OR Sturgeon 4/17 & 18... lots of pix

[pargo lsb]

Highlite of the trip!
Our boat took $250 jackpot for Sturgeon, and $500 jackpot for salmon with a freaking 7 INCH salmon! We split the JP so I got $175 for having my *** on the right boat.

Where: Columbia River, Portland. Oregon, U.S.A.
When: April 17 & April 18, 2009 - 2 full days of fishing
What: Sturgeon & Salmon
Who: 20 anglers in 5 boats

20 of us flew to Portland Oregon on 4-16 and tried our luck on sturgeon fishing. In compliance with the strict SLOT limit (38" to 58", head to fork) for sturgeon keepers in the Columbia River, we released lots of undersized and few oversized fish.

We total 11 sturgeons keepers, all were filleted and vacuum packed by Otto in downtown Portland. Otto charges approx $15 per fish, which I thought was very reasonable.

Day One:
Rainy & cold. Morning wake up call was 3:30 AM .We left the dock at 5:00 AM and didn’t return to the dock till 6:00 PM . In other words, we spent over 12 hours in the river all day trying to get the right size fish.

The biggest ones released were 7+ feet & 150+ pounds. Overall, it was tough fishing. The water temperature was 5F to low... and bite was tough.

We marked tons of Sturgeon on the graph... They were stacked but just won't fxxken bite.

Day Two:
No rain but was even colder, & tougher fishing. The group skunked on Salmon, except our 7 incher miracle, and 1 legal sturgeon.

Final Note:
I like to add that the "usual spring fishing" is much better then this. My bud who arranged this trip went last April, and caught more then 300 sturgeons in 2 days between 4 guys. Getting limit was easily done in few hrs. PM me if you want more info.

Our boat & guide Todd. This guy fishes hard. Highly recommended, contact info included... just tell him Richard send you
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/IMG_0194.jpg
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/IMG_0196.jpg
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/IMG_0198.jpg

this is the 7 foot monster... est 150+
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/CIMG1643.jpg

our boat, Charles, Benson, Ed, and I
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/Boat_Benson_IMG_1660.jpg

Charles with his JP fish, 53"
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/IMG_0206.jpg
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0820.jpg

Ed and his 44"
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0810.jpg

Me with Ed's fish... I did not get any legal...
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/808.jpg

Benson & short sturgeon
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0814.jpg

our bud's boat with 4 legals... well done
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/Group.jpg

Wet and cold in the morning, MUST have good rain gear
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0794.jpg
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0793.jpg

Tons of boats on the water trolling for king salmon
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/dscn0802.jpg

Minivan trunk shot... we forgot to bring cooler
http://i692.photobucket.com/albums/vv288/pargolsb/2009%2004%20Columbia%20River/IMG_0213.jpg

Richard

[Poxy Boggards]

Man that looks like an awesome trip. Sturgeon are really fun to catch, they fight really hard, and are good eats to boot!

One of these days I am going to have to get up there to do battle with those dinos.

[Ifishtoolittle]

Where's the 7" JP salmon lol! Nice job on the JPs guys WTG!

[Liteliner]

Very nice goin on the sturgeon. :ROFL: 7 inch jackpot salmon. Nice. I got two very good friends who live out there and im suppose to visit for the fall salmon. Hopefully I get into some. Thanks for the report though. Awesome pics.

[ghetto dad]

Nice fish guys!!!! Really nice!!!

GD

[pargo lsb]

Very nice goin on the sturgeon. :ROFL: 7 inch jackpot salmon. Nice. I got two very good friends who live out there and im suppose to visit for the fall salmon. Hopefully I get into some. Thanks for the report though. Awesome pics.

according to my guide Todd, fall salmon run is at least 10x better than spring... got get them!

[Wingnut]

Pargo, very cool report, we don't see that too often. Thanks for sharing your adventure. :Cool:

[Native Gal]

WOW that was one xlnt outing, thanks for sharing.

NG
:Smile:

[Airn33]

Awesome report and pics, that looked like a great outing with great results! I have to go Sturgeon hunting someday, looks like a blast. How is the eating, what do they taste like?