On the chehalis i fish a 4/0 or 5/0 hook, ONE single sandshrimp! Fishing this method allows two things to happen...A) squaw fish with take all the shrimp off in about 3 minutes....therefore you know it's not a sturgeon. B) when a sturgeon does bite it will hooks itself within the 1st few times it picks up the bait.
I watched a guy hook multiple fish in one night fishing like that. He gave me the tip and my hookup ratio skyrocketed last winter. Most all fish I hooked slammed the rod and pulled line before I even knew I was getting a bite.
For anyone that fishes the chehalis and catches fish on a regular enough basis to notice knows that chehalis sturgeon are notoriously picky slow biters.
Back when I fished 2 to 3 shrimp, or herring, or squid...I would have to let them bite for 10 to 20 minutes to get a solid pick up good enough to confidently set the hook, or just hope to time the little tiny bites good enough to hook them.
One main thing on the chehalis. If you hook 2 to 5 a year feel lucky. Unless you get lucky and find that pod of fish and hook multiple fish in one night.
