33 minute read
TALKING STURGEON WITH WDFW’S SPECIALIST
With keeper season set to begin on the Columbia estuary, Laura Heironimus details how the big river’s longest-lived species is monitored and managed.
By M.D. Johnson
If you’ll recall, a couple months ago Northwest Sportsman featured an interview with Laura Heironimus, the biologist in charge of everything smelt for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. Seems smelt aren’t the only hat Heironimus wears for the agency, as she’s also the lead for the department’s sturgeon program. And lamprey eels, but that’s another story.
“Everything sturgeon is probably the largest priority on my plate,” Heironimus said. “We’re doing research and monitoring, along with harvest management with white sturgeon. Our unit, specifically, does stock assessment for the Lower Columbia below Bonneville, as well as upriver in what’s known as the Zone 6 area, which includes the Bonneville, Dalles and John Day Pools. We occasionally, when we have funding, do work up in McNary and the lower Snake Rivers.”
She’s a busy person, Heironimus is, and about to get busier as a 12day sturgeon retention season from
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife scientific technician Brian Moser releases a young sturgeon back into the Lower Columbia after measuring and tagging it. With the fish population depressed, monitoring is a key part of state management. (WDFW)
the Wauna Powerlines downriver to Buoy 10 is set to open on May 10 and continue through June 5. Details about that season to follow; however, let’s talk with the specialist about sturgeon in general, and wrap our collective heads around the biology and research/management of this fascinating species.
Northwest Sportsman Tagging, Laura.
Does WDFW tag sturgeon and monitor them that way? Laura Heironimus Yes. We use a
combination of gillnets and set lines to evaluate or assess the population. In the Lower Columbia, we do this on an annual basis. When we capture the fish, we tag them with a PIT (passive integrated transponder) tag. It’s kind of like a microchip that you’d put in your dog or cat. It allows us an individual identification number for each fish. When we recapture that fish, we can scan it and look at that individual’s growth over time, along with the difference (in locations) where they might have been collected.
Biologists use a combination of gillnets and set lines – which another state sci tech, Laura Lloyd, is connecting to a hydraulic wheel for retrieval – to annually assess sturgeon numbers. Harvest rates were much higher in the past and while reduced nowadays, the species also faces strong sea lion predation. The states and tribes now have federal approval to remove more pinnipeds. (WDFW)
A tighter slot limit is helping more sturgeon survive to sexual maturity, increasing the breeding population. WDFW scientific technician Shaffryn Schade holds a young-of-the-year fish captured during a fall survey to evaluate the prior spring’s spawning success. (WDFW)
NWS In the lower river, do sturgeon tend to move around a lot? Follow the food? Homebodies versus wanderers? LH There’s definitely some variety in the population. By the time they reach maturity, most of the fish will make some sort of spawning run upstream in the Columbia. So a lot of these fish are spawning in the Columbia below Bonneville, and some in the Willamette River below Willamette Falls. Some fish do hang out yearround in the Columbia and stay in freshwater. Some of them like to hang out in the estuary, while others go out into the ocean and might migrate north or south along the coast. It’s an open population to the ocean, and they are an anadromous fish.
The other thing about sturgeon is they can live for multiple decades. So some of these fish may do different things at different points in their lives, as well. Small fish might generally
spend most of their time in freshwater, and by the time they’re a few years old, they might start exploring into estuary or marine waters. We do see quite a variety of migratory traits among the population.
NWS Without scales and the ability to count growth rings, how do biologists age sturgeon? LH Aging sturgeon is really challenging. One way is with an otolith – author’s note: An otolith is a calcium carbonate structure found in the inner ear, aka ear bone – but that requires sacrificing the fish. One of the more preferred methods is to use the pectoral fin. You can remove a small portion of the pectoral fin, which does grow back, and then those can be sectioned and put under a microscope similar to a scale. You can count age rings (on the fin section). But the reason it’s challenging, though, is because sturgeon can live so long, those rings can be really close together and be very difficult to count and validate.
What we occasionally do, then, we can inject the fish with an antibiotic called OTC (oxytetracycline), which leaves a fluorescent ring on their bone structure. So the next time we collect that fish and we take a fin sample, we can put it under fluorescent light and see those rings. You then count the rings from the fluorescence to the present, and say, “OK, I know I gave this fish the OTC 10 years ago. Are there 10 rings between then and today?” This can help you validate your ages.
