Last month, I wrote about my quest for a 10-pound smallmouth in my home state of Idaho. I recently got after the brown ones with my longtime buddy Chad LeBlanc on a day when the weather was right. We sacked five that totaled 28-pounds. They weighed from 5.14 to 6.53.
I had planned on going again. Then something happened while smallmouth fishing on the Snake River that launched me in a totally different direction.
I always see guides on the Snake with giant rods and 100-pound braid. I assumed they were after big catfish.
My curiosity got the best of me, and I asked these anglers what they were after. They said sturgeon.
I wasn’t aware that the Snake supported sturgeon. It dumps into the Columbia River, which courses through the state of Washington and is regarded as a world-class sturgeon fishery.
The guides told me the Columbia is known for producing numbers of sturgeon, but that some of the biggest sturgeon in the Northwest come from the Snake.
When they informed me they catch 7- to 9-foot Sturgeon, I put my quest for a 10-pound smallmouth on hold. I’ve made it my personal mission to land a giant sturgeon. It has become an obsession.
I’m like anyone else who is new to something. I’ve been pestering knowledgeable sturgeon anglers at a local tackle shop and losing sleep late at night, YouTubing about how to catch sturgeon.
I’m not even familiar with how to catch sturgeon bait. I’ve learned they like 6- to 10-inch trout and that crappies are like candy to them. Catching sturgeon bait is a new adventure for me and my 8-year-old son Dustin.
We’re taking ultra-light spinning tackle to the Snake River and fishing little spinners and flat worms for trout. I really don’t know much about crappie fishing either. I called in a favor to my friend Jeremy Lawyer to find out how to catch them.
The guides told me sturgeon hang out in the river’s deepest holes. I spent two days idling on the Snake in a jet boat and found eight primo holes from 16 to 25 feet deep.
I dropped in my trolling motor with a LiveScope transducer attached to it and could see those huge, prehistoric fish sitting on the bottom.
I ordered saltwater rods and reels from Daiwa, along with 130-pound braid, which is what they recommended at the tackle shop. They told me that a big sturgeon would “test me to the limit.”
Simms has been a sponsor of mine for over 10 years. I’ve practically lived in their raingear and sun protection apparel but never owned a pair of their waders, which is what they are known for.
You need waders because regulations prohibit taking these protected fish from the water. This is a catch-and-release fishery.
You hook a sturgeon while fishing from an anchored boat, then hold on for 45 minutes to an hour as it pulls you up and downstream. When the fish is finally subdued, you jump in with waders and hold it in the water for photos before releasing it.
I’ve been at this for two weeks and have yet to catch a sturgeon. But I’ve found so much joy in the process, it has totally stoked my interest in fishing again. If I succeed, I’ll wrap my arms around the biggest fish I’ve ever caught in my life.
McCormick in the Elites: Finally, I’m very pleased to announce Tristan McCormick, who was my travel partner when I fished the Bassmaster Opens, became an Elite Series angler via the Elite Qualifiers. My travel partner is back!
