Two more Suisun Bay sturgeon! (April 29)

[CoachPotato]

The weather and the tides seemed in alignment to produce a good
sturgeon hunt on Suisun Bay this week. So I headed to Brannan on
Wednesday April 29th for a couple of nights at Brannan State Park
aboard the motorhome. (Near Rio Vista, N. California on the California
Delta)

I tried fishing near Brannan Park on Wednesday afternoon but it was
just too windy. I didn't even try off Decker Island, my usual choice.
I tried anchoring at Light 25, but the wind kept blowing me off the
clam bed there as the anchor just wouldn't hold on those hard clams! I
gave up, headed to the berth and watched TV for the afternoon. There
was no fishing in the motorhome, either. Sad

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

I hooked into another one on the much calmer and very pleasant
incoming tide - and he measured just 42 inches. I released him to grow
a bit more. (Our slot limit is 46" to 66".)

All in all it was another grand Delta trip and some great sturgeon
action! Can't wait for the next Suisun trip!

Photos and more details on my homepage: www.FishWisher.com

Dale

 

[ebry710]

Re: Two more Suisun Bay sturgeon! (April 29)

Good job. How long did it take you to bring them in? I have not been to Brannan Island for years.

 

[CoachPotato]

Re: Two more Suisun Bay sturgeon! (April 29)

ebry - it was about a 15 minute fight. Those sturgies are very strong and just go bonkers once they see the boat. Usually they fight so hard that they tire themselves out earlier than you might expect. Jumps are pretty common, and this one jumped at the start. They're a lot of fun - but nothing good can happen when they jump! I have all the details of the fight on my site.

Dale

 

[ebry710]

Re: Two more Suisun Bay sturgeon! (April 29)

One day I'll caught one. When I was a kid we us to go sturgeon fishing in San Pablo Bay. Never caught one..................but after seeing one as an adult, I don't think our tackle could have taken it.

My buddy caught a seven foot one. Looked like a dinosaur. It was beautiful. Took him 1 hour to bring it in. That was at Port Costa along the Carquinez Straits. Stan Koch was his name. Held the record at White Resort for years. Those straits along Port Costa were pretty productive.

A fifteen minute fight, makes fishing "reel" fun.

 

[deerslayer303]

Re: Two more Suisun Bay sturgeon! (April 29)

Oh WOW how I miss the Sturgeon fishing. I was stationed in Cali from 1996 till 2000 and once I figured out how to do it thats all I did was sturgeon fish. Man those fish can fight, the biggest one I landed was 71 inches, caught him on grass shrimp in the Suisun delta. When did they decrease the slot limit?? It used to be 46" to 72".