Author Topic: JUST ANOTHER BIG FISH STORY (Read 8906 times)

bearpaw · « **on:** June 30, 2016, 07:26:11 PM »

JUST ANOTHER BIG FISH STORY
I went catch and release fishing with a couple friends for oversize white sturgeon in the lower Columbia River. The big ones were really hungry, we hooked 10 fish in a little over 6 hours, 2 fish broke the 100 pound test line and got away, but we landed 8 fish that ranged from 7' to 9'8". That's not a misprint the biggest fish was 116 inches long! The quickest fight was about 20 minutes for the 7' fish and the longest fight was 1 hour 26 minutes. According to a white sturgeon website a 7 foot fish should weigh about 178 pounds and a 9'8" fish should weigh about 489 pounds. The fish probably averaged about 8 feet and 275 pounds, so we probably caught and released about 2000 pounds of fish in one afternoon.

We got in the water with three of the biggest fish for photos, the two biggest fish probably weighed nearly twice as much as we weigh, fortunately they are not aggressive, needless to say the whole experience was just incredible. (FYI - When you roll them upside down they are very docile and easy to unhook, you roll them right side up and they swim back down unharmed.)

Bango skank · « **Reply #1 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:29:05 PM »

Wow, dont know that id want to get in the water with those things! How far down the river? Im on a boat down at portland right now and i see a lot of people fishing, but dont see anybody catching anything

bearpaw · « **Reply #2 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:30:48 PM »

The size of these bigger fish is just amazing!

bearpaw · « **Reply #3 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:33:51 PM »

I think this was the little guy, the 7 footer...

hunting4sanity · « **Reply #4 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:38:34 PM »

Those are same amazing fish and truly a BIG fish story. It's been a long time since I've fished for them, but it's a sight to behold when one of those guys jumps. Congratulations!

ICEMAN · « **Reply #5 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:38:44 PM »

Wow! You guys crazy!

HUNTaHOLIC5 · « **Reply #6 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:43:55 PM »

Awesome! Getting in the water with them really shows the size well.

bearpaw · « **Reply #7 on:** June 30, 2016, 07:46:13 PM »

Quote from: Bango skank on June 30, 2016, 07:29:05 PM

Wow, dont know that id want to get in the water with those things! How far down the river? Im on a boat down at portland right now and i see a lot of people fishing, but dont see anybody catching anything

That whole stretch along the Oregon border is where they are at. My friend has it dialed in, I have fished them before and had caught an 8-10 when I was 12 years old, but I beat my old record and saw more fish caught in one afternoon than ever before. There are lots of guides down there that really know how to catch them. We've got a couple fishing guides on the forum that fish for sturgeon.

Quote from: hunting4sanity on June 30, 2016, 07:38:34 PM

Those are same amazing fish and truly a BIG fish story. It's been a long time since I've fished for them, but it's a sight to behold when one of those guys jumps. Congratulations!

Two of our big ones come out of the water, that's when one of them that got away broke the line, he come out and when he shook or fell the drag was just a little too tight!

Unfortunately in the excitement of unhooking one fish I lost my phone in the river,

I had to wait till my friend sent these photos. We got some good video and even video of them jumping, but I don't have a copy of the video yet.

After landing 4 fish, I was whipped, I still feel it in my arms!

Gringo31 · « **Reply #8 on:** June 30, 2016, 08:39:06 PM »

Good trip, good times! I can still see your phone slowly sinking away into the deep. Hearing that your arms still hurt makes me smile. I appreciate you keeping the location vague, but not as much as just a couple guys hanging out on the water and laughing.

How often can guys go out and literally catch a ton of fish?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HvyHorn338 · « **Reply #9 on:** June 30, 2016, 08:44:20 PM »

Gotta love catching those oversizers. Great pics and story. Congrats.

Ridgeratt · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2016, 09:22:34 PM »

Nice batch of Dinosaurs.

denali · « **Reply #11 on:** June 30, 2016, 09:46:33 PM »

Wow , very nice

Bow tech hunter · « **Reply #12 on:** June 30, 2016, 09:56:58 PM »

Nice

Shrimper · « **Reply #13 on:** June 30, 2016, 10:34:29 PM »

Great Trip!

bowhunterforever · « **Reply #14 on:** June 30, 2016, 10:36:11 PM »

Looks like a blast

bearpaw · « **Reply #15 on:** June 30, 2016, 11:47:25 PM »

Quote from: Gringo31 on June 30, 2016, 08:39:06 PM

Good trip, good times! I can still see your phone slowly sinking away into the deep. Hearing that your arms still hurt makes me smile. I appreciate you keeping the location vague, but not as much as just a couple guys hanging out on the water and laughing.

How often can guys go out and literally catch a ton of fish?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Literally a ton of fun and laugh we did, what a grand time, and yes, I still see that phone fluttering side to side as it sank out of reach of the idiot in the boat!

nwwanderer · « **Reply #16 on:** July 01, 2016, 05:48:33 AM »

RIP little rectangle, thanks for the pics

jackmaster · « **Reply #17 on:** July 01, 2016, 06:12:40 AM »

That's awesome, how old do you reckon the biggest ones are? I heard them fish live a long time! Not sure if that's true.. If it is imagine the the stories a sturgy could tell if it could talk

thatdamguy · « **Reply #18 on:** July 01, 2016, 06:25:30 AM »

Looked like an awesome time.

Any chance you might share the type of bait you guys were using?

Gringo31 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 01, 2016, 06:57:33 AM »

Quote

Any chance you might share the type of bait you guys were using?

Shad. This time of year those bigger fish are loading up on both shad and sockeye. But, some folks catch them on almost anything from herring, night crawlers, squid, etc. I've gotten real creative before without much for results.

Machias · « **Reply #20 on:** July 01, 2016, 07:18:42 AM »

Great photos Dale, I can't wait to get back out there and catch some sturgeon again.

thatdamguy · « **Reply #21 on:** July 01, 2016, 07:28:44 AM »

Quote from: Gringo31 on July 01, 2016, 06:57:33 AM

Quote
Any chance you might share the type of bait you guys were using?

Shad. This time of year those bigger fish are loading up on both shad and sockeye. But, some folks catch them on almost anything from herring, night crawlers, squid, etc. I've gotten real creative before without much for results.

Cool thanks for the info, going to give sturgeon fishing a shot in a couple weeks.

C-Money · « **Reply #22 on:** July 01, 2016, 07:33:53 AM »

Looks like an awesome trip!

cohoho · « **Reply #23 on:** July 01, 2016, 09:34:19 AM »

Way to go fellows, #1 reason why I absolutely love fishing for Sturgeon... You get the big boys (girls) that will give you fight that most will never understand the shear power of these big ones.

I do like offshore stuff, but the best times are always Over Sized Sturgeon fishing!

Gringo31 · « **Reply #24 on:** July 01, 2016, 11:07:21 AM »

Cohoho
The first pic with a pole in it is one I got from you !

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

cohoho · « **Reply #25 on:** July 02, 2016, 10:35:58 PM »

Nice, I am glad it is getting put to good use. That was a solid rod for sure. I seriously got to come visit you on that stretch. Be a blast...

robb92 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 08, 2016, 04:44:35 PM »

Cool story and pics, thanks for sharing!

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Author Topic: JUST ANOTHER BIG FISH STORY (Read 8906 times)

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