Date: November 29, 2001
To: PFIC Message Board
From: BankShot
Subject: Sturgeon action heating up!
I think the next 36-48 hours should be good with stable weather before Fri night/Saturdays storm blows through, plus the full/moon and last nights gully washer... Everyday for the last week when I cross the Carquinez Bridge that water is looking darker and darker. -bs
Name: flatfish hunter
STURGEON @ McNears !!!!.. Woke up kind of late today, 8:30 and went to McNears to meet up with neptune. I got there around 10:30 after stopping by Western Boat to get some mud shrimp and grass shrimp. When I got there I saw neptune and he said he had just lost a sturgeon about a half hour before I arrived. Anywas I baited up my Pro gear and cast out with some grass shrimp, then I sat it down. Then I baited my 7’6 G-loomis (1/4-1 oz. casting) with my Penn 955 (12 lb. Vanish). About 5 minutes go by and I hear my clicker on my 955 go off. I gave it some line then I gave it a humdinger of a hook set (like I was casting the other direction) and my rod doubles over and the fight begins. I was fishing the shallows and ended up towards the cleaning station, it almost spooled me. It had a another 30 yards to go. It took me about 20 minutes to get him close, and when I did it went under the pier. I had to muscle it away from about three pilings. When it came out, all we see is this 5 1/2 to 6 foot sturgeon come to the surface. Estimated weight lower 90 to lower 100s. It went back under the pier with a fury and burned me off on the piling. If it wasn’t for the piling I would have landed that fish on 12 lb. Vanish. Now I know the fish are there. Two others hooked, 1 shorty and the other burned off too. Going back next weekend. FlatFish Hunter A.K.A ali
Name: neptune1234
Yeah Baby! I hooked up with one around the same size at 9am’ish. On mud shrimp. Played it for a good 15 minutes. 30 lb. test on a 12’ Diawa combo. Got him up close enough to see the weight. Nothin doin’ for him though. Started for the pilings for the second time and I tightened up a bit too much. Bang! Loose! The hook bent and pulled right out. Man was I pi..ed. Flatfish Hunter showed up during the next series of casts. Puts out right next to me and bam! Before we had even said our hellos he’s hooked up. Half hour fight later a big old dino isn’t letting the lasso get over his tail. Spooked a bit and manages to brush the 12 lb. test on the pilings. Free WILLY! Swam away with a little bit of new dentistry. It was catch and release I swear! Really! Other than the other bad hook set and a few babies that was it for sturgeon action. Which in my opinion was pretty hot. About a half dozen skates came up on the end of the pier on hi/low baited with chovies. Two keeper stripers and a bunch of kingfish. I spent the rest of the day feeding bullheads and crabs. Also caught one mitten crab. There are lots of those around. One of the skates when gutted had a whole 3” rock crab in its stomach along with 2 small bullheads. Could you imagine trying to crap that out? I was thinking about using the mitten crab for bait. Nahhh! Crunch! All in all a pretty good day. Anyone know anything about the herring spawn? Fsih oN!
Name: Corbinaman1
A Six Foot Sturgeon? That is HUGE! I wish we had those down in Southern California!! Too bad about losing it... dang pilings!! I mostly surf fish, so that is one thing I don”t have to worry about. However kelp, heavy surf, and wind are another matter!
Name: striperkiller
Neptune, I wish I had been there... I got that sick lasso... you slip the lasso over and down the line, right over the fish’s head... simple, ain’t it? -joe
Name: neptune1234
Come to think of it if I had done that with my lasso we could have caught it. Next Sunday we get it in the bag, I vow it.
Name: BankShot
A Six Foot Sturgeon? Some dude over at Eckely Pier taught me a trick with sturgeon. Sturgeon spook easily, so the trick was to make as much noise as possible to keep them from diving under the pier. This guy was banging on pier boards, kicking the railing, stomping up and down, (guy was wearing some big boots too) other spectator’s joined in on the ruckus) and let me tell you it must of worked. Every time that fish came to the edge of the pier, it tried darting off the opposite direction until it tired out.
