South western Idaho is GREAT!!! we camped (for free) right at the base of the C.J. Strike Dam in an area run by the Idaho Power Company. We were 30 yard down stream from the turbines that chop fish up!!! the scenery is grand, the water is flowing, and the STURGEON are biting!!!
We arrived about 8 pm on Friday night, my buddy was kind enough to take my tent up with him that morning and set it up for me. part of our party from Boise arrived Wednesday afternoon and got good spots for us, the fishing was on!! as we unloaded the Jeep and made our beds for the night ( wife and 2 kids along this time) we hear FISH ON!! the guys next to us battled a 10 footer that long line released itself after an hour of playing. what a jump though, i have never seen ten feet of fish jump clean out of the water!!! the closest thing i can relate it to is watching the jumping Great Whites in discovery channel in africa!!!
dinner time, eat watch poles. kids to bed its about 9:30 10 pm now sit have a cold one wait for midnight so my tags are acative. stroke of midnight, get out the rods and go to the waters edge to catch more crappie for bait. took 10 minutes and we had over 30 hooked, kept 10 for cutbait, go to bed at 2.
saturday morning wake around 6 am, freinds dad is already on pole watch, he sees me sets another line in the water…good on him, i reward him with cup of hot coffee, camp coffee is the best.
as the rest of camp is waking around 8 in the morning, I get hit, FISH ON!!! get on the fight belt, and a bad fish attitude to set the hook…ZOWIE what a fight, battle rages, i get 40 feet of line in he takes 60 peels my reel like a soft banana!! line gets some slack in it and BAM 10 footer JUMPS 40 feet off shore little ole me is tugging on him from, half out of water and head shakin…man o man what a fish…just as I get down to the final 20 feet of line he reaches up and unties the hook from the line, knot slips line goes slack…I am grateful to have even battled a fish like that, what a fight. most work i have EVER done in one hour period.
morning continues, take kids out to the edge with the “light gear” using just crappie jigs and a bit of sweetener of the crawler orientation the kids have a blast fish on every cast, crappie, perch, smallies..nothing big, but plenty for the kids to keep busy. they start to keep track of the casts that they DONT get a fish on…my 9 year old had 6 casts with no fish in 3 hours on that shore, i took my 4 year old down with me and let her reel em in she caught 40 or so before she got bored and wanted a snack so up the bank we go…this is all of a 20 foot path from camp to the waters edge. older kids play tag and football on the grassy area in the center of the campgrounds fun for all…my wife even got in on the action and swindled a few bass off their rocks!!
just making lunch when we hear FISH ON in our camp again. we have watched several people all around us on both sides of the river land fish all day long. battle for 30 minutes leads to another long line release with no jump or anything this time, who knows what it was.
slows down for the afternoon until around 9 pm or so then as we are checking bait i reel in the “short” pole it was 8 feet long. it tugs back…hhmm…so i get a bit of a fight out of a 4 or 5 pound pikeminnow/squawfish/sucker man they are cool looking kinda I had never seen one, wife takes some pictures of that before we send him back good times. nothing for the rest of saturday night except good company and miller time around the fire.
sunday morning arrives as promised, get up about 7 or so, i rested more for the drive home. break camp after a good breakfast of egg bacon cheese english muffin samiches. as I load up the car we get FISH ON, now this is my buddies turn, he was the other sturgeon virgin there and he slammed one all the way home he took his time and fought well for about 45 minutes then landed a great looking 4 and a half to 5 foot sturgeon. way to go!! they are really neat looking fish up close, got some pictures of the unhook, kiss, and release. perfect end to a great trip.
stopped in twin falls had dinner around 4 pm at a great little mexican food place just past chilis and it was good price too four people had dinner there for 23 bucks…drove home to arrive around 8:30pm in SLC had a WONDERFUL fathers day with my girls and wife in Idaho. I have about 300 pictures on the digital to go through after I get them on my computer, when i do i will post some up.
anyone know how to resize a pic in XP for the proper limit here or does it do it automatically?
anyway, thats my story and I am sticking to it!!
Plan on using at least 8 ounce pyramid sinkers. In order to have any chance of landing the sturgeon in that area you want to use 50 or 60 pound test line. This is the line of choice these days and can be purchased at Sportsman’s Warehouses in the area (there is a store in Twin Falls – take the second exit and head south a couple miles).