It’s a big Columbia River and one of the most intriguing aspects of sturgeon is “they use it all.”
So says guide “Sturgeon Frank” Russum of Portland.
“You catch them in holes more than 50 feet deep and yet sometimes you’ll find them in water just a few feet deep,” Russum said at fishing seminar in Portland. “They break every rule you put on them.”
Winter sturgeon fishing in the lower Columbia is tough. In the past decade or so, the winter fishery has shifted into the lower Willamette.
“I think those fish have always been in the Willamette, but we’ve overfished the Columbia so they are not there now,” Russum said.
Russum offered these tips for newcomers to sturgeon angling:
EQUIPMENT: A Shakespeare Ugly Stick and a Penn 320 reel is all you’ll need to be able to handle any lower Columbia sturgeon.
“It’ll cost about $150,” he said. “A good salmon rod is more than adequate for most of the sturgeon you’ll catch except the really big ones.”
He loads the reel with 50- to 80-pound line, although 25- to 30-pound will work if using monofilament.
His leaders are dacron.
“Dacron leaders are limp,” Russum said. “Some baits need half hitches. Dacron digs into the meat of a smelt or herring and holds better.”
He uses three styles of lead weight. A 6- to 10-ounce cannonball sinker is standard, but a pyramid-style sinker is better if the bottom is sandy. If there’s a problem with the dropper and leader tangling, then try a sand dollar-style weight.
“They don’t roll,” Russum said. “They lay flat and work well.”
Use small hooks — sizes 4/0, 5/0 and 6/0 — in winter, he said.
BAIT: “Smelt are best, but they’re getting hard to come by,” Russum said. “Squid is good. Sand shrimp, worms, herring — they all work. But at this time of year, it’s hard to beat smelt or squid.”
With squid, Russum pulls the tentacles and flippers off, also putting half-hitch knots as close to the back as possible. It’s important to keep the hook out, not buried in the bait.
Worms are best used in combination with another bait.
“If you put a worm on the end of a barbless hook, it will slide right off,” he said. “Put worms on first, then another bait or tie it on.”
Worms work best in April and May, but they also attract lots of small, trash fish.
“Everything eats worms,” he said.
Sturgeon will bite on Kwikfish with sardine wraps used by spring chinook anglers, he added.
“They’ll bite lures, especially when sardine wrapped, but not just a sardine alone,” he said.
Russum checks his bait every 15 to 20 minutes and changes it about hourly.
DEPTHS: Russum said he probably catches more sturgeon in holes about 50 feet deep than at any other depth, but they can be found in all kinds of water.
“They’ll use it all,” he said, evidenced by the concentration of sturgeon found last spring in the shallow water of Sand Island slough near Rooster Rock.
“Fish will winter over in the deep holes waiting for the water to warm up,” Russum said. “They’re still feeding, not on natural food, but probably someone’s leftover bait.”
TIDES: “Generally, you want an outgoing tide, especially if the river is low,” he said.
A strong flood tide can push the boat upstream of the anchor and also drags the bait on bottom.
COLOR: Russum is convinced sturgeon “with their beady little eyes” see color somewhat. He had some chartreuse leaders once that outfished other colors.
“Walleye anglers complain they get sturgeon on chartreuse jigs,” he said.
CLOSURES: All the openings and closures in sturgeon seasons can be used to an angler’s advantage, he said.
“It’s hard to beat going out after a closure. The fish get left alone for a couple of weeks and they get hungry.”