I also had an unfortunate incident on Sat, sturgeon fishing from Benicia State Park. Actually ended up bringing a good size striper up to the rocks, maybe around 28” or so. I thought I had the sucker tired out. I mean, it was just kind of floating around without any movement. Seemed liked a good time to unhook her and snap a couple pics. So, grabbed it by the lower jaw to insert pliers when the beast springs to life and shakes violently. The striper gets loose and happily swims away, the double hook setup springs loose and I end up with a razor sharp 6/0 Gamakastu hook embedded in my left palm... ouch. I managed to free the hook without cutting it but ended up with a very nice bleeding wound. That incident sent me back to me car for first aid. Poured some hydrogen peroxide over it and headed home for further treatment and called it quits for the weekend. -bs
Name: jason chin
Landing sturgeon from a pier/platform. The pier is by far the hardest place to land large sturgeon. Barnacle covered pilings, weaving in and out of lines, and a strong current on top of everything else. Couple of things I noticed: The braided lines in this situation I believe prevail over mono. Heavy braid 65 and up is great in this situation because at the last minute you can really put a stop to that fish from going under. I save the light tackle for the boat. You just can’t stop ‘em sometimes from going under but this will help.
Snaring fish. The only way I’ll try to get any sturgeon 46” on up off a pier is with a snare on a rope. Mine consists of a lasso made from a bike lock-up cable. One end goes through a loop so if you pull it cinches down. A heavy-duty paper-clip attached keeps the loop open while I drop it down before I’m ready to set it. So know sturgy is laying down at the edge of the pier looking like he/she is ready to be hoisted up. Too many times have I seen the snare go down and the instant it hits the fish’s nose disaster, the fish thrashes a little more and now you have a tangled line crossed around a snare that you have to fix while your chances look slimmer and slimmer. I drop it down first before I lace it around the pole and get that shock out of em’, let them do there thing and then it’s time. Slide it around the butt of your rod and once it’s past the first fins set it. Loosen your drag so in case it slips out on the way up you still have a chance. Which has happened to me with my drag locked down and oops SNAP. One time we had one around 65” off Dumbarton and the first snare went down but the fish moved and it was too late it was snared around the tail. This is not a good way to hoist ‘em up because the weight of the belly hanging down could make ‘em slip out. Not to worry we dropped another one down and got that one around the head and pulled ‘em up with two snares. Jason “bayrunner”
Name: nufo
Sturgeon everywhere! I think it may have finally broke loose. My buddy has caught 3 in the South Delta in the past couple of weeks. All were keepers and 2 in one night as a matter of fact. Now if I could only get my mind off of stripers. Nufo
Name: stinkyfingers
Does that noise making thing work ?? Yes, just ask Mjonesjr...
Name: stan
I guess the recent herring spawn had an effect on the sturgeon. I saw two herring boats on Saturday in S.F.
To: PFIC Message Board
From: BankShot
Subject: Sturgeon action heating up!
I think the next 36-48 hours should be good with stable weather before Fri night/Saturdays storm blows through, plus the full/moon and last nights gully washer... Everyday for the last week when I cross the Carquinez Bridge that water is looking darker and darker. -bs
Name: flatfish hunter
STURGEON @ McNears !!!!.. Woke up kind of late today, 8:30 and went to McNears to meet up with neptune. I got there around 10:30 after stopping by Western Boat to get some mud shrimp and grass shrimp. When I got there I saw neptune and he said he had just lost a sturgeon about a half hour before I arrived. Anywas I baited up my Pro gear and cast out with some grass shrimp, then I sat it down. Then I baited my 7’6 G-loomis (1/4-1 oz. casting) with my Penn 955 (12 lb. Vanish). About 5 minutes go by and I hear my clicker on my 955 go off. I gave it some line then I gave it a humdinger of a hook set (like I was casting the other direction) and my rod doubles over and the fight begins. I was fishing the shallows and ended up towards the cleaning station, it almost spooled me. It had a another 30 yards to go. It took me about 20 minutes to get him close, and when I did it went under the pier. I had to muscle it away from about three pilings. When it came out, all we see is this 5 1/2 to 6 foot sturgeon come to the surface. Estimated weight lower 90 to lower 100s. It went back under the pier with a fury and burned me off on the piling. If it wasn’t for the piling I would have landed that fish on 12 lb. Vanish. Now I know the fish are there. Two others hooked, 1 shorty and the other burned off too. Going back next weekend. FlatFish Hunter A.K.A ali
Name: neptune1234
Yeah Baby! I hooked up with one around the same size at 9am’ish. On mud shrimp. Played it for a good 15 minutes. 30 lb. test on a 12’ Diawa combo. Got him up close enough to see the weight. Nothin doin’ for him though. Started for the pilings for the second time and I tightened up a bit too much. Bang! Loose! The hook bent and pulled right out. Man was I pi..ed. Flatfish Hunter showed up during the next series of casts. Puts out right next to me and bam! Before we had even said our hellos he’s hooked up. Half hour fight later a big old dino isn’t letting the lasso get over his tail. Spooked a bit and manages to brush the 12 lb. test on the pilings. Free WILLY! Swam away with a little bit of new dentistry. It was catch and release I swear! Really! Other than the other bad hook set and a few babies that was it for sturgeon action. Which in my opinion was pretty hot. About a half dozen skates came up on the end of the pier on hi/low baited with chovies. Two keeper stripers and a bunch of kingfish. I spent the rest of the day feeding bullheads and crabs. Also caught one mitten crab. There are lots of those around. One of the skates when gutted had a whole 3” rock crab in its stomach along with 2 small bullheads. Could you imagine trying to crap that out? I was thinking about using the mitten crab for bait. Nahhh! Crunch! All in all a pretty good day. Anyone know anything about the herring spawn? Fsih oN!
