Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

The weather and the tides seemed in alignment to produce a good
sturgeon hunt on Suisun Bay this week. So I headed to Brannan on
Wednesday April 29th for a couple of nights at Brannan State Park
aboard the motorhome. (Near Rio Vista, N. California on the California
Delta)

I tried fishing near Brannan Park on Wednesday afternoon but it was
just too windy. I didn't even try off Decker Island, my usual choice.
I tried anchoring at Light 25, but the wind kept blowing me off the
clam bed there as the anchor just wouldn't hold on those hard clams! I
gave up, headed to the berth and watched TV for the afternoon. There
was no fishing in the motorhome, either. Sad

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

I hooked into another one on the much calmer and very pleasant
incoming tide - and he measured just 42 inches. I released him to grow
a bit more. (Our slot limit is 46" to 66".)

All in all it was another grand Delta trip and some great sturgeon
action! Can't wait for the next Suisun trip!

Photos and more details on my homepage: www.FishWisher.com

Dale

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On Fri, 1 May 2009 15:57:26 -0700 (PDT), FishWisher
wrote:


Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

Good stuff, Dale.
Figured you would use wire leader. What's the point of mono leader?

--Vic

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On May 2, 7:13*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 2009 15:57:26 -0700 (PDT), FishWisher

wrote:

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

Good stuff, Dale.
Figured you would use wire leader. *What's the point of mono leader?

--Vic

Mono is more forgiving, it stretches instead of breaking.

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On Sat, 2 May 2009 06:32:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

On May 2, 7:13Â*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 2009 15:57:26 -0700 (PDT), FishWisher

wrote:

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

Good stuff, Dale.
Figured you would use wire leader. Â*What's the point of mono leader?

--Vic

Mono is more forgiving, it stretches instead of breaking.

Yeah, but I've never had a steel leader break.
I see leaders as protection from teeth and abrasion.
Quick terminal changes too of course.
Mono gets weakened pretty fast if abraded, beside the sun working on
it. I replace my mono line pretty often - never keep it more than 3
years. Sometimes less if it feels weak doing a pull test.
But I use steel leaders practically forever.
Only get rid of them if they get kinked or the snaps get deformed.

--Vic

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On May 2, 7:01*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sat, 2 May 2009 06:32:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On May 2, 7:13*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 2009 15:57:26 -0700 (PDT), FishWisher

wrote:

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

Good stuff, Dale.
Figured you would use wire leader. *What's the point of mono leader?

--Vic

Mono is more forgiving, it stretches instead of breaking.

Yeah, but I've never had a steel leader break.
I see leaders as protection from teeth and abrasion.
Quick terminal changes too of course.
Mono gets weakened pretty fast if abraded, beside the sun working on
it. *I replace my mono line pretty often - never keep it more than 3
years. *Sometimes less if it feels weak doing a pull test.
But I use steel leaders practically forever.
Only get rid of them if they get kinked or the snaps get deformed.

--Vic

I prefer mono over metal leaders mainly because of the kinks. And I
can easily make my own leaders with mono (80#) where I can't so easily
(and cheaply) with metal. The leader that broke was well worn and not
the fault of mono but my own dumb fault for even keeping that old
thing so long. I've doubtless learned this lesson in years gone by,
and now I've learned it again. For awhile. Senility can be very
costly!

At least I did have the pleasure of fighting that big ol' sturgeon
clear to the net - and would likely have had to release it anyway as
it may well have been over 66". That's my story and I'm sticking to
it... ;-)

Dale
www.FishWisher.com

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On Sat, 2 May 2009 07:28:45 -0700 (PDT), CoachPotato
wrote:



I prefer mono over metal leaders mainly because of the kinks. And I
can easily make my own leaders with mono (80#) where I can't so easily
(and cheaply) with metal.

I thought a couple times about getting a crimping kit and materials to
make up my own metal leaders, but it's so easy buying what I need off
the rack I never did. If I ever get to where I can fish more I still
might do it.

