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I went out sturgeon fishing again on Sunday out of Swan Island and man was it cold! Air temp was 30 when I left my house and the bottom of the ramp was icy when I launched around 8:45am. Often when we have cold snaps like this it slows the bite way down so I was prepared for a tough day of fishing. I have to say that for the first two and a half hours I was not disappointed with my forecast. In those two and a half hours I caught a total of two tiny shakers. I moved multiple times. I fished where I marked fish. I fished where I did not mark fish. I fished shallow and deep. It just was not happening for me.
Fortunately my fried Brian was out there and we had both brought our VHF radios. For most of the morning we simply sent dismal reports back and forth, but when I talked to him around 11:30am he said we was on a good shaker bite. While not something he or I would normally jump all over, on a tough day it is a beautiful thing. By the time I had got downriver to where he and friend were fishing they had moved off of their sweet spot in hopes of finding some better fish. He told me that if I anchored up out in the deeper water that it was chock full of shakers. I dropped my anchor, but misjudged the wind/current combo a bit and ended up a bit shallower than I was hoping for. During this time, Brian and his friend had not had a sniff in the shallower water and decided to pack up and move upriver.
At first I could not get a bite. There was a fair bit of chop in the water and with all the bouncing around and the cold hands I was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. After a bit I decided to switch from my normal sturgeon rod to my salmon rod since it is more sensitive. That made a huge difference for me.
I found an interesting bite once I switched over. Since Brian had told me to fish deeper for the shakers I cast towards the middle of the river. If I made a long cast I would catch a small shaker. If I made a short cast I would not get bit (even though I was marking fish there). If I made a medium cast I could catch a bigger shaker or a keeper. I was in about 57' and a long cast would put my bait in about 64'. Somewhere between those two spots the better fish were holding. It was like they were on the edge of the school with the smaller fish in the middle. While I was on that spot I ended up catching 6 shakers and 2 keepers. Not red hot, but compared to earlier the fishing was dynamite. At one point Brian had radioed me to tell me that he and his friend had caught a double on keepers. I told him I had caught a few keepers down where I was so I did not move up to join them right away. I fished that spot until about 2:00 when the current and the bite slowed down. Once the bite died I went upriver to see how Brian was doing.
By the time I got back upriver to where they were (slow going into the wind and the chop) he said they were once again just catching shakers. I moved out away from where they were fishing and tried a few spots where I was marking fish, but I could not scare up a bite. The bite for Brian also died down so they decided to head back since they were tired of being cold. He said they were going to stop and fish on the way back if they marked fish. I kept moving from spot to spot, but could not find any biters. I was slowly fishing my way back to the ramp when I heard Brian whooping in the distance.
By the time I made my way over to them he and his friend had just landed a double on nice sized keepers. I moved off a bit from where he was fishing and hooked up in short order. It was a good sized fish. While I was doing battle He came over to say that they were leaving since they had each caught a couple of decent fish. I told him good bye and went back to work on my fish. I have some video of the fight, but with the low sun angle it is not very fun to watch so I have not included it here. After a good 15 minute fight on the salmon rod I was finally able to bring the fish in and release it. The fish was borderline oversized and I figured that with the better sized fish in the area I should switch back to my heavier rod.
Once I switched over I missed a couple of fish. I was just having a hard time detecting the bites with the chop while fishing off anchor and pedaling to hold my position. Fortunately someone stopped by to give me some good advice.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSaEvbpoSqE
I realized after a bit that the sturgeon was telling me to switch back to my salmon rod. You know the fish like you when they take time out of their busy days to stop by and give you advice
After I switched back to my salmon rod I caught 3 more nice keepers before calling it a day. Those fish are a real handful on that salmon rod - even though it is rated as X-HVY and 1-6oz. They were still biting when great when I left. I actually left a bit earlier than last week because I was afraid I would hook an oversized and be stuck out there fighting it in the dark and having the ramp ice up before I could get back. Here is how I ended the day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTPjCZ5Co4
Fortunately my fried Brian was out there and we had both brought our VHF radios. For most of the morning we simply sent dismal reports back and forth, but when I talked to him around 11:30am he said we was on a good shaker bite. While not something he or I would normally jump all over, on a tough day it is a beautiful thing. By the time I had got downriver to where he and friend were fishing they had moved off of their sweet spot in hopes of finding some better fish. He told me that if I anchored up out in the deeper water that it was chock full of shakers. I dropped my anchor, but misjudged the wind/current combo a bit and ended up a bit shallower than I was hoping for. During this time, Brian and his friend had not had a sniff in the shallower water and decided to pack up and move upriver.
At first I could not get a bite. There was a fair bit of chop in the water and with all the bouncing around and the cold hands I was having a hard time figuring out what was going on. After a bit I decided to switch from my normal sturgeon rod to my salmon rod since it is more sensitive. That made a huge difference for me.
I found an interesting bite once I switched over. Since Brian had told me to fish deeper for the shakers I cast towards the middle of the river. If I made a long cast I would catch a small shaker. If I made a short cast I would not get bit (even though I was marking fish there). If I made a medium cast I could catch a bigger shaker or a keeper. I was in about 57' and a long cast would put my bait in about 64'. Somewhere between those two spots the better fish were holding. It was like they were on the edge of the school with the smaller fish in the middle. While I was on that spot I ended up catching 6 shakers and 2 keepers. Not red hot, but compared to earlier the fishing was dynamite. At one point Brian had radioed me to tell me that he and his friend had caught a double on keepers. I told him I had caught a few keepers down where I was so I did not move up to join them right away. I fished that spot until about 2:00 when the current and the bite slowed down. Once the bite died I went upriver to see how Brian was doing.
By the time I got back upriver to where they were (slow going into the wind and the chop) he said they were once again just catching shakers. I moved out away from where they were fishing and tried a few spots where I was marking fish, but I could not scare up a bite. The bite for Brian also died down so they decided to head back since they were tired of being cold. He said they were going to stop and fish on the way back if they marked fish. I kept moving from spot to spot, but could not find any biters. I was slowly fishing my way back to the ramp when I heard Brian whooping in the distance.
By the time I made my way over to them he and his friend had just landed a double on nice sized keepers. I moved off a bit from where he was fishing and hooked up in short order. It was a good sized fish. While I was doing battle He came over to say that they were leaving since they had each caught a couple of decent fish. I told him good bye and went back to work on my fish. I have some video of the fight, but with the low sun angle it is not very fun to watch so I have not included it here. After a good 15 minute fight on the salmon rod I was finally able to bring the fish in and release it. The fish was borderline oversized and I figured that with the better sized fish in the area I should switch back to my heavier rod.
Once I switched over I missed a couple of fish. I was just having a hard time detecting the bites with the chop while fishing off anchor and pedaling to hold my position. Fortunately someone stopped by to give me some good advice.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSaEvbpoSqE
I realized after a bit that the sturgeon was telling me to switch back to my salmon rod. You know the fish like you when they take time out of their busy days to stop by and give you advice
After I switched back to my salmon rod I caught 3 more nice keepers before calling it a day. Those fish are a real handful on that salmon rod - even though it is rated as X-HVY and 1-6oz. They were still biting when great when I left. I actually left a bit earlier than last week because I was afraid I would hook an oversized and be stuck out there fighting it in the dark and having the ramp ice up before I could get back. Here is how I ended the day:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXTPjCZ5Co4
