First Sturgeon on the Fleet

It's been a while since I've been out and this has been long over due. Ethan and I took the boat out to the Mothball fleet today. Launched out of Monty at a very crowded boat ramp, typical weekend for you. Made it out to the fleet and we were on anchor close to 0830 and immediately saw some good marks on the graph.

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Got the rods out and started the waiting game. We both were throwing eel/grass combo's, and roe ghost combo's. The fabled hot bait and our own personal favorite.

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After that we just started our waiting game to see how long it was going to take before Mr. sturg came out to play. Not maybe 20 minutes after being on anchor Ethan's eel/grass gets hammered by what looks like an aggressive striper hit. Ethan was late to the rod though and missed his chance. No more then maybe 30 seconds later my rod with the same bait goes off and I drill him. At first thought I thought it might have been a shaker sturgeon, got it boat side though an its a 30 inch striper!!!

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Nice bonus and a hell of a by catch. Get him taken care of I drop rod number one back in, then Ethan throws his rod in, I throw my second one, then while Ethan is baiting up his second one my roe rod takes a dip and reach over swing home and I hook into my sturgeon this time.

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Fish came right to the surface and did his tail walk thing to let me know he was my keeper I've been dreaming about for years now. A tough 10+ min fight later and I get the fish boat side. He comes up belly up and I knew he was done. I tell Ethan he is ready and he reaches over with the net. I give it one more pull just to bring the fish within net range and the hook pops out!!! My heart sank, but I trust my net man and he saved the day getting that fish in the net before it came too and we got that thing in the boat and secure.

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Huge sigh of relief and serious excitement I finally did it!!! Have to give some serious credit to my captain Ethan though. I couldn't have done it without him and his amazing netting skills.

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Got my Sturgeon and its only 0900. Flying high on cloud 9 nothing could bring me down. With success and action like that I couldn't for a better day. I was waiting for Ethan to stick his so we could hopefully bring limits home. The tide turned to the outgo though and we stopped graphing fish. Stuck it out for a couple of hours before moving around looking for better waters, but found nothing but mitten crabs stealing out bait. Unfortunately it was one of those days that started off great, but never got any better from there. Fished until 1300 without a single other hit. Weather was getting hot, decided to call it from there. Pretty damn successful half day of fishing, I've got this bad boy getting ready for the smoker and grill tomorrow. Cleaning my first sturgeon was a cool experience and I can't wait to cook one for the first time.

Hopefully there will be many more to come cause I can't wait to do it again.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

 P.S. Just realized I never included the size. 56 inches at the fork weighing in at 46lbs.

Golfing and Fishing at Amador 1/26/14

Didn't know Amador had a course did you? Well maybe not the kind of course you were thinking of. Took Deni out to play a round of disc golf on Lake Amador's new course with the plan of wrapping up the day with some trout on a stringer hopefully.

Got to the lake around 1000 and went straight for the course. It's a hobbie I'm hoping to get a little more into. I know it's not fishing so I won't talk about it too much. If anyone cares to try this some day though. Amador definitely isn't a beginners course. The first 5 holes are a breeze. Nice straight clear shots in open area's.

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but pretty much hole 6 to the end, your climbing up and over hills and trying to throw disc's through BS like this.

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Made for some fun, but very challenging tosses. Wrapped that up just after 1200 or so after making fools out our selfs out there it was time to try and catch some fish.

Made our first stop at the dam. Saw a few people with fish on stringers and a few rising so I thought it would be worth a shot. Deni threw a powerworm out under a bobber and laid down, she was beat after climbing up and down all of those hills. I tossed out a powerbait rod and tossed my jig around. Deni missed a good hit right off the bat not looking at her rod. I stood up above the water looking for any cruisers so I could try my sight fishing thing and just toss jigs at the fish I could see.

Didn't take long for me to see about a dozen fish cruising the banks. Tossed in and hooked up right away and got the skunk off. Kept at it for another hour for several chasers. Switched up colors till I found one they really wanted. Got a second hook up that broke me off after seeing so many fish just chase my jig and not commit to it. Sure enough though I had a kid come over right next to me to practice his casting on the sissy stick and a group of cousin's came over and started tossing there 1 ounce weights and giant water bobbers right in front of me. There goes my shot at any more cruisers.

Got Discouraged from that, so Deni and I packed up shop and took off towards the spillway. Stopped and fished a couple of different spots until we found a cove that fish were consistently holding in. Deni was the first to get one here on her powerworm.

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I was able to stick one on a gold kastmaster shortly after that.

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Kept working our way further back into the cove for more bites here and there. Stuck a few more fish on the powerworms in pink and chartreuse as well as the kastmaster, but a few came unbuttoned as well a couple got stuck in the trees along the shoreline. It was kind of a rough day. Fished until sundown for 4 on the stringer and just as many or more farmed or missed. Kind of a tough bite, but still a fantastic day on the water with my girl.

Can't wait to do it again.

Our catch at the cleaning station.

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Talked to a few boaters at the cleaning station. One boat had their limits, but they said they stopped on a point and soaked powerbait to get it. Beyond that the trolling bite they said was tough, not to mention they said they had their trolling lines cut twice by other boaters coming up behind them and trolling over their lines. Most bankers I saw had fish but only maybe 1-3 per person. I don't know why it seemed like people struggled more today. Maybe it was overcast or just the crowds, it was packed today.

Fishing is good though if you go you will catch fish. Look for risers and don't be afraid to do some searching if your off the bank. Not all of the fish are at the dam despite the amount of people over there fishing it.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

First AR Steelie of 2014

I've made a couple of half ass attempts going out for steelhead this year for maybe 30 mins each time. I see the river and it just looks more and more depressing. My friend Jessi told me she wanted to go fishing. Didn't have too much time or too much extra spending cash to go out to Amador like I wanted to to get her on some decent trout action, but tossing for some steelies on the AR is still fun. We worked a decent area of the Barbless section hoping to find some fish holding somewhere. I gave Jessi and spoon to toss around and I drifted roe. Worked a lot of deep holes and a few riffles looking for em. Talked to and saw a lot of fisherman a long the way and everyone said they had been working the river for the past couple of days without any luck. Tough times for sure.

After a couple of hours of walking a long and working our way down I finally got a little tap on roe and managed to hook into one. Had some pull, but not much weight. May have been small, but I'll tell you these little guys can pull!

Got my half pounder in and got my skunk off for the day and the season.

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Running off a little high Kept working down looking for more biters, but never found anything. Saw hundreds of fish along the river, but they were all dried up dead salmon carcasses. The river reeks of dead salmon just a for warning if your headed out there. Fished from 1000 till about 1300 and called it from there. Nice few hours on the water had a blast, hope to find more time to try and get on more steelies this year.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Squat and Rot 1/13/14

Got the Sturgeon fever hard, and I'm still dying for my keeper. Talked my dad into getting out in the first time in about 6 months. Old man is getting older. We got on the water around 0830 and headed for the powerlines. Graphed the area for a while and really didn't see much on the graph. Finally saw a few marks at the bottom of Decker. Didn't see any bigger marks, but its all we could find so lets try it for now. Dropped the pick and immediately started getting bit on everything, grass, ghost, roe, and shad. Just some aggressive nibbles though. Finally my dad sticks one on grass and takes the skunk off of the boat.

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Never seen a cat caught on grass before that was a new one.

Next thing I got a keeper striper in the boat on shad and another I got my limit of schoolies. Having a great day already. I was looking at the graph the whole time and I kept seeing one or two bigger marks on there so I know Mr. Sturg is down there, but the shaker stripers and cats were tearing up our bait so quick I don't think the sturgeon could get to it in time. After going through about 3/4 of out bait I made the call to move.

Looking for some more promising marks on the screen I graphed all of Sherman, everything in front of chain, up and down all of broad. It wasn't until pitts that I found anything at all on the graph. Its only my third trip out now, but I've never had to search the much to find em yet, maybe most of the fish moved up? Maybe I don't really know.

Dropped the baits in and waited for the big guy. We dropped in on the slack so we waited for the swing and got to fish the begging of the outgo. No shaker bites here, good sign. I get my first pump on roe, swing and a miss. 20 mins later I get a slam on shad, swing and my freaking rod snaps in half. It was an older rod my grandpa's friend passed down to me, no joke I think the rod is probably 40 years old I was probably just time for it. Down to one rod I stuck it out with roe hoping I'll get one more chance. Got my classic sturgeon pump, swung hard and home, felt the weight of the fish, then I took a step back tripped over my seat and feel on my ass and lost the fish in the process. 3rd strike I'm out.