But it’s still challenging because you don’t always recapture the same fish, and (the process) takes a long time, so we often just look at our PIT tag data. We know the size of the fish when it was first tagged, and we can say, “Ten years later, here’s the same fish caught again.” And we can look at the growth throughout that period, and still get a lot of growth metrics without specific ages with that method.
NWS So for 2021, we do have a retention season below Wauna. Did the season-setting process go smoothly? LH I think both states are pretty much in agreement to get back to the pre-Covid plan for sturgeon season setting. I think everything went about as expected for the Columbia River Compact (meeting held at the end of March).
NWS Why Monday, Wednesday, Saturday for the May/June belowWauna season? LH We have been following M-W-S since 2017 when we reopened after the closure. Part of that is because the breaks between the days gives (WDFW) time to evaluate and make sure we’re not going over the quota. It gives us time to close the fishery early if there was risk of us going over
WDFW staffers measure a white sturgeon during a stock assessment in the estuary. Fish are measured laying flat on their sides, with the measuring tape underneath, from the tip of their nose to the fork in the tail. (WDFW)
A large white sturgeon is released through a boat’s dive door after it has been measured and tagged. Similar to some rockfish species, sturgeon take a long time to reach reproductive maturity – 15 to 20 years, depending on sex – making for a challenge to provide consumptive fisheries and maintain a viable population. (WDFW)
our guidelines.
But also, Wednesdays and Saturdays are when we have flights scheduled to go over the river. That gives us the best available data for counting the total number of boats on the river, and getting a good estimate of effort. They use that for salmon fishing too. The Columbia is a huge place, and we don’t get to interview every angler. Evaluating effort and estimating harvest is a pretty tricky
KEEPER STURGEON SEASON DETAILS
Dates: Open Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from May 10 through June 5, 2021. Where: On the Lower Columbia from the Wauna powerlines near Cathlamet downriver to Buoy 10, waters otherwise known as the Columbia estuary. Daily limit: One; season limit two. Slot size restriction: 44 to 50 inches
from nose tip to tail fork. Other details: Single-point barbless hooks only. Sturgeon fishing – including catch and release – closes at 2 p.m. on retention days. Retention of green sturgeon is prohibited. Harvest quota: Up to 2,960 sturgeon, about 1.83 percent of the estimated legal-size population (160,250). Also note: State managers agreed to open sturgeon for retention on the Columbia from the Wauna powerlines to Bonneville Dam, as well as in the Cowlitz River, on September 11 and 18, both of which are Saturdays. –NWS job. We have pretty small guidelines for sturgeon, and we want to get the most out (of our information).
NWS Two-part question, Laura. During the Compact, was there an opportunity for public comment, and if so, what might some of those comments have been? LH In every Compact hearing we have, there’s time for public comment. It’s definitely helpful for us to hear those thoughts. I do want to say that the staff that puts these (season/harvest) recommendations together are working closely with our Columbia River advisors, too, so we have a commercial and recreational advisor group for the Columbia. We’re contacting those folks and getting feedback from them, as they’re tied in with the communities. Going into the compact, we had a good
The payoff for all that monitoring? A chance for anglers like author MD Johnson and wife Julie to catch a keeper or just catch and release fish in the knowledge that the resource is well protected and can handle the impact. (JULIA JOHNSON)
2021 Thunder Jet 185 Luxor
Mercury 115hp 4-Stroke, Partial Hard Top, Canvas Backdrop, Offshore Bracket w/Welded Kicker Mount, Dual Wipers, Rear Bench Seats on Storage Boxes, Downrigger Brackets & Much More!
2021 Lund 1875 Impact XS
Mercury 115hp ProXS 4-Stroke, Sport Top w/ Walkway Curtain, Livewell in Bow & Transom, On-The-Go Rod Storage, ProRide & AirRide Upgrades, Kicker Bluetooth Stereo, Vinyl Floors
2021 North River 22 Seahawk Fastback
Yamaha 250hp V6 4-Stroke, Yamaha 9.9hp 4-Stroke Kicker w/ Helm Controls, Kicker Tie Bar, Full Hard Top w/ Canvas Backdrop, Walk-Thru Transom Door, Side Rod Storage, Aluminum Floors & More!
