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PREHISTORIC STURGEON ON THE LINE

By Ron Wilson

March 6, 2003.... Ever had an urge to catch a prehistoric fish. Well the sturgeon is about as ugly and prehistoric of a fish as they come. Sturgeon make their migratory swim from the ocean to the local rivers to spawn each year. Some of these king size monsters spawn right here in our own back yard, in what used to be the mighty San Joaquin River.

While we know where sturgeon go to spawn, something that we don't know, is where they go once they go back
to the salt water after they spawn. I guess they're like the shad, once they hit the Golden Gate Bridge, they just seem to disappear. I have heard stories about Colombia River sturgeon coming up into the Sacramento River and vice-a-versa. With 27 or so different sturgeon species worldwide a strange species could pop up anywhere.

Enough of how little I know about sturgeon in the ocean here is a few things that I have learned over the years about them once they hit the fresh waters of our bays.

For several years I have fished for them, starting in September, when I believe they start coming into the brackish waters of our bays. Once there they seem to feed up and get prepared for the migration. When the fresh water starts feeding into the river systems, they start working their way upstream to the spawning grounds. They normally spawn around March. I don't no if they go to the same rivers where they were raised like salmon, but I know that they use the same spawning beds like salmon do year after year!

When the diamondbacks start their early migration, for me, it is one of the best times to try for them. I like fishing for them in the shallow slow waters of Honker and Grizzly Bay. I like this area because its more like hunting. I like to slowly cruise the shallow water and keep my eyes peeled for sturgeon rolling or breaking the surface as they clean out there gills from feeding. I say clean their gills, since they don't feed on the surface, I figure they are sucking up grass, mudshrimp or clams and then coming up and expelling the mud and excess water through there gill plates. This is just my thoughts on what they are doing as I have no proof as to what all the rolling is about, so I will stick with this explanation until something better comes along.

Once I find the fish I slowly move the boat into position, within casting distance and then anchor. I set out the front anchor and let the boat swing with the breeze if any, and when it comes tight I then take a 20 foot PVC pipe and jam it into the mud alongside the back of the boat and secure the boat to it. I found 4 inch pipe works the best. This pretty well stops the side to side movement of the boat so that you can detect the real light bites that the sturgeon sometime use to steal your bait.

The reason to keep the boat steady is that some times when a sturgeon bites, it so light that the
only thing you will see is the line shake as the fish sucks the bait off your hook. They just suck the bait
in crunch it off the hooks and then spit the hooks out and leave. Have you ever lost your bait while sturgeon
fishing and never saw a bite, more than likely he was there and left and you never noticed it. Check your
bait every so often to make sure the fish never caught you napping!

On the flats I can get by with lighter line and a 1or 2 ounce sinker. However when I fish the channels and the current I have to go up to a 30 pound test line and 8 to 12 ounces of weight depending on how strong the incoming or outgoing tides are. You will have to use your depth finder and mark fish in the deeper water, or just drop anchor and wait for a fish to come traveling buy that's hungry.

Generally sturgeon fishing is a waiting game and it takes days of fishing before you are successful at catching a keeper. I paid my dues at waiting so hopefully this will help you cut your waiting time down.

The flats can be good for fish all year, but from September through February is when the larger schools move through the area feeding there way to their spawning grounds.

What does a sturgeon taste like. Well if you like chicken, its not quite like it, and if you like pork, its not quite like that either, but the texture is close. Sturgeon does not taste like fish either, it tastes like sturgeon. Its very delicious provided that you trim all the red meat off down to where you have nothing but nice white steaks to cook up. Leave one small piece of red meat on it and you will regret it, as it will leave a really bad taste!

Best baits to use, fresh or frozen salmon roe is tops then mud, grass or ghost shrimp and eel are good second choices with live blood worms coming in third in my book. I don't like putting anything on my hook that bites you as you stick a hook into it!