First off, I want to get out how cool this place is (pnwff). I met @ColinShots this winter when I gave him a rod and today we got out on a some new (to both of us) water. And I didn't kill him, which was a bonus for his wife.
Water on this side of the state has been cold and high, but with the spring/summer temps this week its risen 5 degrees in the past 7 days. But we decided to check out a big back bay that we'd been told held fish and we expected it to be even warmer. So I dropped my kid off at school and boogied on down to the river. Water temps at launch (9:15am) was about 61 degrees--downright balmy! We fished for about two hours and no bass were caught. They were seen, but we didnt touch em! We fished an area that in hindsight felt too swallow and we were also told that its actually a mudflat most of the year. Once we moved into the main channel we started getting hits and short strikes. Turns out they were sturgeon! None were landed fairly, but I did land two 24" sturgeon that were hooked in the back/dorsal area unfortunately. They were trailing the fly, short striking and then clearly I was setting the hook while it was trying to escape.
At one point @ColinShots got an eat that damn near ripped his rod out of his hands and in 10 seconds before it spit the hook I was damn near convinced it was going to break his rod.
After that we packed up so I could get back to pick up my kid from school on time.
We're heading back out for dawn patrol tomorrow morning, going to try and tie a popper or two this evening.
Water on this side of the state has been cold and high, but with the spring/summer temps this week its risen 5 degrees in the past 7 days. But we decided to check out a big back bay that we'd been told held fish and we expected it to be even warmer. So I dropped my kid off at school and boogied on down to the river. Water temps at launch (9:15am) was about 61 degrees--downright balmy! We fished for about two hours and no bass were caught. They were seen, but we didnt touch em! We fished an area that in hindsight felt too swallow and we were also told that its actually a mudflat most of the year. Once we moved into the main channel we started getting hits and short strikes. Turns out they were sturgeon! None were landed fairly, but I did land two 24" sturgeon that were hooked in the back/dorsal area unfortunately. They were trailing the fly, short striking and then clearly I was setting the hook while it was trying to escape.
At one point @ColinShots got an eat that damn near ripped his rod out of his hands and in 10 seconds before it spit the hook I was damn near convinced it was going to break his rod.
After that we packed up so I could get back to pick up my kid from school on time.
We're heading back out for dawn patrol tomorrow morning, going to try and tie a popper or two this evening.
