Columbia/Willamette sturgeon reports Feb 2011

As every one anticipated the opener on the Willamette there was a lot of pressure. Thursday February 17th started out great with limits by 8 A.M. Friday was still good with limits by 11 A.M and Saturday there was a big weather change that shut down the bite. You can look at this two ways. One there were only 384 fish recorded on the first three day week and fishing will carry through the end of March. The other way to look at it is spring fish are much harder to catch than fall fish which is reality. With all the storms and barometric pressure changes you can be gold one day and work your tail off the next day just to put a few fish in the boat. (THAT'S FISHING) There are quite a few over size in the mix now and are providing plenty of action. Be selective on what you keep to keep the river open that much longer. I finished up the Columbia fishery with some very good results. ODFW gave us an additional 800 fish this year and the season closed 2 days earlier than last year due to all the pressure. I would recommend raising the bottom slot from 38" up to 42" and this season would go in to June like it did 3 years ago with only a 700 fish quota. All in all it has been a great year so far and am looking forward to some over size fishing this spring. Here are some pis from the last several weeks and thanks to all who fished with me. Big keeper honors of the week go to 9 year old Joe from Crescent City Ca. Joe landed a nice 52" on squid on the Willamette. The fish was 1" bigger than Joe. Good job little man and good luck on the trapping. Joe's hobby is trapping whatever climbs in his live traps. So far he has gotten a possum a raccoon and his neighbors house cat (WHOOPS!) See you on the water.

Charlie Foster
503-820-1189

Columbia/Willamette sturgeon reports

The new year started of great. The only down fall was the weather. 20 degrees and 35 mph wind. Fishing was good though. The season has got underway for keepers. The bite is not quite as good as last year but is still providing plenty of action. The Willamette is scheduled to re open some time mid Feb. The bite should be very good until the closure at the end of March. Here are a few pics from the Willamette and a few from last week. Thanks to all who fished last week.

Charlie Foster
503-820-1189

Willamette River sturgeon fishing November 2010

As i anticipated the fall opener for keeper sturgeon (Nov 4th) was red hot. The migratory fish shot up river with all of the recent rains that we have had. There was still a bunch of hold over fish from last years fall movement due to the shut down at the end of March. There was a lot of pressure all throughout the river with very good success. Here are a few pics from last week. Thanks and see you on the water.

Charlie Foster
503-820-1189

Columbia Sturgeon Reports

As anticipated the keeper opener on the Columbia was pretty good. There was a bunch of pressure and continues to be. If you were fortunate enough to get into some fish there were some big keepers caught. The migratory fish have still not shown them selves but they will be coming as the water temp has dropped down to 60. I fished the Willamette four days this week and we landed 30 keepers and 23 oversize. The weather has been great and looks like it will continue for the next ten days. Here are a few pics from the last few days. Thanks and see you on the water.

Columbia sturgeon report/September

The September anticipation for over size sturgeon was well worth the wait. With all of the good water opening up September fist above Skamania Island there were several spots that continually produced big numbers of big fish. We ended up fishing 28 days in September landing 178 over size with the biggest being a big 11 footer. Several 10 footers and a lot of 7 to 9 footers. our best day was 15 over size. If you did not want to target the big boys or in some cases needed a break you can throw small baits and catch 50-60 small fish. There are quite a few keepers that are hold overs from this spring that will provide plenty of action for the October opener of retention. The water temps were cooler in September than normal and have been stable for the last month. The migratory fish have not started moving and will not move until the water temp starts dropping. Most are going hunting this weekend so it will not be as crowded as normal. We are going to be test fishing some new baits this fall and hope to discover the new secret bait. Take care and see you on the water.

Charlie

Columbia River sturgeon reports August 2010

With very little pressure below Bonneville Dam for sturgeon i have had the river to my self. The keeper fishery shut down the last Saturday of July and go figure that's when we start getting a few. The over size fishery still continues to produce up to 6 fish days when the bite is good. The last few weeks we have been targeting the flats 25-35 feet of water with very good action. There are plenty of fish in all size ranges to keep you on your toes all day. A special thanks to Ed and Drew for taking time out of there vacation to see what sturgeon fishing is all about. We decided to through squid all day on the light rods and ended up landing close to 20 fish. Drew landed a nice keeper in the 50 inch range and then put the icing on the cake with an acrobatic 105 incher. Ed being the wiser Dad let the youngster do all the hard work and took care of all the small guys. It was a great summer day and there will be more of them to follow. Thanks and see you on the water

Charlie
503-820-1189

Columbia/Willamette Sturgeon reports June/July 2010

As most of the effort has been concentrated on Summer salmon and steelhead both rivers have been wide open to battle with some beasts. As the Columbia water levels kept coming up there was a huge surge of fish that made it up in to the spawning grounds. There is a huge amount of keepers in the upper section below Bonneville Dam. If water levels drop to quick these fish are going to be on the move fast. Need less to say fishing for over size on the Columbia for over size has been great. I fished yesterday with Max and Carl with high expectations with the falling water levels. I was everything they anticipated and just a little more than they expected. We fished two rods and landed 6 fish between 6 1/2 and 8 feet. The Willamette was fishing very good through last week but as water temp hit the 70 degree mark the bite diminished by mid morning. I will be back on the water the rest of the week to deal with the heat but here are a few pics from the most recent hook ups. Thanks

Charlie
503-820-1189