So hohbomb, Vhawk and i went shad fishing....and ended up with some interesting by catchs.

The day started out with Vhawk and i headed up to Bonneville damn for some stellar shad fishing woohoo ! we had our shad darts ready and willing. Vince had painted up 100 or so in the dead of the night the night before


We get there at bonneville and scope the situation out. pretty low crowd...1% speaks english...and a few fish getting caught...cool. hohbomb shows up on his motorcycle and joins the Stooge group :). We set up shop right shy of the deadline hopeful for some shad. i swear that there is always something in me that goes right to the deadline...hoping that being super close will provide better fishing..its a disease


5th cast...shad on!! those little forkers can fight pretty good. 3-4 lbs range. a caveman with a bean pole and a shiny colored puff of something could catch this little buggers...but no matter..we had fun catchin them. It was slow for shad fishing. we were catching them but not at a rate that i would say is "fantastic shad fishing" according to VChicken . Interestingly enough we had done some scouting for campsites for Angling Angels prior to fishing. There was a big Emergency Regulation Change for sturgeon at a boat launch a little down river of the damn. VHAwk and i read it over and over and came up with the same conclusion......sturgeon is open ALL the way up to bonneville damn....i know i know....but thats what it said in big letters. All other size/quota regulations still applied. But you could fish all the way up to the damn...didnt say anything about a boundary line or anything...it said Bonneville damn. hmmmmmm

Well all we brought were light action rods . My specific rod was a lamiglass 6- 10 lbs line medium to light action. I strung it up with 10 lbs line. So we felt a little unqualified for sturgeon fishing. no matter it didnt seem very plausible any way. As we started to load up our stringer with a few shad....we noticed shapes out in the water that were quite large....and shaped very much like a sturgeon. In fact the last time Vhawk had been down there some Asian lady almost lost her stringer to a 9 footer. Hmmmmm. Vince and i were running 6 lbs leaders at the time...so i thought i would be cute and stick a little piece of shad on my shad dart. i casted out about 10 feet and let it settle to the bottom. Just a little chunk of belly meat. You should have seen the look on the other fishermans faces when we started to cut up a shad and FISh with a small chunk. Well...it took about 20 minutes. tap tap tap...zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZz SNAP!....that was fun. So vince gave it a try. about a 500lbs sturgeon slurped it up. the fish just slowly moved out and broke him off. we all agreed that the fish probably didnt even feel it. the hook was so small i doubt it penetrated anything through that piece of shad. 20 minutes lateer VHawk hooks up. 6lbs main line 6 lbs leader...landed it!! 36 minutes



We kept no fish. i dont know....people say they are ugly fish....i dont think so at all...i think they are beautiful..and being as endangered as they are i saw no reason to keep any. Plus we were a little wary even though that sign did say we could fish for them. So back they went. Incidentally we only landed 2. both little ones that werent legal.

then we fish for shad for a few hours. a little later as the shad fishing slowed i tied a shad dart directly to my line with a little piece of shad on it. We had seen a few cruisin down stream that had surfaced. so i cast a little out and drift fished it until it stopped. then waited. Tap tap tap ZZZzzzzzzzzzz. I had 10 lbs line all the way to the dart. I fought the fish 1 hour 20 minutes.

No i dont reel funky...my right arm was starting to get cramps so i had to give it a rest for 20 minutes or so and use my left.


you can see that we USED to be right next to the damn. we ended up about half a mile downstream. the fish Jumped twice. full out of the water. it was about 5-6 feet long. all of us pegged the fish at around 60 lbs. I MAXED out the capabilities of my equipment. i pulled as hard as that pole/line would allow. i could actually move the fish but it was so strong i couldnt turn it really well. It was the longest battle i have ever spent on a rod. Vince first was going to tail it long enough for a pic and cutting the line, then a release. as we contemplated on how to do this with such an oversized fish and light tackle....we came to the conclusion whoever tried it ws going to be swimming..... The rocks wre to jagged and unruly for a good landing. so vince rolled his pants up and committed. But....his pants got wet....so he took them off in the spirit of things ( and a 3 hour drive home in wet clothes). so here is Vince in his skivvies and boots doing his best to get in position to tail this fish....it is very funny...but it was very cool he would do that for me. thanks for the effort vince.

