Sturgeon Fishing Oregon - Washington, Guide to Columbia River Sturgeon fishing, fishing guides, sturgeon fisheries.

Sturgeon fishing - fishing guide for sturgeon in the Pacific Northwest.

Written By: Oregon Sturgeon fishing Guide Dennis Hull
Columbia river Sturgeon fishing - Willamette river sturgeon fishing - Astoria sturgeon fishing - Sturgeon fishing the coast's rivers and estuaries.
Most large river systems and bays in Oregon and Washington that drain to the pacific ocean or at one time did, before the dams have a population of sturgeon at certain times of the year. Some examples of these are the Willamette river, Umpqua river, Siletz river, Nehalem river, Tillamook Bay, Yaquina river and bay, Coos bay, Rogue river, John Day river and so on. The Best year around producers being the Columbia and Willamette river systems. In Washington some examples are the Cowlitz river, Kalama river, Lewis river, Chehalis river, Willapa bay and so on. With all of these outstanding sturgeon fishing opportunities around lets break some of them down for you. If you would like to try this and have never fished for sturgeon before it is always a good idea to go with a qualified fishing guide on a guided sturgeon fishing trip to learn how to and where to catch sturgeon.
NOTE: giant sturgeon caught on the Willamette River - the photo going around on the internet is real but that fish wasn't caught on the Willamette. It was caught on the Frazer River in British Columbia. Photo at right was of a 13 foot sturgeon caught on August 27 2008 by one of my clients Ben C on the Columbia River east of Portland ( We are not allowed to lift them out of the water in Oregon). That fish was one of five fish over 10 feet long caught that day. To read Ben's Blog about this trip click here
A 1000 pound sturgeon is not all that rare here - we catch several each year that size or bigger on the Columbia and Willamette rivers. Last years big fish was over 13 feet estimated at 1200 pounds or more. Our average oversized sturgeon weighs 300 - 500 lbs and we catch 3-5 a day on average.

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Taking Reservations now for the following Sturgeon fishing trips
Giant sturgeon May - November
Light tackle sturgeon fishing - Columbia and Willamette Rivers
Sturgeon - Salmon fishing combo trips April - June
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503-551-6369

Columbia River Sturgeon fishing:

The Columbia river offers great sturgeon fishing opportunities year around. There are always tons of smaller sturgeon in the river as they live in the river until the grow large enough to migrate out to the salt water usually at around 3 feet in length. Once the fish have reached the age that they begin migrating they are constantly on the move looking for sources of food. These food sources are the key to targeting and fishing for a specific age class of sturgeon.
For the keeper sized sturgeon the main food sources are smelt, crayfish, clams (both freshwater and saltwater), anchovies, sardines, herring, salmon roe and carcasses, sand and mud shrimp. By far there favorites are smelt, clams, anchovies, shrimp. They feed heavily on these food sources with the food of choice dependant on where in the river system they are and what the predominant food source is for that time of year. The keeper sized 42"-60" fish migrate with the food. Usually The fishing for keepers is good in the lower Columbia river below Bonneville dam near Portland Oregon down to Rainier Oregon from October to May. The keeper sized fish move upstream with the fall salmon runs staying in the upper portions of the lower Columbia River and Willamette River for most of the fall, winter and spring months As the spring migration heads downriver the majority of the keeper sized sturgeon will arrive in the estuary at the mouth of the Columbia river around mid May to mid June and will remain there until late fall then they will start back up river following the fall salmon run. They will remain somewhat scattered until January when they begin stacking up again in anticipation of the upcoming smelt return.

Giant sturgeon fishing - Columbia river Oversized sturgeon: fishing for giant sturgeon in columbia river gorge

The Columbia river below Bonneville Dam is a major spawning location for the giant oversized white sturgeon. These monsters can grow to 20 feet in length and reach weights of up to 2000 lbs. The average however that sturgeon fisherman angling for sturgeon are able to catch and release is between 6 and 14 feet with weights of up to 1200 lbs. These big sturgeon spend most of there time in the open ocean and only return to the Columbia river to spawn. This spawning run coincides with the shad spawning run that happens from April thru June on the Columbia river. The oversized sturgeon come in beginning in late March and remain in the lower Columbia river until late summer or early fall when there spawning activities are completed then they move back out to the open ocean. These fish absolutely love fresh caught whole shad for bait and also have a fondness for lamprey eels, large squid and smelt as well. But when the shad run is in full swing its fresh shad or nothing, when the shad start to diminish then the other baits will produce.
Reserve your dates today to fish with me for the big sturgeon this one is one of my most popular trips - often filling up by late winter or early spring.

Willamette river Sturgeon Fishing:

Some of our best sturgeon fishing right in Portland Oregon's Willamette river sturgeon fishing downtown Portland. Very high success rate without the huge crowds or rough water found on the Columbia. The Willamette river in Oregon also has sturgeon fishing opportunities year around. Light tackle catch and release fishing is some of the best sturgeon fishing in the Portland area. This tributary of the Columbia is a big river. Running from the south the water stays several degrees warmer than the Columbia which tends to draw all of the sturgeon into it during the colder winter and spring months. Willamette river sturgeon's food sources are crayfish, eels, freshwater clams, salmon carcasses and roe, and smelt. Sand shrimp or smelt is always a good bait here as is eel. During the winter and early spring months the sturgeon move back and forth from the Columbia river to the Willamette river. The Willamette river also has a return of shad and big spawning oversized sturgeon.

Saltwater sturgeon fishing:

Most coastal rivers and bays of the pacific northwest have sturgeon in them Columbia river sturgeon fishing in Astoria at some point during the year. Some of the best sturgeon fishing in the world for keeper sturgeon is found in Astoria Oregon in the Columbia river estuary. The sturgeon migrate to the mouth of the Columbia to feed heavily on the abundant food sources found there. The fishing in the Columbia estuary picks up around May and continues to be good throughout the summer months. Due to the popularity of this fishery it is a very short season usually from mid May to late June. The Sturgeon begin there migration back up river in the fall months following the salmon runs and they stay upriver throughout the winter months feeding on smelt, freshwater clams, crawfish, crappie and so on until the late spring when they begin there trip down the Columbia river back to the abundant estuary food sources. Tillamook bay also has an excellent sturgeon fishery as well as Yaquina Bay, these are primarily winter sturgeon fisheries because of the abundance of crabs when there is little fresh water coming into the bays makes it tough to keep your baits on the hooks.

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fishing with host Trevor Gowdy
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Coming to the Sportsmans channel in 2013 Winter sturgeon fishing on light tackle

Upcoming Winter and Spring fishing
"sturgeon fishing in Oregon"
Giant Columbia river Sturgeon fishing
Willamette River Oversized sturgeon fishing
Sturgeon fishing - Spring salmon fishing combo

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some pics of our trips click to enlarge

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