San Pablo Bay 2-5-06 - California Fishing

rdnkoutlawinca · 02-06-2006, 08:14 AM

Went out today for sturgeon. Weather was decent, a little breezy, but when isn't it on the bay. Water was pretty choppy at the triangle. There were about 30 boats around us that didn't seem to be doing any better than us. Moved from there to the rock wall, still nothing. By now we are on the water about 7 hours and out of beer, so back to Norms we go! From there, we went up the Napa river just past the hwy 37 bridge. Got one pull down and missed it, but there was a little bit of striper action(none of them keepers) to keep us awake! Trailered the boat about 6 pm, stopped at Jack in the Box for dinner and came home tired and empty handed.

Sometimes thats just the way it goes I guess.

Wahoo! · 02-06-2006, 09:41 AM

Thanks for the report. From what I'm hearing, the sturgeon have been slow recently. One guide was saying that he knows where they are, but they just won't eat.

Was this your first run in the new boat?!

rdnkoutlawinca · 02-06-2006, 01:30 PM

No, my boat is upside down on stands right now, I'm stripping it and repainting, putting in a floor, new seats and transom board. Then, when I'm done with that, I need to move the axle back about 3 feet on the trailer, lift it about 3" then paint it also. I will be taking pics as I progress. I will try and post them as I go, if not will be when I'm finished with it. Hopefully by this weekend it will be done! Girlfriend wants it out of the driveway, so it is consuming all of my spare time. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what spare time is, but it's is comsuming it none the less! lol

DementedFish · 02-06-2006, 04:20 PM

Hopefully your next trip will be more productive. When that happens, I can't wait to see some more reports!

rdnkoutlawinca · 02-07-2006, 10:13 PM

I was jsut reading some other posts and realized I don't know the difference between salt water and fresh water! LOL I'm so used to fishing fresh water I didn't even think about it. Oops!

PlatinumHooks · 02-09-2006, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdnkoutlawinca

I was jsut reading some other posts and realized I don't know the difference between salt water and fresh water! LOL I'm so used to fishing fresh water I didn't even think about it. Oops!

LOL! RedNeck,

Alot of the species here in California are Brackish or "anadromous" is a better word. Some do it by instinct and some choose to live where they live for example:

Green Sturgeon and White Sturgeon (the two species we have here in Cali) can actually make a choice of where to live and spend their lives. Some Greens you'll find in the bay, and some you'll only find up stream in the rivers or in lakes. I've only fished for White Sturgeon in the Sacramento River.

BTW, were you guys after White Sturgeon or Green Sturgeon?
I think White's are the bigger of the two species.

How big were those Striped Bass that were holding you guys over?

rdnkoutlawinca · 02-09-2006, 08:31 PM

We were after whites, but anything would have done after the first 6 hours of NOTHIN. The stripers were all shakers with one a shade under legal, by about 3/8"! All in all it was non-productive day, but it's like they say"The worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work!"

PlatinumHooks · 02-11-2006, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdnkoutlawinca

We were after whites, but anything would have done after the first 6 hours of NOTHIN. The stripers were all shakers with one a shade under legal, by about 3/8"! All in all it was non-productive day, but it's like they say"The worst day of fishing is better than the best day at work!"

Ain't that the truth!

What's the biggest White Sturg you've ever caught?

rdnkoutlawinca · 02-11-2006, 08:57 AM

I have never actually landed one. I hooked one when I was about 16, scared the crap out of me, I thought I had got hung up in a floating log or something. The pull down was the same pace as the current, slow and gradual, I grabbed the rod and slowly pulled back, not as if to set the hook, but to try and free my line. Then the next thing I know, that "log" is haulin a$$ upstream like a tournament bass angler almost late for final weigh in! Long story short, I fought it for about 40 minutes on 20 lb test and a light action ugly stick with a abu-garcia 5000. Bruised( from running up and down the rocked levee), wet(from falling in the water several times) and tired it finally was close to the shore when it rolled. When I saw the belly of this thing was as long as I am tall, I froze.(I'm 6'3 and change) Since I was fishing for striper, I wasn't prepared for sturg, had never thought I would hook into one with anchovie. That is the closest I have come to catching one!

PlatinumHooks · 02-11-2006, 11:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdnkoutlawinca

I have never actually landed one. I hooked one when I was about 16, scared the crap out of me, I thought I had got hung up in a floating log or something. The pull down was the same pace as the current, slow and gradual, I grabbed the rod and slowly pulled back, not as if to set the hook, but to try and free my line. Then the next thing I know, that "log" is haulin a$$ upstream like a tournament bass angler almost late for final weigh in! Long story short, I fought it for about 40 minutes on 20 lb test and a light action ugly stick with a abu-garcia 5000. Bruised( from running up and down the rocked levee), wet(from falling in the water several times) and tired it finally was close to the shore when it rolled. When I saw the belly of this thing was as long as I am tall, I froze.(I'm 6'3 and change) Since I was fishing for striper, I wasn't prepared for sturg, had never thought I would hook into one with anchovie. That is the closest I have come to catching one!

That's crazy! What a great story. Oh, I sent you a PM