Adam Andreini Fisher of Dinosaurs

Hot podcasting from Chico California.

This is the Barb fly fishing.

Where we discuss North health fly Fishing, guiding

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conservation and more.

No better, fish better.

Here's your host, Hogan Brown. Hey, everybody. Welcome back. To So Brown, and thank you for tuning into the Barb podcast.

It is

March twentieth

and

according to

not me because I said last time March first

is the official start of spring. But today,

I think it must be a lunar, a lunar thing. It is the official start of spring today.

And I'm sitting looking out. Look out my office window and

By golly, it it actually looks like spring. Like, there is blue skies. The sun is out. I'm looking out my twelve year old run around the backyard, and he actually has shorts on.

His legs are shockingly white.

So let's be very clear. They have seen a ton of sun. It has not been sunny very often. But,

for the moment, it looks like spring.

Of course, there is,

you know, a ninety

two

eighty percent chance of rain forecasted for the next three days and

not like spring rain, I I heard it described as an atmospheric river again. So,

man, bat down the hatch

most of our rivers are already

ripping.

Last week, I think it was Thursday.

I

I took my boat up to Redding. Thursday or Wednesday took my boat up riding to get some work done on it, and

if you know the stretch of I five between,

gosh, would that be Or and say redding. You know, you drive over...

I don't know.

Thirty creek

and, like, realistically,

you know, maybe three of them

traditionally have water in them, but, you know,

they call them Creek nonetheless,

and

man were they creek. Everything

everything

that you drove over

that you would think had water, and it it was

standing waves and some just torrent of water. I don't I don't even know how to describe it.

Driving over Cow Creek,

I think Cow Creek

got up to, like, forty thousand Cf,

it was over the le

on the south side.

So

absolute massive amounts of water coming into the sack, and then

I drove up and picked the boat up Thursday. That's right. And

driving home,

Woods and Bridge was actually closed. They wouldn't let you cross it because there was so much water coming down the sack. And so took some back roads home,

got

up to... Or down to Highway thirty two and crossed over at Highway thirty two when the the river was insane.

If you know the the... I think it's... I always call it Doug house, up from the highway thirty two bridge, the water was in doug yard,

whereas you're usually looking up.

I don't know sitting in the boat.

Ten feet, fifteen feet, two like Doug house.

Pine Creek Boat ramp was flooded into the parking lot.

Scott boat ramp was flooded

up to Rivers road. Like, I would imagine I did not see the backside of Scott, but I bet the water was

up over the back porch.

So

just

massive amounts of water. I think it tapped out at a hundred and eight thousand Cf,

something like that coming down. So

just

insane amounts of water.

In Morris coming, you know, that I drove over the river today. It's still brown, and there looks like there's trees and stuff floating down and I mean, it is by no means

dropped.

Down to, like, anything of a normal flow.

From what I've heard, it's pretty muddy up through redding.

There's mud coming in below s stuff from... I always forget what it is, but there's a a creek and a mine or something up there.

Little money up that up or stretch.

The lake though,

last information I got was the lake is up a good clarity. So if

we can just

stop the runoff.

Up there. You know, they'll be at least a couple miles of trout up there that people will be able to do, but

not much else, lake Cha lake Or or firing,

John Fa machete, Kyle Ba union member, John Fa machete and Cal ba union members, Ryan Williams and

Ben Thompson have both been out on Or villain cha and doing well. So

You know, it's really gonna be one of those springs, I think where the the the lakes,

whether you like trout lakes or bass lakes or whatever, but I mean, that is gonna be the spring game is there is still just

massive amounts of snow that's gonna melt and come down.

It's gonna be a

a tough spring for those that like to fish. I think we're gonna have to kinda think outside the box, look at a lot of lakes,

get real good at fish in high water,

which is not something is Californian. We have a lot of practice doing.

So

good news is,

last day I looked cha is at, like, ninety percent of its historic average.

You know, or bills

almost full. I mean, they're dumping water out the spill way starting last week. So,

you know, from a water standpoint, you know, it looks good. You know, the the groundwater gonna, soak through, replenish a lot of those aquifer, but, you know, still those have been tapped for and,

you know, stress for the last couple years. So

nothing to complain about, but I would

I I I honestly, am not excited about more rain. I'm ready for some

Sunshine flip flops and spring fishing, but I,

dare I say I'm think we're a little ways away. So

at least for the rivers.

I know

getting out an Nor villain cha right now as a real option. So if anybody's wanting to get out fit, getting out and fish or wanting to get out and fish, those are definitely

right now and gonna be good options this spring. So

Other than that, we had

our first Cal bashing day the spring,

two weekends ago, a week ago,

down to fly fishing specialties. So if you're listening and you attended, thank you so much for coming. It was,

you grid right around a hundred people show up, You know, throughout the day, we collected about, I don't know, seventy some emails. So, you know, not everybody wants to give out their email. You you do you do get a free raffle ticket though, if you sign up for the email list.

And I'm pretty sure I'd have to confirm with

Ben Captain and Ben Thompson.

But I'm pretty sure everyone in attendance won something. So

you know, the events free and you walk away with free stuff. So...

It was great. I wanna give a shout out to fly fishing specialties.

You know, if you are in the greater Sacramento area, and you have a chance to stop by. It is probably in my opinion one of the best inventory fly shops

around that I've been into.

