Kory and I saw a break in the weather (not too windy and not brutally hot) so we packed up and went sturgeon fishing Thursday and Friday. Note to self, add Friday to the list of days to avoid going sturgeon fishing - way too many boats.
Thursday, we got rained on, almost non-stop, until 3 PM, but the sturgeon didn't seem to mind the rain. Friday, no rain and almost ideal weather conditions. The bite was quite steady both days. We ended up catching 43 sturgeons. The largest was 7'9" (not a bad sturgeon for anywhere, but especially good for where we were fishing) and caught by Kory. The smallest were ~20" (still fight hard and most of them jump but feel like catching a minnow when one is fishing for sturgeon with heavy equipment). We had doubles twice and had triples (a first for me) on another occasion and we were getting a bite at the same time on the fourth rod!
Almost every sturgeon jumped (some came completely out of the water) and all fought hard. The 7'9" managed to get in the line of an angler, on another boat, and also into the line of a shore angler (this was despite Kory's best efforts and me driving the boat trying to herd the sturgeon away from other anglers). One jumped right at the boat, and it reminded me of the scene from jaws when the shark is on the stern of the boat.
I learned a new lesson. Sharpening bent hook tips and dull hooks is a good gesture, but not nearly as effective as just replacing the hook with a new one (this is especially true if one is fishing with any type of circle hook). I lost far too many sturgeon because I tried to get by just sharpening my hooks. I won't make that mistake again!
Another fun sturgeon outing with a great fishing buddy and I can't wait for the next sturgeon trip (I probably won't have to wait very long).
Thursday, we got rained on, almost non-stop, until 3 PM, but the sturgeon didn't seem to mind the rain. Friday, no rain and almost ideal weather conditions. The bite was quite steady both days. We ended up catching 43 sturgeons. The largest was 7'9" (not a bad sturgeon for anywhere, but especially good for where we were fishing) and caught by Kory. The smallest were ~20" (still fight hard and most of them jump but feel like catching a minnow when one is fishing for sturgeon with heavy equipment). We had doubles twice and had triples (a first for me) on another occasion and we were getting a bite at the same time on the fourth rod!
Almost every sturgeon jumped (some came completely out of the water) and all fought hard. The 7'9" managed to get in the line of an angler, on another boat, and also into the line of a shore angler (this was despite Kory's best efforts and me driving the boat trying to herd the sturgeon away from other anglers). One jumped right at the boat, and it reminded me of the scene from jaws when the shark is on the stern of the boat.
I learned a new lesson. Sharpening bent hook tips and dull hooks is a good gesture, but not nearly as effective as just replacing the hook with a new one (this is especially true if one is fishing with any type of circle hook). I lost far too many sturgeon because I tried to get by just sharpening my hooks. I won't make that mistake again!
Another fun sturgeon outing with a great fishing buddy and I can't wait for the next sturgeon trip (I probably won't have to wait very long).