2021 Lund 1800 Sport Angler
Mercury 115hp 4-Stroke Motor, Sport Top w/ Full Canvas Enclosure, Side Rod Storage, Rear Bench Seat on Storage Box, Washdown, Bait Station & More!
NEW MODEL
2021 Duckworth 21 Discovery
NEW MODEL! Honda 200 V6 4-Stroke, ¾ Hard Top, Mariner Suspension Seats, Canvas Backdrop, Livewell, Washdown & More!
2021 North River 22 Seahawk
Honda 200hp V6 4-Stroke, Honda 9.9hp 4-Stroke Remote Kicker w/ Helm Controls, Full Canvas Enclosure, Mariner Suspension Seats, Trim Tabs, Transom Walk-Thru Door, Livewell & More!
sense of what the public would be looking for. Generally speaking, (the public was) very supportive about the recommendations.
We occasionally do get those comments, too – “Hey. Why don’t we get more weekend days?” or “Why don’t we get longer hours?” For this season, we have a 2 p.m. closure in effect, and some people want to fish till sundown. Those comments are very helpful for us to give a feel for what people are seeing out there, and what they’re interested in in terms of fishing. Ultimately, it’s up to the state decision-makers to take that information in and decide if it’s worth altering the staff recommendations to change the fishery recommendations.
NWS So it’s a balancing act, then, between providing opportunity and keeping a very close eye on the health and welfare of the population, in this case sturgeon? LH With sturgeon, we had seen declines in the legal abundance in past years, and that’s when (the retention season) closed. Historically, we were fishing at a much higher harvest rate – oftentimes over 15 to 20 percent of the legal slot. But in recent years and since we opened again in 2017, we’ve been targeting a harvest rate of 3 to 5 percent. And we’ve narrowed the slot range to 44 to 50 inches. So we have a much smaller slot that allows more fish to escape the fishery and grow to be adult sturgeon that will spawn and put more babies back in the population.
But that allows more fish in general to survive by having that smaller quota. We have management goals we’ve been working towards, and that is rebuilding the adult portion of the population in order to sustain that long-term viability of the population. Sturgeon, as we’ve said, can live a very long time, and the adults can spawn multiple times over the course of their lives. So by having a larger portion of the population as adults, you have more spawning fish to contribute.
IT’S AN INTRICATE balance, a fine line we walk between humankind and Mother Nature. Agencies like WDFW want to – need to – provide opportunity to their constituency – us anglers – but when they do so, they have an obligation to the resource to do so with an extremely close eye on that aforementioned health and welfare of that population.
Now, take a female white sturgeon that doesn’t reach reproductive maturity until about age 20 – male sturgeon may mature as early as 15 years – and this necessity to handle with kid gloves while still providing some semblance of consumptive opportunity becomes, as Heironimus stated early, even more challenging.
That said, fish this upcoming season with an eye to the future. NS
QUALITY BOAT SALES AND SERVICE EXCELLENCE FOR OVER 50 YEARS! ALL MODELS ON SALE NOW! Brand new Northwest 24’ Signature in stock now!
SALES & SERVICE LOCATED RIGHT ON THE WATER
Winner of Suzuki’s Top Service Award 7 Years In A Row!
8141 WALNUT RD NE OLYMPIA, WA 98516 360-491-7388 PUGETMARINA.COM
Owner BJ Cross first started working on outboard engines in a small Yamaha dealership, rebuilding carbs and installing impellers. Years later, The Boat Doc, LLC was opened and specializes in Engines and Drive systems small and large and electronics. All makes of Inboard / outboard, Inboard V-drive and direct drive, Jet drive, Outboards of all makes both prop lowers and jet pumps.
We offer a full service repair shop from a simple impeller swap to a complete repowers. We are proud and excited to announce that we now offer custom aluminum offshore conversion kits, built one-off per application, and custom towers and accessories. Also, we will be soon adding prop repair and full marine audio installations.
We have the latest versions of tech scan equipment and on-site test tank so all jobs are done right the first time. We back up our work 100% and strive for customer satisfaction.
The Boat Doc, LLC has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and has been an accredited business for over 7 years. You can find me on Yellowbook.com and Facebook.
