Searching for Sturgeon

Friday March 30th was Cesar Chavez Day. Not really sure why he gets a day but i get it off of work so I celebrated it with a little fishing! It was a dark day with no rain and a little wind. My original plan was to fish for striper but sometimes you have to be willing to adjust. As I drove across the bridge street bridge in Colusa, CA I had to do a double take. The river was higher than it was a week ago. When I arrived, I was amazed to find our regular fishing spot 5 feet underwater! The water was high, fast and chocolate brown.

Since the water looked like this I decided to switch up my game plan. I decided to fish for the famous diamondback instead! My heart beats quickly whenever I fish for sturgeon. I have yet to catch one, but the potential f catching a five foot monster always keeps a dose of adrenaline pumping in my veins. 

To fish for sturgeon you want to use a wire-coated leader as the one pictured. You can buy them pre-made at any fishing store and even at walmart. They usually have two 7/O hooks with beads separating them. You also want to use a sinker slider with a heavy weight when the water is this high. 

The bait that most people use would be grass shrimp, mud shrimp or ghost shrimp. People also use Lamprey eel or Pile worms. Here I was using sardine, because like I said, I was originally fishing for striper. 

I had a few bites which may have been striper because from what i hear sturgeon don't bite. They suck in your bait, which looks like small bites, but require an extremely hard set. At one point I got a huge bite and I decided to set the hook hard and SNAP! My line broke and I lost my wire leader. I was bummed but then I wondered if whatever was on the other end of my line was big enough to snap my braided line or if my line just needs to be replaced. My line is only a couple of months old so I choose to believe that it was a huge sturgeon. Either way I will be looking to replace my line and next time... I WILL get him!!