When we got there it was about 70* and very pleasant. The river hasn't changed much since i was there last but the parking area had. We got the camper all organized and the kids fed and down to the river we went. My wife and i have caught plenty of sturgeon with my best at 9' even and hers a little under 5'. My 3 yo and 6 yo had never even seen one. It would be an experience for sure.
I rigged and baited our 3 sturgeon rods and sent them out into the current. It was a,most 2 hours before our first good bite. I set the hook and handed the 12' Ugly Stick to my boy. He didn't know what to do. It was pulling him all over. I grabbed a hold of the rod about mid-point and let him reel. He finally landed his first sturgeon. A 2'er. The kids were kinda like "wow, they are big" and i told them to wait for a big one.
Over the next half day we landed 8 more with the largest going just shy of 7'. Both kids got to help reel that one in a little until it decided it was not going to be caught and hung me up. I fought that fish for over an hour with the line sliding between 2 rocks the entire fight! I finally got him back to the snag and he got it out for us. He jumped several times even after the 1 hour+ fight. We got some of it on video as well as several other jumps and fights. The family had a blast and could not get over the size of the fish. We ate dinner and i went back out for some night fishing. It slowed way down as the cold front pushed through and got very windy.
Sunday morning we fished for 3 hours without any hook-ups and decided to go sight seeing. We took the kids to the alligator farm and found a creek infested with Tilapia. They had a blast catching them. After that we had a sturgeon steak dinner at the Snake River Grill and headed back to camp. The kids went to bed and the wife joined me for the remaining 3 hours of our licenses. Shortly after she got down there she hooked up with a nice 4'er and had a helluva fight on her hands. Probably the hardest fighting 4'er i have ever seen! I had not had a good bite all day that was worth setting the hook on. I kept thinking i would score a fish at the stroke of midnight(to myself). I was kinda jealous the old lady had outfished me sunday. I looked at the phone and it was 11:51 when i dumped out the rest of the morts and herring and leaned over to rinse out the cooler. My wife told me to watch my pole and sure enough, a good bite!!! I grabbed the rod and he was still there. A hard swing and i am head long into a 5'er! A quick fight and when i released him i opened my phone. It was 12:00 on the nose! How lucky can you get?
Monday was more sight seeing and the kids got to fish for bluegills at Dirkies Lake by Shoshone Falls. Nice sized gills. They probably caught 30 in the 2 hours we were there. after that it was time to head home.
What an awesome weekend! I will never forget this trip.
Total sturgeon landed in 1 1/2 days, 11
Total broke off, 2
Total bites, over 50 but most of them were not very good.
Lost 3 after hooking up.
Total Tilapia 7
Total gills over 25 or 30
Cost of the trip, too much but well worth it and priceless.
Here are some vids and pics.
I will add the vids later i am having trouble with the pics still.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbo97vUmWh4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXJvOFeBz9Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca77LxaFW28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCA38CRrNes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXqP0ZDYMzs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dSjEJD8-iU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_y9hJ1h5oC4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLE6qC3Mc4M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8daXI2Z0qw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVL6J117ksQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy1E72D732U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfXiP4IXzNY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Tj5ZFa4BnM
