bait tips for sturgeon

[Fishaholic]

i have used shrimp and smelt with out any luck i'm using a 4/0 to 7/0 hook. i'm using 65 pound braided  main line with 60 pound leader and 4 oz weight on a slider and  a 8'9 pole. any tips or tricks??

thanks

[carpsniperg2]

Have caught them using lots of stuff. Sand shrimp/squid/herring/shad/fish guts. They like a lot of stuff, even been told to just try night crawlers Sand shrimp and herring are what we have used the most.

[carpsniperg2]

Oh and I am not sure how much current you have, but 4 oz weights might not be keeping you in bottom very well. You might try more weight if you have a lot of current.

[BOWHUNTER45]

Adding to what Carp has said ....A buddy of mine just kills them on nightcrawlers ....He just balls them up on the hook and lets fly .... my guess as many as you can get on the hook ! 

[Jason]

We use sand shrimp with night crawlers, just lay the worms across your shrimp and wrap them with elastic string .

[JODakota]

Yea I was think more like 8 to 12 ounces where I usually see them caught

[RadSav]

Where are you fishing for them?  I assume you are fishing for white and not green   Also, are you fishing for keepers or oversized?

[ribka]

Bump up sinker weight and smear some smelly jelly on the weight for added scent dispersal.

I have had luck with squid, shad, herring, worms

[buglebuster]

I caught one on part of a turkey sandwich once..

[DIYARCHERYJUNKIE]

Can O corn!  Lol.  I caught a 43" a few trips back.  Best eats ever.  I use 9/0 hooks there mouths are huge and too much hook isn't an issue.  I run 100# leader and 60# main get it deep off a shelf where they wait for food to fall.  Short 1 ft leader with spawn net and elastic string to tie bait.  Rebait every thirty \ fourty five min for freshness.  If your boat fishing anchor both ends.  Or drift socks hold it tight to the current.  Your bait moving will scare them off.  Fish the incoming tide do your bait holds to the bottom.  Slack tides the best.  Outgoing is impossible to fish on most rivers your bait will just roll non stop. 20oz lead won't hold in a strong tide.  I used 6/8 oz  weight triangle so it digs in.  Any bait works shrimps what I use. 

[h2ofowlr]

As mentioned you may not be on the bottom.  I use a min of 8-36 oz to stay on the bottom.  Use all sorts of bait.  Roll mop herring, shad, sand shrimp, anchovies, worms, liver, crappie.  Other oily stinky items.  Use special marinades as well.

[Fishaholic]

okay thanks guys i am fishing for keepers and im fishing on the chehelis river in aberdeen. i guess people catch nice ones at morison park but i have never fished there and the current is not bad were i fish at. and will cheese cloth work to keep the worms on???

[bankwalker]

Pm sent.

[RadSav]

Never fished there but I don't see anything wrong with what you are using unless like said your weight is light.  Make sure your smelt are baited backward as compared to salmon fishing.  If you watch them eat in an aquarium they will keep spitting a smelt out until they get the head just right.  Aberdeen should be a good place for using clams, mussels or oysters.  Kelp worms are killer if you can get enough of them.

Don't forget about the water you are fishing.  Your luck will improve greatly by fishing proper bottom contours and current breaks.

Good Luck!