Vince being very funny with a shad net from the bank...poor angler he borrowed it from laughed and then got serious when vince looked intent on using it....i think he thought we were actually going to try it





39 minutes into it



First Botched attempt...the fish just wouldnt cooperate


vince trying to get a foothold you can see the swirl behind him


Right next to shore...so close...he turned and peeled it out another 20 yards


this fish was just huge for this tackle...


i am 6' 5" ...that boil is about as big as me



I think ...when i snapped it .... the fish was coming in...i had the head turned it was 1 foot from shore...but i got a little anxious and my failing right arm didnt help..i think i pulled a touch to hard trying to get just that inch to completely turn the fish towards the bank. This was the first fish in my life that after it broke off i just stood there....i wasnt dissapointed at all...proabably better anyway..those rocks would have not been good on the fish. All three of us were all grins...just in awe of the size of this fish. we walked back to the truck close to silence.

i have a photo i will post in a second of my line where it borke...it looked like it was soaked in a chemical...just a spaghetti noodle..all stretched out. i dont think i could have put more tension on that line than i did. Truly maxed out equipment. Virgin rod too its a summer run rod...boondogglin no less. Well it proved its might.

I have never had to work so hard to just get the fish to stay in one spot...angling the rod..trying to get the maximum angle to put force on this fish...each run was just killer to try to control...truly exhilirating. it didnt even seem that long.

maxed out fishing line...you couldnt even pull it straight. It seriously looked like someone tried to melt it. Thats not line twist...there was some of that going on ( line being pulled of the drage does that) but if you look some of it is straight...well kinda..:)

That looks like it was a lot of fun.

thanks for the report and pics. That looks like a really sparse crowd of shad fishermen, compared to what I have seen in the past at Bonny.

With regards to the sturgeon boundary, this is the only thing I found in the regs for sturgeon:

CLOSED on the Washington mainland shore from Bonneville Dam
downstream to a boundary marker about 4,000' downstream from the fi sh ladder at the new Bonneville Dam Powerhouse south to the downstream end of Cascade Island and across to the Oregon angling boundary on Bradford Island (about 850' downstream from fi sh ladder).

Beats the heck out of me what this reg provision is saying. I don't fish for sturgeon (and actually never have seen anyone fishing for them near the deadline).

Nice story dude. That is the kind of stuff I live for. Too bad you didnt at least get a picture of the beast (the fish I mean, not Vhawk in his skivvys)

thats what i read to but this emergency redulation change was effective until like july 5th or something "from moldetna bridge ( spelling wrong) upstream to Bonneville dam will be open for sturgeon " and then they gave the dates....i should have took a picture of it...hmmm didnt think of that

Sturgeon fishing is CLOSED in that area of Bonneville!

Fighting the big oversize that cruise the shoreline on ultralight tackle for an hour and a half is a cracker move at best... and freakin' stupid at worst. It sure ain't good for them spawner females!

You boys are damn lucky the Warden didn't see you.

If you're gonna fish oversize... for freakin' sake... do it LEGALLY and with the proper gear next time!

Nice story, and pics. I believe the sign post story. Prove it wrong, and I will think otherwise. And as far as line class, there is guys fishing steelhead with 4 lb. test for an hour and a half. I think if the fish was that big it would have popped your line or took off til you popped.

Ive had hookeps on steel that just shredded my 12 lb. test in five seconds. All you get is a tug, a turnaround and the fish starts swimming and thats all she wrote.

Sunday added to weekly sturgeon retention season below Bonneville Dam

Action 1: Above Wauna power lines

White sturgeon retention will be allowed on Sundays in addition to the current weekly retention days of Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays from February 1 through July 31 and from October 1 through December 31, 2007. Sturgeon may be caught and released, but not retained, Mondays through Wednesdays and during August and September.

Effective date: Feb. 1 through July 31 and Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

Location: The Columbia River and tributaries from the Wauna power lines (near Cathlamet) upstream to Bonneville Dam.

Action 2: Below Wauna power lines

The spring-summer white sturgeon retention season below the Wauna power lines opens Saturday, May 12th.

Effective date: May 12, 2007.

Location: The Columbia River and tributaries from the Wauna power lines downstream to the mouth.

Species affected: White Sturgeon

Reason for action: 1) An additional 2,100 white sturgeon, remaining from the 2006 above the Wauna power lines harvest guideline, were added to the 2007 harvest guideline, providing for additional white sturgeon retention opportunity in this area. 2) The spring-summer season below the Wauna power lines is set to start the 2nd Saturday in May, which in 2007 is May 12.

