Phone: 503-709-7405
Email: Adam@castawayguideservice.com
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| Click image for Sturgeon slideshow |
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The Columbia river has what is probably the healthiest population of sturgeon in the entire world. These prehistoric fish are a distant relative of the shark with a cartilage skeleton and bony plates called scutes on its back and sides. It is a bottom feeder like a catfish eating whatever that it finds including fish, clams, crustacean, and anything else it comes across. Sturgeon live in the river year round and the fishing is open to catch and release year round. The season for retention of sturgeon is ran on a carefully managed quota system and can change often so it pays to call before you pick the dates that you would like to fish if you would like to take a fish home. Currently the slot limit on sturgeon is one fish per day between forty two and sixty inches. The firm white meat of the sturgeon makes it prized table fare.
While the sturgeon is a prized fish on the table the Columbia also offers anglers the chance to catch the fish of a lifetime. The slot limit on sturgeon allows fish over sixty inches to mature and grow, it is not at all uncommon for these giants to exceed ten feet in length with an occasional fish reaching twelve to fourteen feet and weighing many hundreds of pounds. The peak time of this unique fishery concedes with the shad run late April through early June. Fishing a whole shad for bait on a barbless 10/0 hook this is the ultimate freshwater fishery, even with extremely heavy gear and a fighting belt these fish will put the hurt on you and leave you wondering who is winning the battle. These giants are the future of the species so careful handling is Mandatory and it is illegal to remove these monsters even partially from the water for a picture but you will remember the sight of a fish like that leaping from the water to spit the hook forever.
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