Keeper sturgeon continues to be great. We are averaging 40 to 60 fish days to get limits. The weather has warmed and the winds have died way down. Here are a few pics from this past week. I hear there are a few springers in the system. I will start targeting them about the third week in March. Take care and see you on the water Charlie Foster 503-820-1189

The weather has finally broke in the George. Now we can get down to business. Contrary to odfw fishing has been very good in the pool. Action is great with many days of 40 plus fish. The keeper ratio is off this year due to the cold water temp. Deep water and lite rods makes for a great day. We are averaging 2 to 5 keepers a day depending on the west winds. The boat pressure is very lite. I have the boat moored in Cascade Locks and the fish checker finally found me today. It only took a month! Here are a few pics from this past week. Take care Charlie 503-820-1189

January got off to a great start. I had a day off and decided to take advantage of the clear dropping water of the Willamette. This is not seen very often as the Willamette pushes its banks in the winter months. Even though the action was slow we did manage to land a nice hatchery

with the new barbless rules in effect it did not seem to matter. In the George it was a bit different. As the new year came so did the east winds. The winds on Monday were way beyond fishable and that continued Tuesday through Thursday. Friday we finally got out and the winds were still screaming so we pulled the boat out and headed for Hood River. It was as flat as can be but we did not land any keepers. 40 fish. On Saturday we ended up getting a break from the winds and got some keepers as well as 50 shakers. This week is getting off to a rough start as the man is calling for big south winds that will continue to Wednesday morning.See you on the water Charlie Foster 503-820-1189

The last trip of the year today. we had got some rain last night and of course it had to freeze up over night. It was an interesting drive this morning but well worth it. I had a steady client out today Jeff Ague in search of oversize sturgeon. Jeff has a passion for big sturgeon and is on a quest to continuously beet his record. I can appreciate this as the white sturgeon holds a special spot in my heart. To catch oversize and target them in the middle of winter is not that easy. You have to take in to account all of the variables that are occurring in the winter months. Today we focused on back eddy's as close to the falls as we could get. With the water temp at 44 degrees i knew where the fish would be stacked and they were. In the first hour we landed 4 overs in 20 feet of water and then it died. We opted to try another location and it was good but just smaller fish. We headed back up to the original location but dropped the hook so we were fishing in 35 feet of water. It was only 5 minutes between fish and we boated another 4 overs. The last fish i got for 2012 was a fat 52". Good karma

for 2013. I have 7 days left for keeper fishing through Feb 10 2013. Here are few pics from today. Charlie Foster 503-820-1189

The year is winding down slowly. As the new year approaches it brings new enthusiasm on my behalf. I am ready to create a bunch of new memories. The Willamette is still on fire with lots of quality fish around. Headed out Sunday to do some over size fishing. The keeper season kicks off on Tuesday. I do have 10 days open on this fishery. Anticipating great results as long as the wind is not screaming. Here are a few pics from a recent trip on the Willamette. Happy new year and see you on the water. Charlie Foster 503-820-1189

Fall Sturgeon report

As the winter rains have came and the calm sunny days have faded away one thing is always

certain. Sturgeon fishing is on fire! Even though it is a catch and release fishery it is untapped with pressure of man. Water levels have rose and clarity has diminished to mere inches and it is go time if you are looking for action. Today we had a great day fishing big water. As sea lions breached looking for salmon in the stained waters sturgeon were every where. We landed fish in 10 feet up to 40 feet. At times it was hard to tell when we were getting bit there were so many fish cruising in search of there next meal. We landed about 16 fish today with 7 overs 2 4 footers and a hand full of shakers. Big fish today was a 7 foot 9 inch caught by Doug. Thanks to Joe Doug and Jeff for the good times. Here are some pics. Check out the flows coming off of the falls (very impressive)Take care

November Willamette sturgeon

Sturgeon fishing on the Willamette is red hot. The over size bite has been very good in the upper river and the fall migration of fish have returned once again to spend the winter in the Willamette. This time of year is a blast to take part of the catch and release sturgeon fishery. There are very few boats and thousands of fish. The quality of fish this time of year is excellent with lots of fish between 4 and 5 feet and a bunch of very hungry over size. I like to break out the lite rods (15-14lb) custom jig and live bait glass rods. These rods give you the lite tips for sensitive bites and back bone to bring up to 9 footers. It is also a great time of year to reflect back on this years progress. New things learned and old ones fine tuned. I learned a lot this year and look forward to fine tuning that as time goes on. Here are a few pics from last week. Take care