Keeper Sturgeon Days Coming Up
The large pyramid weight flies overhead in a long arc, followed in quick order by a sand shrimp strapped to a big barbless hook. Stout gear for a stout fish. Last spring Washington and Oregon managers couldn’t agree on a “catch and keep” spring sturgeon fishery, so anglers had to wait NW PURSUITS By Jason Brooks for a very short window in September. However, earlier this year, the states came together and decided to open up the lower 40 miles of the Columbia River for a 12-day retention season. But rather than 12 consecutive days, the river will instead be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from May 10 through June 5. This gives Northwest sportsmen plenty of time to pick the right day to head out onto the big river and catch some big fish.
After no retention season last spring, anglers will have a chance to keep a sturgeon on the Columbia estuary on a total of 12 days this month and next. (JASON BROOKS)
Heavy weights, stout leaders and strong hooks are needed for these large and frisky fish. Sand shrimp wrapped onto a barbless hook is among the best baits, but others include chunks of shad or
herring. (JASON BROOKS)
A FEW YEARS ago I spent a day catching and releasing sturgeon on this stretch of the river with Bruce Warren of Fishing for Fun Guide Service (253-208-7433). Casting that pyramid sinker and sand shrimp until the Styrofoam containers ran empty, we landed nearly 30 sturgeon that day. Indeed, this is a fishery that when the weather and the fish cooperate, it’s all about catching instead of just fishing. Do note that on retention days, all sturgeon fishing, including catch and release, must stop by 2 p.m.
Fishing for sturgeon is fairly easy once you figure out a few things. The first is where the fish will be. They are prolific feeders, so anywhere that food collects is where you will find sturgeon. The many wing dams on the Columbia create back eddies and turbulent water as the tide goes out. Anchor near or tie up to them and sit and catch sturgeon.
Food sources such as dying shad being flushed downriver, crabs, sand shrimp and other creatures make up the species’ diet. Sturgeon don’t only eat dying or decaying fish and actually prefer fresh baits. Live sand shrimp are one of the most popular because
A sturgeon thrashes next to the boat. The species is known to jump out of the water when hooked. Beforehand, allow the fish to nibble your bait before setting the hook. (JASON BROOKS)
Keeper sturgeon must measure a minimum of 44 inches to a maximum of 50 inches as measured from the tip of their snout to the fork in their tail. It’s a much narrower slot size than past years, but helps ensure more escape to spawn and still provide a fishery after complete retention closures in the mid-2010s due to a declining population. (JASON BROOKS)
they are available, but chunks of herring, anchovies and, of course, shad work well. Other places to catch sturgeon include large sand flats that have an edge or channel near them, as again the bait collects here.
When it comes to gear, remember to think stout. Long rods help in casting and fighting the fish but short and heavy rods are often used, as they have a strong backbone to haul in the heavy ones. Levelwind reels that can hold a lot of line, like a 5000 series or larger, are popular; just make sure your reel of choice has a good drag system. Spool it with 65-pound or stronger braid and a sliding weight system. The fish prefer to cruise along the bottom of the river, so a dropper is not needed.
Weights need to be able to hold your bait in place. On the incoming tides, a lighter 10- to 16-ounce weight is used and on the outgoing, even larger ones are often needed. The pyramid style helps dig into the sandy bottom and keeps the bait in place.
Leaders run around 36 inches in length and are strong, with 40-pound clear XXX Izorline a good starting point. The hook needs to be barbless and sharp, as the mouth of a sturgeon is strong and tough. A 6/0 Gamakatsu Big River is an extremely sharp thick-wired hook and because of the sickle shape, it digs in and won’t bend or come out as long as you keep tension on the fish. The straight shank also makes it easier to wrap the baits on.
Speaking of baits, take two sand shrimp and some Magic or Stretchy Thread and wrap them onto the hook, secured with some half-hitches. You can also stick a chunk of sardine, herring or anchovy on the hook to add some flavor and scent – the keys to drawing feeding sturgeon to your hook. Pro-Cure makes several sturgeon-catching scents, with Sturgeon Frenzy Super Gel one of the best options, and sand shrimp and shad scents good choices too. Use liberally and switch out baits often to keep them fresh.
