We anchored up down at a good shad spot and set up. I could tell it would be a slow day for shad because even though there were boats around we didn't see any rods bent over. I managed to get us in a good slot, however, and Dad got 2 females. I had several hits but nothing stayed on the line. It was interesting that the bite was much softer than the last time I went out - there was no swallowing the lures this time. Dad's 3rd fish didn't seem to be fighting too hard - Dad commented it felt tired. Well, it turned out to be a squawfish (pikeminnow) - and a decent sized one at that. It was just a pinch over 14 inches and weighed 17 ounces.

14 inch squawfish

After a good stretch with no bites, we headed up to the Reed Island area to do some sturgeon fishing. This was proportionally slow. I set up with sand shrimp and Dad used some vacuum-sealed smelt I had stashed away in my freezer. The smelt definitely produced more bites, and Dad got a couple of good bites but no takers. Finally, about 10 minutes before we were going to pick up and go, Dad got a solid hit and a fish on. He was cranking on it when the line went a little slack, and I was afraid the fish had gotten off. Then about a hundred feet off the port bow this sturgeon comes jumping completely out of the water - 20oz. weight and all - and slams back down. It took me a second to realize that this was the fish Dad had on his line. It put up a good fight after that and we hauled it into the boat. It was Dad's first sturgeon and it was decent. We forgot to measure it but it was in the 32 inch range, bright and fat, and quite spunky even in the boat (it managed to tear up Dad's thumb a bit). Not a keeper but a nice way to end the day. There's not many people I can take out fishing with me who will not only beat me in numbers but manage to score 3 species for a half-day's worth of fishing. Dad, you the man!

A comment about the deep-sea rod. While it proved itself sufficient for the task at hand, Dad noted that it was hard to keep constant tension on the line while fighting the fish due to the short, stout configuration of the rod. This is mostly expected, but it was still interesting to give it a try and see how it compares to a more standard sturgeon rod. In the end it was a good example of how far we've come in perfecting sturgeon gear.

I'm planning on doing another shad/sturgeon combo trip next weekend, or perhaps just sturgeon as the shad numbers seem to be dwindling in my favored section of river (although the actual dam counts have been fairly consistent lately so who knows). I'm looking forward to trying out my new Daiwa Eliminator big-water rod for sturgeon. I was also so impressed with Dad's old Penn reel that I asked for one for my birthday and got a Penn 209M level-wind. I'll report on this and the rod in next week's update. This is the cap'n - signing off.