Norcal Sturgeon Video
 

We have our own version of WCW in NorCal, but it is an 8 species jackpot format. Sturgeon are generally hard to get and are an opportunity to get points to push you ahead. The dino bite was on, and a bunch of us hit it...I brought the cam.

The 45 degree muddy water and weird big fish are so different than LJ or baja I thought you guys might enjoy it....click and GET FUNKY!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i56rWCQRqe0

Very cool Sean.

I like the opening music, reminds me of an old school Chico band called Electric Circus... with a bad ass bass player, used nothin but thumb... :)

Cool video, looks like fun reeling those prehistoric fish in!!! :luxhello:

Chris

Way cool. The video is very well done.

Glad you enjoyed it...gotta love old school funk! Now I just gotta get one in the slot myself!

Different, but the same.

Thanks for sharing that video.

Hey Sean, thanks for sharing the show!:luxhello:

Nice video!

That's a big fish... :cool:

Ve:luxhello: ry entertaining

That was freakin' awesome :you_rock:. Nice catches guys, great documentary and good music choice.

Awesome! Killer music, & the quote at the end says it all...

I love those snares. I made a similiar one when my dad and I used to hunt Sturgeon in San Pablo back in the 80's. Didn't ever work quite right, so we just gaffed the beasts (you could do that back then). I never did think of taking the snare over the butt end of the rod as shown. Back then there were no slot limits. It still haunts me the image of one that I got right up to the boat and lost that was well over 100 lbs. I vividly remember it's eyes being about 10 inches apart:eek:

t'was a beast:evil:

The snares are a cool part of this unique fishery. I had tried it before in a pb without going down the rod as well with mixed success. Over the butt works super good, but the fish better not have another run in it!

Why the snare and not a net? Is this for C&R? If not, why not a gaff?

Excuse my ignorance, I just am...:D

Unless you have a mondo size net, most sturgeon won't fit. The slot limit is currently 46-66". Before 3/1/07 it was 46-72". DFG regs prohibit the use of gaffs for sturgeon. Most nets are just too small and the snare makes C&R much easier.

Here's a still pic of Mark's ~68" oversized dino. A few weeks earlier, it would have been a keeper.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m.../oversized.jpg

Here's a pic that Sean took of my skunk busting 55" sturgeon.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m...h/dinoyak1.jpg

Out of necessity.... not only do we use a snare.... but we've also developed a special bonker to crack through the armour plated head of sturgeon. We call it the "punisher" and it's simply made of galvanized pipe.

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m.../punisher2.jpg

Wow! Those are some big fish. What's the fight like?

Although sturgeon are often seen jumping (we saw about a dozen jumpers that day), most of the fights i've seen are long steady runs. Smaller fish are more likely to do acrobatics.

Oversized dinos, like the ones that Mark and Sean hooked into recently, can easily drag you around for over half-an-hour.

Releasing anchor and going for the sleigh ride is usually the best way to tire'em out. Once you get its head to surface near the boat, the fight is just about over. Maybe... a couple more runs and your ready to snare'em.

One of our buddies hooked into a 66 incher that was spooling him until he released the anchor, reeled himself to the fish, and went for the ride. His fight only lasted a total of 12 minutes. I tell boaters and shore fishermen that story and few can believe it.

The savage bonker is just plain midevil...better not miss!