ONCE YOU FIND where you want to fish and get the gear all set up, it is time to do some sturgeon catching. Cast out the rods, being sure to place them far enough apart to create a “spread” of baits so the scents flow downstream and attract the sturgeon.
Guide Bruce Warren holds a Lower Columbia sturgeon. While around 3,000 available for harvest this season, the species also provides a stellar catch-and-release opportunity.
(JASON BROOKS)
On most days when you find a good sturgeon spot, you will start getting bites within 15 to 20 minutes as the scent trickles downriver. But if you don’t get a bite within an hour, be sure to check the tides and look for places to move to. Sometimes patience is the key, so just wait for the fish to come to you, but with the early afternoon closure, you might want to have a few places to try if the bite is not on.
When a fish starts to nibble, let them and then set the hook hard. You need to drive the hook into their mouth, which is a tough flesh that moves in and out with a fish sucking food up. You don’t want the hook to go too deep but if you can penetrate the jaw, then losing the fish is unlikely.
Fighting a sturgeon is fun for a while, but for younger and even older anglers it can be a bit much. This is why a strong drag system is needed, as it helps wear the fish out. Once the fish comes up to the side of the boat you can calm it by turning it belly up. The fish can then be measured to see if it fits within the 44- to 50-inch fork-length slot limit and can be retained or if it needs to be let go. The barbless hook is easy to remove for quick releases.
You will notice sturgeon have a unique skin that is scaleless, much like a shark. The diamondlike bumps on their side, also known as scutes, are worn smooth the older the sturgeon gets as it rubs and rummages through sandbars, though those of smaller, younger sturgeon can be sharp and cut you. It is best to grab around the fish near the tail as well as by the mouth while on its back in the water. Net the fish only if you can retain it.
STURGEON FLESH IS white and “meaty.” Unlike walleye or other white-fleshed fish, it has more texture to it and can be a bit hard to chew if overcooked. Smoked sturgeon is excellent in dips, cream cheese spreads and on sandwiches. The slot limit means the fish are younger and more palatable and yet still produce a lot of fillet pieces.
The daily limit is one sturgeon with a yearly limit of two, and really there is no need to keep any more than that anyway. Get outside and enjoy a unique Northwest pursuit this month by going sturgeon fishing on the Columbia estuary. NS
OREGON
EUGENE
Maxxum Marine
(541) 686-3572 www.maxxummarine.com
PORTLAND
Sportcraft Marina
(503) 656-6484 www.sportcraftmarina.com
WASHINGTON
EVERETT
Performance Marine
(425) 258-9292 www.perform-marine.com
MOUNT VERNON
Master Marine Boat Center, Inc.
(360) 336-2176 www.mastermarine.com
OLYMPIA
Puget Marina
(360) 491-7388 www.pugetmarina.com
PORT ANGELES
Port Angeles Power Equipment
(360) 452-4652 www.papowerequipment.com
SHELTON
Verle’s Sports Center
(877) 426-0933 www.verles.com
SPOKANE VALLEY
Spokane Valley Marine
(509) 926-9513 www.spokanevalleymarine.com
To each steelheader their own, and for author Sara Ichtertz, it’s all about drift fishing, an old-school technique that gives her confidence on her summer-run waters of Oregon. (SARA ICHTERTZ)
Drifting Along
There are things One rad thing about fishing, though, these fish. in life we simply is that we can be ready. Even though we It’s true, I target them in water where cannot prepare cannot predict the run, we can somewhat a float simply will not help but I promise ourselves for. There predict the creature we pursue. That you that if you give drift fishing your best is just no way of ultimately gives me hope as I find myself for one run, the undeniable thrill that you FOR THE LOVE knowing what our dreaming of drift fishing for the keepers will find is more than worth it! Feeling OF THE TUG journey has in store of my heart: those most stunning fish, not a summer steelhead bite your rigging, By Sara Ichtertz for us, which is at only in their beauty but in their willpower setting that hook with conviction and times both a blessing and a curse. Fishing – the one and only summer-run steelhead. winding down a mile a minute in search the rivers and life are so very similar. I will never be the best fisherman, nor of that incredible headshake of life is hard They are so beautifully connected to will I ever hook the most fish, but I am a to beat. I love how even if you miss them one another, as some runs are far better confident drift fisherman when it comes when drift fishing, they leave no question than others yet we should never give up to these majestic creatures, and so I want as to whether it was a rock or fish. No! regardless. to share with you some of my ways with That was alive and I missed it! Drift fishing
A peek inside Ichtertz’s summer steelhead backpack would reveal these prerigged drift fishing setups, along with yarns, beads, scent and dough bait to switch things up, plus a healthy coil of lead for bouncing bottom. (SARA ICHTERTZ)
is direct, just like me, and I like it!