DFW came by shortly after to check us. Really nice actually, checked our gear, tags, and my stripers, and went on their way. Told us we were the first boat they saw to even have a fish on board so that made us feel a little confident. Stuck it out for a while longer, but no more bites. Wind was picking up and we saw a big tanker coming in so we took off and headed for home. Good thing too cause the water was getting sloppy. Off of the water just after 1500. No sturgeon today, but still a great fantastic day on the water. Fish in the box, got to get outside, and I finally got my dad back on the water since the salmon season opener. Can't ask for much more for that. Sorry I didn't take more pictures for you guys. We all know what schoolies look like and there wasn't too much all the picture worthy today. Next trip I think I might venture up river towards cache to try and find some more fish.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

Amador 12/28/13

My friend Brian Wilson (AKA Beachboy) gave me a call and said he was going to be home for the holidays from the Navy and wanted to get some fishing in while he was back. Don't have to tell me twice. Loaded up the tin can, grabbed him and off to Amador we went hoping for some hog sized trout. Up until today the biggest trout Brian had ever seen was your typical DFG 12 inch stockers, so he was in for a treat today. Arrived at the ramp around 0730 so a miserable sight of what it left of lake Amador. I forgot to get a wide shot for you guys, but standing at the top of the boat ramp you can't even see the water if that puts it in perspective. One boat launching at a time and its a shallow launch in a gully that's maybe only 20 ft wide. Glad I had the tin can today.

Dropped in and made out way trolling towards Mountain Springs only getting one short tap on a power worm along the way. Got back into the Arm and started seeing more fish rising. We pulled the trolling lines in and tried casting for em. Brian threw a kastmaster while I threw my jigs. We both immediately missed two solid hits right off the bat and struggled to find one to bite afterwards. Fish were rising all around us, but didn't want to hit. After 30+ mins of hitting em Brian finally gets one to take a kastmaster and takes the skunk off of the boat for the day.

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Brian was in disbelief when I told him for this lake that's a small fish, and we'll be getting into some bigger ones.

Kept plugging at em for another hour for no more bites. Hated the idea of leaving fish to find fish cause they were still rising, but we went back on the prowl to see if we could find some hungry fish that were willing to bite. Trolled rapala's out towards Jackson to see if anything else was happening there. On the way I got grabbed on a J-7 firetiger Rapala and managed to get my first to the boat.

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Now that's what I'm talking about. Probably about a 4lb hen to add to the box.

Kept trolling back into Jackson hoping to find some cruising schools to no luck. Just a sad sad sad little dribble emptying into the lake.

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Needless to say there wasn't much here. Brian did managed to lose one on his Kastmaster, but much less activity here. Didn't stay long, trolled back out and tried trolling around the lake for a while hoping the Rapala bite was on. Made 3 laps around the lake and ran all the way back into the Carson arm for nothing else. Talked to a lot of other boaters along the way, many were skunked, but most seemed to have 1-3 fish. The bank anglers seemed to be doing way better then the boaters were doing. Made our way back to mountain springs since we knew there were fish there. As we were entering the arm Brian gets a hit on his Rapala finally.

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Brought him in and landed the beauty.

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Not a monster, but a new PB for Brian.

Running on the high we made one more short lap around the lake with the Rap's hoping for another grab, but it never happened. Back to Mountain Springs beached the boat and got out to try and soak some bait for these guys. Soaked some powerbait off the bottom and a pink powerworm under a bobber. My powerworm got grabbed after 5 mins of us being there, that I didn't get to in time before he let go. Brian keep at it with his kastmaster casting towards rises. Stayed here for a little over an hour and we managed to get one each and missed a few other bites as well. Power worm worked for me and the kastmaster for Brian. Sun was going down so we hopped back into the boat to troll our way back to the ramp. Trolled powerworms all the way back and managed to grab one more before we made it back to the ramp.

