Recently we hit the road with some other content creators and business folk from the industry, and as is customary for such road trips, we plotted a course that took us into some pretty untapped areas in search of hidden gems.
One of the first stops was in the Sacramento basin in search of natives, including White Sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus), a fish we would be seeing alot of this trip if all went well. Of course, its never a Terra Firma Tackle mission without a chance at something much rarer than the typical fare, and there was a chance that we would be dropping in during the out-migration for the much less common Green Sturgeon (Acipenser medirostris).
We were greeted upon arrival with muddied brown water, likely fire run off as there had been some activity in the area earlier that week, and this may have contributed to our unexpected, but not unwelcome success moments after arrival.
We had baits in all of 30 minutes before we had our first connection! The fish immediately aired out, showing us its distinct green flanks and I was sure to make "excited little girl noises" loud enough to wake the dead! It was a big fish, a genuine giant and it LOOKED to be a green one at that!
After a grueling battle on just 40lb test (euro style carp gear, as we were anticipating slot sized whites) that took us out of the initial hole and past a set of rapids into a narrow cut of the river, nearly a mile from where we first connected, we were able to get hands on the animal and were shocked by the sheer size.
Green Sturgeon are typically much smaller than White Sturgeon, with the largest recorded a mere 6'11". This fish, if it was measured, would have given that record a run for its money. We see alot of sharks and sturgeon, and I would place this fish easily in the 7+ foot range, possibly tickling 8'!
After a long rest, we fished the rest of the day for only a few short knocks and decided to continue on to the next leg, a little further north to the Rogue River in Southern Oregon, the original location we had picked out for our best shot at scratching a Green Sturgeon! With success under our belt and good hunch that the more densely populated (fish speaking, not human wise) Rogue River would be equally, if not more productive.
The environment in Oregon was much more relaxed, and the higher elevation, fog, and pines coupled and sapphire blue water made it feel that much more remote, a world apart from the muddy brown Central California river system.
Our hunch was correct, and we were able to coax a handful of sturgeon, all Greens, to play with us in Oregon. These smaller fish had extremely sharp scutes that made using a rag or gloves a requirement to handle them. Also, Oregon allows the removal of the fish from the water for handling and photographs so long as it is under the 54" size designated by their regulations, a stark contrast to the rules in California.
After the Rogue we continued on to Alaska, and thats another report for another day....BUT....on the way back through the lower 48 we dropped into Idaho for a short session chasing white sturgeon.
The first few hours of the session went by slowly, with only a single 6' class critter to show for it, but around sunrise we connected to a really solid fish and after a short battle on the heavy surf tackle we had her subdued and released!
We then continued on to a truly magical sight fishing location where we landed some half-dozen black suntanned 4-6' fish on light tackle to conclude our sturgeon adventures for this particular trip!
I am growing quite fond of these prehistoric river-dwellers as this "year of the sturgeon" progresses, looking forward to meeting even more of the North Amercian species as the year comes to a close