You leave no slack in your line, as you want to feel everything. When you feel the bite, you set that hook as if the survival of your most prized of possessions depends upon it. Reeling down as quickly as you can, you know that adrenaline-pumping connection is upon you. That connection, that finesse stands alone in gear fishing and my hope is to encourage even just one of you to put the float down and go back in time to when connection was felt more so than seen.
I am thankful to pursue a method of fishing many truly do not understand anymore, nor embrace. The bashing of this method makes me sad at times because to me, as my ability has grown, I feel like if anything it should be looked at as an art. I truly believe the scrutiny comes in not understanding it. Yes, there will be bastards who give every realm of life or fishing bad names, but sometimes shouldn’t we take a true look into things for ourselves before we just go along with the herd? I am looking for that biting fish always! When it comes to summer-runs and biting fish, drift fishing without a doubt gives me what I am looking for.
I LOVE THAT the complexity found in this steelhead technique is not in how fancy my rigging is. Just the opposite; the rigging itself is very simple and the complexities come from the elements of Mother Nature and depths in which I choose to use this method. My overall approach, though, is simple, constant and predictable; I love that.
The water I fish calls for a fast-action 9-foot-2, 8- to 12-pound rod with backbone. Unpredictability is pretty much a given in that faster, boulderridden water, and so stepping up to the bank with a rod that will be able to handle what the fish and the river might throw your way is pretty important if you ever intend on landing said fish. I find my IMX 1104-2C STDR has the sensitivity I desire in feeling that life within the bite, but it also handles its own in big waters that happen to be blessed with mad fish.
Pairing that rod with a low-profile reel, the Curado 200HG by Shimano, allows me to cast even the smallest amounts of weight wherever I see fit. Plus it gives me the drag I need to help keep fish heads turned around in hopes of keeping them upriver. Running a 12-pound-test main line and a 10-pound leader, the only other needs aside from my leader itself is a snap swivel and weight. I run about a 26-inch leader with a size 4 or 2 octopus hook from Gamakatsu. I match hook size to the overall size of my presentation. At times I will even fish a size 1 octopus hook when running sand shrimp simply because of their size. I want my riggings to be balanced. I want them to be as natural as possible, even if my color choices are not.
Tying my main line to the upper loop of the snap swivel, I’m already almost done. Once my weight is cut and punched, I attach it to my snap and then prepare my leader. Whether it be with a small bait of eggs, 10mm BnR soft beads, hard beads, yarn and Corky, or PowerBait balls with sand shrimp, the beginning of my drift rigging stays the same, never wavering aside from your weight.
THE VERY BEST part of my springer season is the day I am able to see that my summer waters are coming into shape. To me it is important to let that snowpack runoff rage on through the spring and I do not fish it, as the amount of weight needed doesn’t allow for the finesselike drift I am looking for. To me it plugs up the drift getting snagged up and more than likely broken off, ultimately messing up the holes before the real jewels of the river even make their way home. So I wait.
That wait is worth it. If you plug your drift, not only can it make fishing tough, even aggravating, but it isn’t healthy for the river and the amount of fish that would naturally stack up in the comfort of that fast-moving water can be jeopardized by our own doing. Yes, any eager fisherman can and should go test the water, but make your drifts count and if it’s too snaggy or your bounce feels too aggressive in order to get to the bottom, give the river time to come into its summer shape. You will be thankful you did.
WHEN YOUR WATER is ready, it may indeed still take a decent amount of weight to touch bottom, depending on the depth and speed of the current and what section of the drift you plan on targeting. I prefer short precise drifts, working different sections of the drift at a time so I remain in line with the river bank, allowing me to be in a direct strike zone if I get a bite. Casting too far upriver or longlining the hole downriver does not keep me in control. It takes away the your rigging, you will be that much faster on your response time and that much more deadlier.
