My First River Monster

After years of wanting to go after this species, I finally got the opportunity to go after my first river monster. I got the invite from Kent whom I had chatted with on a fishing forum, and  I jumped at the chance. We headed to Idaho and fished for three days. We launched every day at sunrise, and fished late into the day. Kent taught me the ins and outs of rigging up to catch these prehistoric giants, along with giving me knowledge about the area. The wind blew us everywhere the first day which made fishing difficult.

 

The first bite came about 3 hours in, and Kent told me to grab the rod. I grabbed the rod but didn't feel anything, making me question whether I had a bite. Kent assured me, and told me to set the hook. I set it and felt nothing so I set it again. about that time I saw my first glimpse of a White Sturgeon as it jumped out of the water. Once that fish woke up, to had my drag screaming as it made several hard runs. My body soon told me I needed to be in better shape, as my arms and lower back started to grown as I fought the fish. It took about 15 minutes to get the fish to the side of the boat. The Sturgeon measured out to 4ft 10 inches. We took a few pictures, released the fish and within 10 minutes, another one hit. Fish On! This fish put up a good fight for a few minutes, but we soon had it to the boat. This was a smaller 3.5 footer.

 

We fished several spots throughout the day and landed two more Sturgeon with Kent landing one the went just under five feet (the big ones get up to 10 feet long where we were fishing). These four on the first day turned out to be the only Sturgeon we would catch for this trip despite having perfect weather the last two days.

 

Arrived early to get lines in the water.

My first ever White Sturgeon at just under five feet!



Second of the day at 3.5 feet

Kent's first hookup that went just under 5 foot.

My last Sturgeon of the trip at 3.5 feet.

we put in lots of time the last two days but couldn't locate any Sturgeon. Kent landed a nice catfish while going after them, but we decided to pull the smaller rods out and go after other species. We hooked into Smallmouth Bass, Perch, Crappie and Blue Gill. Kent snapped his rod getting it stored, so we taped it up, and he proceeded to out fish me with it until the final crappie he caught broke the rod for good. A huge thank you to Kent for the invite, and teaching me how to catch these giant fish.

26 in Channel Catfish

Part of the old Oregon Trail.

This little Crappie was the last fish landed of the trip, after finishing off Kent's rod.