At least I did have the pleasure of fighting that big ol' sturgeon
clear to the net - and would likely have had to release it anyway as
it may well have been over 66". That's my story and I'm sticking to
it... ;-)

Maybe you should rethink that. From your telling of it I estimated
that fish at a minimum 6'. That's 72."

--Vic

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On May 2, 7:55*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sat, 2 May 2009 07:28:45 -0700 (PDT), CoachPotato

wrote:

I prefer mono over metal leaders mainly because of the kinks. And I
can easily make my own leaders with mono (80#) where I can't so easily
(and cheaply) with metal.

I thought a couple times about getting a crimping kit and materials to
make up my own metal leaders, but it's so easy buying what I need off
the rack I never did. *If I ever get to where I can fish more I still
might do it. *

At least I did have the pleasure of fighting that big ol' sturgeon
clear to the net - and would likely have had to release it anyway as
it may well have been over 66". That's my story and I'm sticking to
it... ;-)

Maybe you should rethink that. *From your telling of it I estimated
that fish at a minimum 6'. *That's 72."

--Vic

I'm pretty certain that it wasn't a six footer - by visual estimate.
I've caught several six-footers and there is a huge difference in
weight between about 65 incher and a 72 incher. Those over 72" that
I've caught were all females and very big girths - and over a hundred
pounds. The 65 inchers are also often females, but sometimes a male.
This one was slender enough that I think it was a male. Can't really
sex 'em for certain, but the males are generally stronger for their
size and sometimes put up much longer fights.

This 65 inch male back in '04 was about the best fighter I've ever
gotten to the boat: http://fishwisher.spaces.live.com/bl...1394!198.entry

Dale

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On Sat, 2 May 2009 08:55:03 -0700 (PDT), CoachPotato
wrote:



This 65 inch male back in '04 was about the best fighter I've ever
gotten to the boat: http://fishwisher.spaces.live.com/bl...1394!198.entry

That's a terrific story, Dale. My kind of fishing, even without the
fish. (-:

--Vic

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On May 2, 10:01*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Sat, 2 May 2009 06:32:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:
On May 2, 7:13*am, Vic Smith wrote:
On Fri, 1 May 2009 15:57:26 -0700 (PDT), FishWisher

wrote:

Thursday was calmer and I headed for my honey hole on Suisun Bay -
about 25 miles downrivere. I hammered down the river and across the
bay in pretty lumpy conditions, and tried to fish while the boat
rocked and rolled. I managed one nice sturgeon on the outgo, but he
managed to release himself from the net after my leader broke! He was
probably in the mid-60" range.

Good stuff, Dale.
Figured you would use wire leader. *What's the point of mono leader?

--Vic

Mono is more forgiving, it stretches instead of breaking.

Yeah, but I've never had a steel leader break.
I see leaders as protection from teeth and abrasion.
Quick terminal changes too of course.
Mono gets weakened pretty fast if abraded, beside the sun working on
it. *I replace my mono line pretty often - never keep it more than 3
years. *Sometimes less if it feels weak doing a pull test.
But I use steel leaders practically forever.
Only get rid of them if they get kinked or the snaps get deformed.

--Vic- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Steel leaders get caught on everything! Around here we fish around
stumps, submerged trees, submerged roads, rocks, and docks.

Two more Suisun Bay Sturgeon! (An actual boating thread!)
 

On Sat, 2 May 2009 06:32:25 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

Mono is more forgiving, it stretches instead of breaking.

Not really. Either the leader or the main line will break at whatever
it breaks at. It does take more energy to break a stretchier material.
If there is a significant ammount of line out it will take care of the
stretching. Wire will resist teeth. Here in Iowa the Northern Pike and
the Walleyes both can cut mono wire rope leaders are popular. They
come with a handy ball bearing snap swivel. Around here fishing is a
no brainer. I have a pond where you can catch any ammount of
largemouth bass. Tournament bass are a different fish. This involves
putting a 150 hp motor on a 16 foot boat and racing from one likely
spot to another at 75 mph. You can get seriously killed with a bass
boat. If I was going to work at fishing, I would get a longliner.

Casady