In working smaller chunks of a drift, I have learned that changing my weight helps me lose far fewer riggings as well. Do not fear the weight. It is a very, very important angle of this angling. I personally believe learning to work my weight and find the right gentle bounce off the bottom (determined mostly through my lead) is so important, maybe even most important. If you do not have the weight right, it doesn’t matter what beautiful morsel you have tied on because that bounce of the bottom needs to be there in drift fishing or I do not believe I am fishing.
THE BUFFET OF terminal presentations for drift fishing is almost endless. What you can create at the end of your standard bait loop-tied leader is entirely up to you. In a method where the complexities to the actual rigging are nonexistent, do not be scared to add some complexity to your lure, as the slightest change can have huge results when targeting these aggressive, beautiful badasses!
One thing I have learned is that when the river conditions are screaming the fish are in there, chances are they are. If I had remained stuck within the comfort of that first rigging I had success with, I would have missed out on so very many incredible battles with the maddest river fish I know! The end of your riggings should only stay the same if and when you find what these aggressive fish are wanting. But remember, that bite won’t last forever so think like a steelhead and ask yourself what is it that I want? Where have they been? What do they know?
I often relate my scents (Pro-Cure Bait Scents) to where the fish have been (the mighty Pacific) and what they know. Then there’s anise; why they love that I have no idea, but they do! I honestly have had my mind blown when I’ve thought about what it is they know and what it is I think they want. Having them instantly answer me, biting with conviction, when days prior they lay there wanting nothing to do with what I had been throwing at them throws me for a loop sometimes.
“Beautiful, mad and delicious,” says the author about this steelhead. Hatchery fish are reared for harvest, and Ichtertz feeds her family with her catches, making her connection to the summer run all the more real. (SARA ICHTERTZ)
direct connection needed with the river’s bottom and its fish when drift fishing.
Cast only slightly above your strike zone, getting down quickly enough so that you are in the zone and feeling the bounce of the bottom before you arrive to where you believe fish will be lying. Once your presentation swings on through, somewhat washing out of the slot, reel in and go again. Working smaller chunks of the drift is important because you are in control and if you are in direct control of
Create small, detail-oriented setups of what it is you think they want and give it a whirl. Do not be afraid to change that rigging! The worst thing you can do when targeting these gems is throw one rigging, fish it to death and assume there are no fish there because what they were biting during the last run didn’t work with this year’s fish.
Keeping a fishing log has helped me track what the fish wanted – and didn’t want – at certain points of the run. I have found small amounts of joy in learning these things. Sure, a rigging that was on fire one run and has zero luck the next does not mean that presentation should be dead to you forever. You just never know what the fish are going to want, so be prepared with a buffet of summer steelhead delights.
THE TECHNICAL ASPECT was far more
simple to figure out than learning to fight such an aggressive fish in aggressive water. That’s where time is necessary to become truly confident. I needed to relax and enjoy that connection. Learning to somewhat swim with the fish while keeping just enough tension on them that they show me what they are made of didn’t come easy, as I wanted them to come to me! I didn’t want to lose them and in all of that want, in the beginning I lost far more fish than I landed.
But once I learned to let the fish lead me, executing and gaining ground only when they allowed it, I found myself understanding them better. In that understanding I learned that only once they are ready should I try and land them. They will not submit easily and if you think you are going to just horse these water-bound beauties to the bank, you better think again.
THE TRUTH IS, anything is possible if you really want it. Learning to drift fish has shown me that. There are intrigues in life that will bring out the best in us when we test the what-ifs. However, if we aren’t brave enough to give it whirl, then we aren’t living the best life we can. Drift fishing without a doubt allows me to shine, as it is my style. Had I not given it a whirl, I would not be the fisherman I am today.
I hope that this column might light a spark or intrigue you enough that it helps you to get after these fish, as they are truly special. It’s amazing how when you truly want something, it can be yours. I’m thankful to have believed in myself enough to get to the river’s edge. Not only does the river teach you as you go, it helps you to be able to pay it forward and I believe the sharing of passion will fill your cup of life far more than the fish themselves.
So gather your gear in preparation while keeping an eye on your waters, and by all means go all in when the river is ready. This method and these fish are worth it! When you connect with them, it will ultimately help you connect with yourself, I promise. My heart is on the river and I couldn’t change it, even if I tried. NS