Sitting at the bottom of the ramp with the boat, sent Brian to get my truck and bring the trailer down. I can't see where the road towards the parking lot and I know its a long walk, but it seemed like I was sitting there forever waiting on him to come back down with the trailer. That bad feeling like something happened hit me and I was a little worried, but I tried not so be. Maybe 10 mins later sure enough I see Brian walking down yelling for me. Beached the boat and got out to see that the Jackass drove my truck off of the god damn ramp.

It was too dark to get a picture so let me try to paint it for you guys. The cement ramp you back your trailer down is maybe only 15ft wide give or take. On either side is a straight drop into a ditch maybe 2.5ft down. As Brian backed my truck down he made a course correction and wasn't watching as the front right tire goes off the edge and gets stuck. Luckily I have a small light truck so a couple of guys came over to help me out and were able to lift my truck up just enough to hope the edge as I put it in reverse. Disaster averted, be very careful out there guys. Its too easy to get yourself in a pickle out there. After holding the ramp up for 15 mins looking like a couple of clowns we got the boat on the trailer and got out of there in a hurry.

Back at the cleaning station to end our day.

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Not the hottest day at Amador, but we got a nice haul to feed plenty of friends and family back at home. Beautiful day on the water, good fishing, great seeing Brian again, and except for our last minute mishap the day couldn't have been better.

Till Next Time Guys
Mark

More Delta Sturgeon 12/21/13

The crew of lads and I were back at it for another attempt for sturgeon. Launched from Sherman around 0730 or so. Did some searching around looking for fish on the graph. Found several area's with some fish on the graph. Stopped and dropped baits in each one for at least an hour for maybe 1 bite in each area. Stopped right at Sherman, looked all around Chain, made a couple of stops in Broad, and even went back to where we got Garrett on his fish last week. Saw marks on the screen, but the fish just weren't really biting today for us. Ran back and made our way up river to see if we could have any better luck there.

Searching around at this point it was just after 1300 and Ethan and Garrett were already talking about heading home early. I wasn't going to let that happen though, I don't play like that. Tides were changing and I was hoping that would help us out some. Dropped anchor at the Powerlines at the beginning of the incoming tide. Sitting on top of some marks that looked like this I had a decent amount of confidence.

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We had sardines, shad, grass, ghost, and roe in the water. Soon enough Garrett starts getting hit on sardines and before you know it we finally got a fish in the boat.

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Not our target fish, but Striper taco's are delicious. Fish in the box, good feeling.

Garrett and Ethan kept sardines and shad on to keep the action going. I stuck with a roe ghost combo really hoping the sturg was around and hungry. I should have listen to the advice Kenji gave me a while back though cause before you knew it, Ethan's rod doubles over on his shad and he hooks into our first sturgeon of the day. Smaller fish, but still a blast and we got our target fish in the boat.

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Scrappy little 33 incher.

Back into the drink it goes. Regardless of anything else getting one sturgeon on the boat makes me happy. Being such an elusive fish for me even the shakers get me excited.

After seeing that one come up our blood was pumping and we were all excited. Watching the rods closely and testing out our new balance beam today.

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Does its job and works great. Got to love to new resources I have access too now, that Ethan has hooked me up with to be able to get all this metal work done.

Fish kept biting in waves as schools came through. We picked up a shaker here and there to keep us entertained, then Garrett swings into something a little bigger. After feeling the weight I heard him say "Its a sturgeon." I have to admit I didn't believe him at first, not because I didn't believe him, I just didn't think we would be lucky enough to get two so quickly. Sure enough though his rod is going crazy and that's a sturg pulling for sure.

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Looks like its got more weight to it too, fingers crossed maybe we got a keeper. Fish comes up and it looks close, but small at first glance.

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Taped him out to 37 inches. Pretty close, but still not enough. Still a great fish though.

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Garrett's sturgeon of the day.

Our 2nd trip out now and we've brought 3 sturgeon to the boat I can't complain one bit, were doing pretty good. On both sides of the slot now, we just have to get one in the middle. Stuck it out till almost 1800 with a few more shakers to show for out efforts.

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I did miss a few good pumps on roe, but wasn't able to connect on it. All of our fish came on shad mostly and sardines.

Headed back in to have the boat put away and back home by 2100. Been a very long, but awesome day. Starting to really get into this Sturgeon thing. I think I'm starting to figure them out. Hopefully it will only get better from here.

Till next time guys
Mark

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