toand from Brannan: $35. Five sturgeon in three days: Priceless! Assturgeon fishing goes, this week’s trip was the most productive I’ve ever experienced!
I had the second week of November marked on my calendar because of good
tides for sturgeon fishing – if the weather was right. And it was so
right! All three days were flat calm to a slight breeze – and sunny.
And warm. So I hooked the boat to the motorhome and headed to Brannan
Island State Park for a few days.
Brannan now has electricity at the RV spaces directly above the berths, and
although they’re a bit more costly than the dry camping spaces, it’s
well worth a few extra bucks for the convenience – and the ability to
keep an eye on the boat.
On day one I launched my little Klamath, FishWisher II,
then motored over to the berths. After setting up in the RV space, I
boarded the boat and headed for Decker Island, but far out past the
middle of the river, just off the ship channel. That position is
actually closer to the shore opposite from Decker Island than the
island.
I dug out the nasty, smelly lamprey eel that has occupied wifey’s freezer
since April. The leader, with eel still attached to the hooks from
my trip back in September, was still in the container with the eel. It
slurped out of the bloody mess and I snapped it to my swivel. I tossed
it far out over the transom.
Eel has become my only sturgeon bait. It is very attractive to sturgeon a nd
nearly impossible for the little nippers to steal. It lasts forever and
is easy to keep – just toss it in the freezer after each trip ‘til it’s
all used up. While an eel is fairly expensive, it is so long lasting
that it is absolutely the cheapest sturgeon bait available.
I waited for only half an hour before I heard the click-click-click of
the reel as a sturgeon took my offering. Having the rod in hand when
Mr. Sturgy visited, I set the hook with a mighty heave! I knew at once
that I had a keeper on. I set the hook another few times and the fight
was on. It took very little time for my sturgy to come to the boat,
belly-up in submission. He was a wimp. And he was skinny! He measured
62” but weighed just 35 lbs. He was the skinniest sturgeon I have ever
caught. He looked more like a snake. Even so, this was my first
sturgeon of the year and I administered a few whacks before welcoming
him aboard.
My day was over entirely too soon, but I was ecstatic! After filling out
my sturgeon report card, I called a friend who loves sturgeon. We made
arrangements for him to come get the sturgeon. He met me at the berth
an hour or so later and gladly took my prize. We were both happy.
On day two I left the berth and headed directly for Decker Island again. I
continued to use the same old eel, and this time it took about two
hours before I heard that click-click-click of another sturgeon
accepting my nasty offering. Again I set the hook with a vengeance and
again I had a sturgeon on! This one was much stronger than the last and
gave a good account of himself for about ten minutes. When I got him to
the boat I measured him with my little green plastic tape that is tied
to a small bamboo stick. It is 66 inches long and has a black mark at
46 inches so I can get a pretty good idea of a sturgeon’s length. He
measured about 48 inches and would have been a nice keeper. He was much
huskier than the sturgeon of the prior day. Nevertheless, I didn’t want
to call off my day’s fishing so soon, and I released him to fight
another day. Two sturgeon in two days! Incredible! I continued fishing
with the same old bait ‘til mid afternoon – and called it a day around
1600. I headed to the berth and another nice evening with all the
comforts of home awaiting me in the coach.
Day three included my friend Doug who joined me for some sturgeon fishing.
Ol’ Doug is a former Navy SEAL and is a good boating buddy anytime. His
Navy experience is always good to have at hand when on the
water. Doug’s been fishing since his diaper days.
First thing, Doug reeled in a small flounder making its way upriver to spawn.
He released it to continue on its romantic journey. A few minutes later
Doug set the hook into his first ever sturgeon! We were hooting and
hollering as he worked his fish to the boat. Three sturgeon in three
days was just incredible! As Doug brought the sturgeon along side, I
measured it and we agreed that it was a keeper at about 47 inches. Did
Doug want to keep it? No, and neither did I; we both wanted to continue
fishing and telling lies to one another. We released it to continue its
journey upriver.
Doug would have loved to see the day end with me skunked and him out-fishing me. But it was my duty to keep him humble. About three hours later I
had a definite sturgeon take down, and missed the hook set. I jumped to
my feet and told Doug that I’d just had a classic sturgeon bite. A few
minutes later the sturgeon returned and pulled off a few more inches of
line – and I set the hook hard. I had the fourth sturgeon hooked – and
it was a big one!
My sturgeon went where he darn well pleased. He liked staying below the
boat, choosing to stay deep instead of streaking away from the boat in
a mad dash. He would not be moved. I told Doug that I had a monster on,
and that this was going to be a good fight. Before I had my big fish to
the boat, my back and arms were tired and aching – and that’s not
unusual for this old man whenever I do much physical work. Finally,
after about fifteen minutes, I had the big fish along side the boat and
able to measure him. We agreed that he was 69 inches – too big to keep.
After the strenuous fight I cut him loose. As he left he whacked me
with his tail just to let me know we weren’t exactly friends. Four
sturgeon in three days!
About an hour and a half later something clicked off a few inches of line
that seemed to be yet another sturgeon. I missed the first hook-set and
about fifteen minutes later I missed the second try. A while later on
the third try, I set the hook into something very substantial. While
this sturgeon didn’t have near the mass of the oversized one that I had
just released, he felt big enough to be legal. After a few minutes of
battling wills, I had him to the boat. We again set the measure tape in
the water and decided that he was legal at about 49 inches. We decided
to release him, too. Why stop with a limit of one when the fishing was
so good? By this time I was incredulous! That was the fifth sturgeon in
my three-day fishing trip! I’d never had such a grand sturgeon
adventure.
And there was more! An hour later I had another hit by something that took
line much faster than a sturgeon. I set the hook and had yet another
big fish on. I remarked to Doug that this one was doing a lot of head
shaking and that maybe I had a good striper on. After a few minutes of
battle, sure enough a big ol’ striper was at the surface. We decided to
keep her, and into the net she went. She weighed in at 11½ lbs, a real
beauty of a striper!
It was getting late in the afternoon when I caught a baby sturgeon, just a
little fellow of about 20 inches or so. We brought him aboard for a
quick photo and then released him back to the river to do some more
growing. It was time to call it a day. And what a day it had been! I’ve
spent many a day on the Delta soaking bait for hours on end – even days
on end – for no action at all. Perhaps the fishing gods are smiling on
me this year to make up for the lost salmon season. I don’t know what
brought about this unusually good fishing trip, but I will surely be
back again when the tides are looking favorable. Life IS good!
A video of this trip is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSSw8csWdYM&feature=channel_page
