Interesting sturgeon trip June 29th thru July 1st

[Kent]

Randy, Nate and I just returned from another (for me) sturgeon trip. The forecast was for strong winds on Thursday so I drove us to a spot to fish from the shore that I had never fished but had heard good things about. The first challenge was driving down a dirt path (not good enough to be called a road). At one point I had Randy get out and guide me through some large lava rocks. Despite our best efforts, we got caught between several rocks. To avoid the strong likelihood of body damage to one of the running boards, I suggested we jack up the Armada and build a road of rocks off of the rocks. It took a little while, but my suggestion proved to be a good idea and the Armada was free. We parked the car there and, using my GPS, walked 4/10 of a mile to our fishing hole.

I have never seen sturgeon bite continuously all day long like they did at this location. It was unusual to go 30 minutes without a bite and it was not uncommon for all three of us to be getting bites at the same time. The problem was that most of the sturgeon were in the 2' to 3 1/2' long range. The other problem was one had to reel like crazy to try to avoid the rocks that were near the shoreline. Despite our best efforts we still donated lots of lead sinkers and hooks to the rock gods.

Randy and I really struggled hooking our bites; whereas, Nate (sturgeon newby) was doing much better. Nate ended up catching 12 sturgeon (he also had one break off), with the largest going 7'1", I caught 1 and Randy had a nice one break off. We should have easily caught triple the number of sturgeon that we caught. In hindsight, Randy and I need to be more patient before attempting to set the hook.

Friday and Saturday was back on the boat. Catching was much slower than what was planned. On Friday I landed a 7' sturgeon. On Saturday Randy and I both lost a fish, and Nate had two break off.

Lots of laughs, hot weather and good times with two great guys to take fishing. Hopefully, Randy and Nate will post up some pictures.
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[Kent]

I will be making additional one and two-day bank fishing trips for sturgeon. If anyone wants to be considered for one of these trips send me a PM. The particulars:

Leave SLC area no later than 4:00 AM and fish until late in the afternoon.

Share fuel, bait, and motel (if we are going for two days of fishing).

I will loan tackle, if desired, with the understanding that any rods or reels that are broken or lost are immediately replaced.

If the guest doesn't already have an Idaho fishing license they will have to purchase one online before the trip.
$12.75 for a one-day license
$13.75 additional if a second-rod permit is desired
$6.00 for the second day license (if necessary)
Online handling fee of 3% of order plus $2

Be aware that these are primitive fishing trips and one should be prepared to walk up to one mile each way and fish in hot, cold, stormy and/or windy conditions from rocky shorelines. I make no guarantees that sturgeon will be caught, but the odds are that we will catch some or I wouldn't be making the trip.
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[N.E.T.O.]

Thanks again Kent for a great Sturgeon trip! You forgot to mention our small adventure on the trip home. The fuel pump was starting to go out on Kent's Armada so whenever the gas tank got below about a half tank we could sometimes only manage about 30 mph going up some of the hills on the way back. As long as we stopped for gas often and kept it full, it ran great!
Even though I didn't actually get any Sturgeon landed this trip I still had two on and they were both big! That place never quits amazing me, it's like Jurassic Park!
Here are a few pics of the lucky fisherman who was with us this trip! (...that would be Nate...)
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[BURLEY]

Sounds like an interesting trip indeed. Did you get to try out your new 15 foot ugly stik? How did it perform for distance casting? I tried it in a local park and was able to cast a 6 oz. sinker about 70 yards and had to dig the sinker out of the freshly watered grass as it sunk in like a spear point almost 4 inches.
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[Kent]

[quote BURLEY]

Did you get to try out your new 15 foot ugly stik? How did it perform for distance casting?

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Yes I did and that is why it for sale. I was able to cast a country mile, but I am more comfortable (personal preference) with a 12 foot rod.
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[BURLEY]

Yeah, that was my feelings with it. I went out and got an 11 foot ugly stik. Much more comfortable to cast. Got a new large open face reel too. After any newbies takes you up on your offer to shore fish, keep me in mind.
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