Other information: White sturgeon retention on the Columbia River and tributaries below the Wauna power lines is currently open seven days per week through April 30, as per permanent regulations. May 1 through May 11, retention of white sturgeon is prohibited. The minimum size for this area, currently 42 inches, switches to 45 inches May 12. Retention of green sturgeon is prohibited in the Columbia River.

Information contact: (360) 696-6211. For latest information press *1010.


Decipher That.

I think there is a deadline about 1000 yards (wild guess) down from the shad deadline where the sturgeon fisherman start. I can't imagine they would allow you to fish for sturgeon above there where they are just swimming everywhere...

So this emergency rule change flyer for 2007 was just a joke they put up and put their insignia on it?

and as far as that goes if i remember right....it takes just about as long on large tackle with he larger ones ( see post about kwikfish catching sturgeon)

cracker move....well i cant argue at that point

i am wondering what this flyer i saw laminated on this board was all about then....it didnt make sense to me but nevertheless it said what it said. when i go up there for Angling Angels i will take a picture for ya

i had 2 witnesses....it was at least 6 feet long. it was as just short of being as big around as my waist. all three of us guesstimated 60-70 pounds. maybe they will chime in.

Oh I was just saying if it was in real peril for being worn out it would have popped you off in two seconds, not saying it was small. Just getting your back as far as the hurting the endangered fish comment said earlier. If that fish was not going to make it and was wearing itself out and was 6 ft. long it would have broke you off like it did. It wouldnt sit there and die from exhaustion. Pretty good fighting though, keeping such a massive fish on for so long.

what a battle. i have respect for u

The emergency regs confused me. I reread them, and as they are posted on the boards around the boat launch near the bypass and boat launch are, it reads up to Bonneville dam. Although it would have been an easy argument that the emergency opening states Bonneville dam, and not "the sturgeon deadline", I didn't have intention of keeping any fish. If I did, I would have brought appropriate gear, and would have double checked with a phone call. We didn't bring any gear other than side drifting rods, and shad darts. If Merg gives the impression we were targeting 25-500 pound fish on ultralight gear he's F.O.S.

I will admit I didn't bust off the sturgeon when they were hooked.
I was a little curious how big of a sturgeon a guy could land on a knotted pube, and a safety pin.

Did land a couple that were 8 and 15 pounds each, on 6 pound test and a size 6 hook. And did have a 30-40 pound fish on for about 40 minutes, took me to the bottom of my spool twice, had half my line back before it farted on the line and he swam away to continue the shad feast. Sorry if my XJ 9'6 rod, and Izorline 6 pound copolymer line caused an over sized sturgeon to fail to spawn.

I didn't see merg put any bait on his hook, although the sizes of hook we were using it couldn't have been bigger than a shad booger. Dude, don't use boogers as bait, its gross. And the fish he crackered, it really was at least 50 pounds. I"m pretty good at guessing weight, that fish went well over 60 inches and was very squat/thick.


You forgot to mention that you and hohbomb saw that smaller sturgeon charge up on my shad jig 2 feet off the bottom. I always thought sturgeon were close to blind.

Yes, it's true: merg's fish was big. (incedentally, when he hooked and landed a smaller one he refused to allow eager shad fishermen to net his fish. He was quite obviously NOT desirous of hurting any sturgeon.)

And Yes: I, being of sound mind and body, did, on the date in question, witness a sturgeon come charging out of the depths and bash its face into Vhawk's 1/32oz shad dart and become hooked in it's face with a size 6 hook.

I witnessed many shad being drowned in bloody buckets, impaled upon stringers, bled from the gills with scissors, and bashed in the head with rocks and small sticks, but on NO OCCASION did I see sturgeon being prevented from spawning or being emotionally or physically abused.

thanks

Nice report. Looks like good times.

Emotional abuse, that's the goal. It's why I'm going back tomorrow with a snoopy rod, more 6 pound line, a red and white bobber, and some 1/32 oz crappie jigs. I'm going to land one of those 8 footers we saw swimming around.

Maybe mext week I'll fly down to Australia and fish for black marlin with bass poppers.

Thanks for sharing the tale of the one that gat away.
Great story.

Hans