Name: Corbinaman1
A Six Foot Sturgeon? That is HUGE! I wish we had those down in Southern California!! Too bad about losing it... dang pilings!! I mostly surf fish, so that is one thing I don”t have to worry about. However kelp, heavy surf, and wind are another matter!
Name: striperkiller
Neptune, I wish I had been there... I got that sick lasso... you slip the lasso over and down the line, right over the fish’s head... simple, ain’t it? -joe
Name: neptune1234
Come to think of it if I had done that with my lasso we could have caught it. Next Sunday we get it in the bag, I vow it.
Name: BankShot
A Six Foot Sturgeon? Some dude over at Eckely Pier taught me a trick with sturgeon. Sturgeon spook easily, so the trick was to make as much noise as possible to keep them from diving under the pier. This guy was banging on pier boards, kicking the railing, stomping up and down, (guy was wearing some big boots too) other spectator’s joined in on the ruckus) and let me tell you it must of worked. Every time that fish came to the edge of the pier, it tried darting off the opposite direction until it tired out.
I also had an unfortunate incident on Sat, sturgeon fishing from Benicia State Park. Actually ended up bringing a good size striper up to the rocks, maybe around 28” or so. I thought I had the sucker tired out. I mean, it was just kind of floating around without any movement. Seemed liked a good time to unhook her and snap a couple pics. So, grabbed it by the lower jaw to insert pliers when the beast springs to life and shakes violently. The striper gets loose and happily swims away, the double hook setup springs loose and I end up with a razor sharp 6/0 Gamakastu hook embedded in my left palm... ouch. I managed to free the hook without cutting it but ended up with a very nice bleeding wound. That incident sent me back to me car for first aid. Poured some hydrogen peroxide over it and headed home for further treatment and called it quits for the weekend. -bs
Name: jason chin
Landing sturgeon from a pier/platform. The pier is by far the hardest place to land large sturgeon. Barnacle covered pilings, weaving in and out of lines, and a strong current on top of everything else. Couple of things I noticed: The braided lines in this situation I believe prevail over mono. Heavy braid 65 and up is great in this situation because at the last minute you can really put a stop to that fish from going under. I save the light tackle for the boat. You just can’t stop ‘em sometimes from going under but this will help.
Snaring fish. The only way I’ll try to get any sturgeon 46” on up off a pier is with a snare on a rope. Mine consists of a lasso made from a bike lock-up cable. One end goes through a loop so if you pull it cinches down. A heavy-duty paper-clip attached keeps the loop open while I drop it down before I’m ready to set it. So know sturgy is laying down at the edge of the pier looking like he/she is ready to be hoisted up. Too many times have I seen the snare go down and the instant it hits the fish’s nose disaster, the fish thrashes a little more and now you have a tangled line crossed around a snare that you have to fix while your chances look slimmer and slimmer. I drop it down first before I lace it around the pole and get that shock out of em’, let them do there thing and then it’s time. Slide it around the butt of your rod and once it’s past the first fins set it. Loosen your drag so in case it slips out on the way up you still have a chance. Which has happened to me with my drag locked down and oops SNAP. One time we had one around 65” off Dumbarton and the first snare went down but the fish moved and it was too late it was snared around the tail. This is not a good way to hoist ‘em up because the weight of the belly hanging down could make ‘em slip out. Not to worry we dropped another one down and got that one around the head and pulled ‘em up with two snares. Jason “bayrunner”
Name: nufo
Sturgeon everywhere! I think it may have finally broke loose. My buddy has caught 3 in the South Delta in the past couple of weeks. All were keepers and 2 in one night as a matter of fact. Now if I could only get my mind off of stripers. Nufo
Name: stinkyfingers
Does that noise making thing work ?? Yes, just ask Mjonesjr...
Name: stan
I guess the recent herring spawn had an effect on the sturgeon. I saw two herring boats on Saturday in S.F.