With the weather forecast for rain the next two weeks, yesterday, we
decided to try for sturgeon again.Same
time, same place, and same technique as the last time, accept that I did not
attempt to use the salmon roe as bait :-( I swapped over to ghost shrimp also.
We managed a few sturgeon bites!
Once again we landed 2 keeper striped bass, with the Captain
landing the most.
The Captain landed four total! While trolling, two “shakers”
(these are known as undersized striped bass) were boated. Another two were boated with ghost shrimp while fishing for sturgeon.
The Patriarch landed a keeper while trolling with his
favorite white with red-eye striper lure.
And, JU is still searching for his striper/sturgeon game for 2016 :-)
So again, same result as the last outing, two keeper striped
bass and still NO sturgeon.
The past Friday, February 12th, was my first
fishing trip for 2016.The Captain and
the Patriarch were to meet me at O six thirty.
I woke up at 1:00 AM: “Is it fishing time, yet?”
At 3:00 AM: “Now, is it fishing time?”
Finally, at 5:30 AM, I got up to get ready.The Captain and the Patriarch must have been
just as excited as I was because they came by at 6:20 AM.
The boat was ready: battery charged the night before, check;
gas: check; trailer tires, check; fishing poles, check; tackle box, check; and
camera, check.
Did I brag about the quickest route to the Sacramento River
yet?Recently, the Cosumnes River Blvd
was opened and connected Hwy 99 to I-5 and through to the Sacramento River!We made pretty good time out to the river.
We were planning on doing two passes trolling for stripers
at Liberty Island then head out to our sturgeon honey hole.
During the first pass, the Captain hooked a striper.We were all excited, blood pumping and a lot
of “Wahoos” all around.However, when we
saw it, we were all laughing because it was a baby striper and was not even worthy
of the net!The Captain let it go to
tell all the big boys to come out and play.Unfortunately, that was the only striper while trolling for the first
pass.The outgoing tide was changing
quickly; so we changed plan to do the second pass for striper and instead
headed towards our sturgeon honey hole.
At our location, the Captain and the Patriarch used ghost
shrimp and I used salmon roe as bait.Just as the first pole was in the water and we were preparing the other
poles, “Whack, whack!”The Patriarch got
a hit!He set the hook hard;
missed.We were all pumped.Then it was quiet for the next hour after we
were all setup.
Then it was the Captain’s turn.Sturgeon sucked on the ghost shrimp.Bam!The
Captain set the hook!Missed, again.
A few minutes after, the tip of the Captain’s pole bobbled
up and down.Lighting quick hook set and
it was fish on!The Captain was shaking
his head motioning that it felt very small.He was correct.It was barely a
keeper, but it was not a sturgeon; it was a striper!
The next few hours, the Captain and the Patriarch had more
sturgeon bites, but they missed them all.However, the Captain managed to land another bigger striper in the
process.It was the Captain’s day: “The
Captain is in da house.”Or rather, “the
Captain is on the river :-)”
Where was I in all this?I didn’t get a bite all day!The
sturgeon and the stripers did not like salmon roe that day.I tested out my GoPro with a shoulder strap
and that didn’t work out either.I went
back with my reliable Canon camera for all the actions.I ate well and was among one of the best
company.
Until next time, have a blessed day.
First Keeper!
Barely Hanging By the Lips.
Second Keeper!
Testing out the GoPro Shoulder Strap. It didn't work out. I like the Chest Strap more. Here's the video of the baby striper that was released.
Back to the Canon Camera. The white stripes are annoying. Here's the video of the first striper that was kept.
Have you got your 2016 California Fishing License yet? I've received mine since the middle of December 2015! As usual, mine is a lifetime fishing license for California including all the extra stamps, except for sturgeon fishing, which I had to pay an additional fee. Yes, of course, I purchased that stamp also :-)
There is still a few more days left for legal salmon fishing in the Sacramento River in 2015, December 16th being the last day. I have pretty much called it quits the past Monday, December 7th. I feel extremely blessed to have landed three from the banks for starting the season so late. I'll be more prepared next season :-)
I have met some fabulous new fishermen while salmon fishing. I really admire the RainbowTroutMan. For starters, we fished pretty much the same waters in the Sierras. We exchanged lots of memorable fishing stories. Second, the man is 76 years old and a Vietnam Vet! The way that I see him fish out there every time and the joy that he exhibits while fishing is something very special to behold. If I am blessed, we shall cross paths again in the near future.
Now, on to the fishing summary for the year. We did not catch any sturgeon this year. The golden trout is still only in my dreams. However, we caught all the other fish that we targeted. This year I decided to feature my second eldest daughter (Ms. Mystic) in the middle because she caught the first trophy worthy trout during our annual camping trip (ACT 2015). This is no accident or beginner's luck. She also caught the first trophy worthy trout the previous year, ACT 2014.
The picture to the left of RainbowTroutMan, is the fisherman (73 years old) landing his only salmon of the season, a 20 pounder. I netted it up for him and the hook fell off while the fish was in my net! I ran into him a few weeks later in the fishing section at Walmart, Elk Grove. Of course our wives were at different sections of the store. We all met up before the shopping was done and I just had to reminisce about how I netted the fish for him :-)
Until next time, have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I fished this morning from 7 AM until Noon without a bite. Around 9 AM, I was joined by KingFisherman and RainbowTroutMan. The salmon escaped us today. Here's the spreadsheet I put together for your enjoyment:
In summary: Since late October, I have put in 19 attempts at catching a salmon from the banks; traveled more than 1,100 miles in 19 hours; fished for 36 hours; and caught 3 salmon. I averaged around 60 casts per hour; therefore, I have cast 2,160 times!
The thing about fishermen is that they all can get up super early, especially when it's the salmon run! When I got the fishing hole this morning at 7:30 AM, there were already three fishermen there. It's a good thing there was one more available spot for me to fish. It's an added bonus when I know all the fishermen there.
"Hey JU, you better hurry up because all three of us just got bites in succession!" Said the RainbowTroutMan.
Using my same setup that landed the 5 and 10 pounder, I used the same technique of casting, waiting for the lure to hit bottom, snap the line, then slowly retrieve. I kept this up for 30 minutes when it happened! Again, a slight tug. Bam. Set the hook! The fight was on!
Friday the 13th I wrote about a fisherman that I ran into at the Sac. River that taught me how to use the Flying C. Like a good student that I am, I tweaked my setup to match up with his. Since then, I went from zero salmon in 12 tries to two salmon in 4 tries. Not bad.
I ran into him again on the river and now he's up to 24 salmon for the season. Also, he corrected me that his biggest salmon this season was caught on November 12th weighing a whopping 36 pounds.
Without further ado, my teacher from the banks: The Salmon Hunter!
