Idaho Sturgeon by Kayak

by Jay Randall

Idaho: An Experience of a Lifetime I arrived late in the evening at the Boise airport where my trusted friend "Sturgeon" Steve Carroll is waiting for my arrival. Steve has become a great friend over the past few years and he is a wealth of knowledge on sturgeon fishing on the Snake River. He’s quite the bass fisherman as well and that would prove most evident on this recent trip to the North-Western arid lands. You see, I have been in Boise 2 other times in the past couple years chasing the gentle giants of the Snake. This trip, being my 3rd time, would prove to be the most epic of them all. The previous 2 times before would teach me a wealth of knowledge and prepare me for this great adventure in the North-West arid landscapes of Idaho. At every turn, you are met with the natural beauty and landscapes that would give you a small glimpse of what the lands in America use to hold. This is truly Gods' country up here and it what keeps me coming back for more. Little did we know that the river would hold one of the best days I’ve ever had on any river. As I loaded into Steve's truck he explained that we were bound for where we would camp for the evening and start our journey the next morning. After a 1.5 hour commute, we would arrive at CJ Strike Dam. It was late and we were eager to start the next day’s float down the Snake River but still had some rigging to complete and set up camp. We woke up in the morning to a brisk welcoming and made the decision to have some breakfast and wait for the temps to rise. Be it that this is an arid landscape, there's not much to hold heat at night. As the day would progress, the heat would eventually make its presents known with the ever gazing rays of sun without a cloud to intercept. This is the desert after all. We got the gear loaded up and headed for the launch that was not far from camp. The anticipation of the fight, soon to be had, was taking main stage in my mind. Those thoughts were cast aside for a short period due to the more immediate task of catching some big rainbow trout for bait to get us through the day. Where I live in Northern Illinois there aren’t many opportunities to chase rainbows. My knowledge to this point was minimal at best. The technique that would be employed is “bottom bouncing” where simply you would tie a weight (round preferred) and leave approx. 2 feet of line to tie off a small hook. A split shot can work great in these situations due to the high probability of snagging the bottom. The trick is to use the perfect amount of weight so you’re making contact with the bottom but is still free to move about as you drift the current in your kayak. The Snake is riddled with rocks and depending on the current you have to be ready to react. We baited the hooks with trout worms and a small River’s Edge gummy in the color of Flo Red or Salmon red to cover the eye of the hook protecting the knot. Our Jackson Kayak Coosa FD’s would prove their worth along this journey navigating the currents. Rivers can be an interesting place to use a pedal kayak but can offer that edge when needed. Another important tool on the kayak is the Micro Power-Pole. This amazing product would show to be instrumental in the later hours. We caught some trout just beyond the bridge by the ramp and drifted a bit to the 1st hole along this first section. This was a new technique for me so it would take me some time to become confident in my presentation. I would figure this out quickly and start putting trout in the kayak. I will say it’s an amazing experience to fight a 16in trout on a light action spinning rod setup. We hit some more spots along the way and then got into the 1st sturgeon of the day which would later measure to over 7ft long. The strength of these fish was something to respect. One error in judgment during the fight could result in an unfortunate dismount from your dry kayak and the likely forfeiture of some gear. When I tell you they are strong you’d better believe it. As the day grew warmer the bite seemed to slow and we were left to period of time without and action. I was getting restless and asked Steve if he’d like to get into some smallies. He was onboard almost immediately and we headed directly across from the spot we were just sitting. We dropped some Ned rigs, and before we knew it, we had found a school of some bronze backs. I mean these fish were practically jumping in the boat. Steve had become so confident that he made this comical gesture while keeping his glance towards me as he dropped the Ned rig into the water (not even looking) and pulled up a nice smallie. We must have caught the entire school easily more than 30 fish in one short sitting. As fast as we had found them they were gone. As we continued to drift down the river we would come to this natural break wall of exposed rocks with some calm backwater just beyond. We made for the shore to explore this feature that we would later call Carrandall Point. Again the Ned rig would prove its weight in gold. The water was rushing near where we’d beached the kayaks. Steve tossed the Ned rig into the current and shortly after he was hooked up with a decent smallmouth. This would repeat for a few more times and even a rainbow over 16 inches would make an appearance only to escape our grasp. I had never realized that fish would huddle in this fast of a current and at the sizes we had brought up. Steve would end up catching his personal best smallmouth in the Snake River that day. It was very nice to be a part of this experience with him. He is the most deserving of such an achievement given his dedication and respect for this waterway. Had we not decided to target another species it might have made for an unproductive rest of the day but it didn’t end there thankfully. We headed to the last bend where there was a significant hole that was known to hold 9ft and possibly bigger sturgeon. We set up and threw some cuts of trout once again. I was pretty tired and knew that this hole presented some dangers that made me a bit hesitant to proceed so I let Steve take this last one. He had been talking about this very hole all day and I knew he really wanted a chance to get on the board. It wasn’t long before Steve was being towed out into the eddy and away he went. The sturgeon would start making circles following the eddy’s route of current. After 15 mins Steve got the upper hand and would make his way to shore needing my assistance. I quickly beached my kayak and lowered my Power-Pole. I hastily made my way, into waist-deep water, to pull Steve’s kayak closer to land so he could anchor and dismount into the water where Steve would be able to wrangle the fish and get his hands on it. It was another nice fish nearing 7.5 ft. We were ecstatic which I’m sure is written all over our faces in the pictures taken that day. We would arrive at the ramp close to sunset and it dawned on me that we didn’t have a vehicle at the ramp. I would ask Steve, “How are we going to get the truck?”. He said with a straight face, “I’ll find someone to take me back for a few bucks.” And did that he would LOL. That is the kind of place Idaho is. What a great experience. If you haven’t considered Idaho as a fishing destination, I surely would. It is quite certainly a bucket list location and if you do end up catching a white sturgeon out of the Snake River, you’ll be among the small 1% of kayak fishermen that have.