Finally!! - I Found the BIG ONEs...

I have been talking to fishermen, searching maps and Google Earth for hours, Reading everything I could find and dreaming about the Large Idaho Snake River Sturgeon for weeks - as you probably know if you read this BLOG or know me. I have been tracking down and catching smaller ones, 3 to 5 feet size, for weeks, while learning about their big brothers.

A couple of days ago, while playing pool, this guy was telling me about this place where some big ones hang out about 45 minutes away from here in Bliss. From his directions and hours of studying little roads and trails on Google Earth, I had a pretty good idea where this place was. I called this guy I met a couple of weeks ago while fishing, Pam's mother calls him 'The Old Drunk', to go fishing since it really takes at least two people to deal with these large fish. So, it was all planned to go yesterday. I showed up at his house and it was freezing. The wind was blowing about 40-50 mph and the wind chill was at 35 degrees and he didn't want to go. His dog had also bitten him on his big toe the night before, so anyway, he was a no show.

But, since I was already to go and all pumped up for this exploration, I went anyway. I drove all the back roads as shown on the Google Earth maps and finally got close to the desired spot on the river. The road was called a 4 wheeler only road, which was saying it mildly in some spots. The picture below is an example of the 'road' and was really much worse from the bottom. I took this picture after I have gotten over this mess, and after having to add a few rocks to fill in some 'holes' so I could get over the large rock in the middle of the road...



Anyway, by keeping one foot on the brake and the other on the gas, and creeping over a couple of miles of this stuff, I arrived at the desired location on the Snake River. This section of the river is the longest stretch that is dam free and also has the largest sturgeon population, per all the reports on the internet. It runs from the Bliss Dam about 100 miles to the CJ Strike Lake. At this specific location, the river is just opening up after running through a fairly deep canyon. There is this wide spot that is probably 100 by 150 yards around that is a very deep hole. The depth is probably around 100 feet or much more, based upon the way the fish dove. Then, after this wide spot, there are some pretty shallow, wide rapids that continue river. The shallow rapids keep the fish in the area of the hole since they are usually bottom creatures and don't seem to like white water too much.

After all the nasty roads to get there, the actual spot on the river is quite nice. Lots of low type trees and nice flat spots to pitch a tent or two. There was the usual fire pit or two and a past beverage containers strewn here and there. There is actually a place to put in a boat, if you could ever get one down there. I assume it would have to be one you put in the back of a truck or on top of a 4X4.

Someone has actually built a couple of rod holders in the rocks out of PVC pipe and cement, which makes it very handy. All in all, the nicest fishing place I have been to lately.

So, I got my two rods all setup and casted them out into the hole. I cast them about 60 yards and let the line run and the line ends up going almost straight down when it all settles. Another indicator of how deep it was there. I put out both poles hoping that one would get a bite and turned on the radio and opened up a coke and was just checking the place out. After about 10 minutes of no activity, I got up and walked over to my new little 8' heavy action pole and was going to recast it into a different spot. Right as I touched it, the rod tip dove down almost to the water and the reel started 'screaming'. Line was coming off at a very high speed. So, I grabbed it with both hands, and got it out of the rod holder and got it hooked into my belt holder for the butt of the pole.

This one didn't jump, but just keep running off line. It finally slowed down and I started pumping line back in when I could, but it was usually going out faster than I was bringing it in. Then, it finally stopped and the line went slack. I started reeling in line ASAP as it was coming back at me to try and release the hook. All the Sturgeon hooks must be barbless so without pressure on the hook, they can easily dislodge. I was able to keep up with him and didn't loose him. Then, when he got closer to the surface, he turned and took off again with the reel screaming. Then he would stop and I would drag him back in for a while until he would take off again. A few times, I could feel him rubbing the line on the rocks down in the hole trying to break the line and sometimes he would just stop and I would have to just wait until he moved again. Luckily, I had just filled the spool with 100# test super braided line that is very good about handling such abuse. This went on for about an hour and a half. My whole upper body, especially my surgeically reduced right arm, was worn out, but by switching arms while he was in his 'lounging' periods, I was able to get some blood and strength back in it.

Then, during the middle of fighting this fish, my other rod hooked up and started dancing. I was having as much 'fun' as I could handle and just had to let it be and try to get as far away from it as possible. Then, the fish must have gotten off and it went slack, which was great news. It would have only ended up in some sort of disaster, I am sure.

Finally, after about 10 runs that peeled off about half of my line each time, he was done and I was able to drag him in and beach him in shallow water. Here is a picture of him below...



Being by myself and having to hold the line tight and try and take pictures, it was hard to get a completely accurate measurement, but I was able to use the rod and he was just short a few inches of the length of the rod, which is 8 feet long. In the internet Sturgeon length/weight charts, he weighted in the 200 to 250# category...

I have been fishing all of my life. I have caught some pretty large ocean fish, but this one was the largest fish I have ever caught and there are much larger ones out there, just a few miles from home here in DaHo...