You know, super knowledgeable staff,

big open sales floor, just everything you could possibly want.

Flight tying material galore,

I know I watched Ben and Ryan basically walked around. I think Ryan walked around with, like, a legit shopping list and a,

like, a grocery basket

just buying fly tying materials. So

those guys can find something there that they don't have. I'm sure most of us could as well. So

thank you to specialties, and I highly recommend stopping interfering in the area.

Don't don't fret though,

if you missed that one or it wasn't really in your local cal,

we have our last Cal bashing day of the spring coming up April first at Los Coast outfitters, this another free event,

Los Coast outfitters in San Francisco. We're gonna take over the shop and the bar next door.

So

we're gonna have presentations, fly tying,

Patrick Mackenzie, Captain Patrick Mackenzie,

Ryan Williams,

myself, Chuck Reg and Ben Thompson

Bryce Ted Captain Bryce Ted for John Sherman,

and I think that is it. We will all be in attendance fly tying,

giving presentations and just realistically talking bass, trying to get people fired up about bass fishing, which

let's be real ponds and lakes are gonna be a, a, a large part of the options to go fishing this spring and probably into the early summer.

So

great news is we got a lot of water and when the rivers are ready, they'll be rocking.

Mig strike fishing is probably gonna be insane to share those official.

Who knows how far they're gonna go up forever, but, you know, if we can get.

You know, we don't necessarily need clearwater, but safely nav

water. So

that should be an option as well and be pretty good and

soon as the upper couple miles of the lower sack clears, that'll be an option too, you know, and

just it's hard to talk about options without much experience with

this much snow and rain. I was trying to think about it. There was a year

I maybe two thousand

six, two thousand five.

I'm trying to think back. I was talking to chuck about this. There was a year where

I didn't fish the Hub. I was still guiding the U bunch.

And

I think it was the the summer after I got married, so it'd be the two thousand six summer.

Yeah. Two thousand six. Yeah.

Maybe two thousand five. I know I got married in two thousand five, but I'm I'm foggy on the... On which summer it was.

I did not fish or float the You to, like, June.

It was blown from

February through June. And, you know, obviously, there was probably some windows in there, but

it was just... Out... And I think when I fished it in June, it was like, around three thousand twenty five hundred Cf.

And I don't think that summer at ever

got too far below, like, twenty five hundred two grand. So

which is let's be very clear and awesome flow on the.

So, you know, good things Just different. We not a lot of experience with it. So

onward an upward though as they say. So

excited about the episode. I I gotta a really...

I... I'm was trying to think I was trying to think when I started the year How long I've known Adam and dreamy, but I... I'm thinking it's like nine or ten years, and I meant Adam,

hanging out with a previous guest. And as I say the most interesting man in the world,

Henry Lame.

And,

Adam was doing at the time. I think he was in college or just getting out of college, but he was doing

kinda helping in Henry as a second boat on some of his,

nature tours or river tours, eco tours. Is what he would call them. And,

both of us were kinda, you know,

figuring out the river, finding all the cool stuff that was out there just hungry to learn and spending a ton of time

out on the water.

And

Adam was always at the time,

a

a fairly accomplished gear angle,

And he's kinda, you know, danced and worked in that world as a Salmon guide, a a conventional stripe guide,

and a

conventional sturgeon guide,

And I don't I don't know how long. But over the last, maybe a couple years she's gotten into the fly game as well. You know, got a drift boat

definitely spends time on the river Chase stripe and such like that. But

I wanted to have them on and talk about one of the the fish that swims in our rivers. Yet. Most of us flying. There's really don't ever target them or know anything about them, and that's the the white and green sturgeon.

And Adam started posting

some videos from his guide season last year of fish that were just...

I don't know. Eight, nine, ten feet. I mean, just specimens. Right? And

If you spend enough time on the river, you see them, They, like, just come up and emerge out of the depths,

like, almost sun themselves, and

they're in... There they're almost in intuitive,

they're, like, checking you out just as much as you're checking them out, and then they just kinda disappear. And many times throughout my life on on the Sack. I've had these encounters with these fish. And they've always just

really interest me in the sense of

I mean, they're there...

Most of them that I would see are twice my age, if not three times, you know, I've seen some fish that were ten twelve feet long, you know, those fish are easily a hundred years. And

you know, the things they've survived, the things they've seen, the, you know, just the world that they have survived in amongst such

change

and

environmental

degradation

you know, where other fish have,

you know, their populations have collapsed,

you know, or suffered.

The sturgeon just kinda keep plugging along. And Adam spends a lot of time, Chasing in these fish. And he's he's really meticulous about how he does it. He's he's kind of a

a student of whatever he does. I've always really respected him for that. He's

incredibly

detail oriented when it comes to his craft. And so I knew that

most of us think, you know, oh, well, you just drop anchor and sew something stinky for sturgeon, you know, he and there's way more to it than that. And, you know, Adam in talking to him and made that readily apparent. So

hope you enjoy this one completely different. You know, do talk a little fly fishing here and there, but,

mainly sturgeon, which if you fly fish, you probably don't know a whole ton lot about and learn something new not a bad thing. So

joy adam man from fish adam dot com,

good friend and

man of many skills. