When you have one last opportunity to get some sturgeon meat for your freezer, you rally early. My intention was to be at the ramp by 6:30 in the morning and on the water by 7:00, giving me a good 6 to 7 hours to catch my keeper. Well I over slept my alarm, rushed to get my stuff together, and headed into Portland. I finally hit George Rodgers Park in Lake Oswego at about 8:00 and after taking my sweet time getting ready I launched at about 9. In the process of getting ready, I realized that I had an anchor set-up but only enough line for about 20-25 feet of water. Well that doesn’t work too well in 75-80 feet of water. Thankfully the kayak fishing community is a great bunch of folks and I knew that one of them would let me tie up with them, tournament or not.
I started heading up to one of my favorite spots. I passed by one of my fishing buddies and swung over to chat. I came to find out he was in that spot because he had lost his anchor earlier that morning. The current was nearly non-existent where he was fishing and I decided that it wouldn’t be a bad spot to drop a line for a bit. I baited my line with a bit of squid and sent it down. It wasn’t down more than a minute be fore I was getting my first tap tap tap. It’d been a while since I have been sturgeon fishing… I missed the bite. This happened a couple more times. Tap tap tap… I miss the bite. Tap tap tap… I miss the bite. Finally I was thinking that I had forgotten how to catch a fish. Then it happened… tap tap-SET THE HOOK- I wasn’t waiting for the perfect bite anymore. Fish on and the fight began.
Since I wasn’t on anchor I was getting towed around a bit. No crazy up or down river runs but it was moving me around the hole pretty well. The fight lasted probably a good 10 minutes, with a couple good runs stripping line off the reel. Finally got the bugger to the side of my
Outback and heaved him onboard. With a bit of help measuring, I realized I had landed a keeper and was done for the day. I had only been on the water for about an hour and a half.
I hadn’t gotten the chance go see all my fishing buddies out on the water so I put my fish on ice, and my buddy Nate in the back of the Outback and headed back out on the water.
And that’s what happens when you limit out early.
* note: this post was "misplaced" and took place last year when it was legal to bring home sturgeon. at the present time, it is illegal to keep sturgeon.
Labels: hobie kayak fishing, hobie kayaks, kayak fishing, sturgeon
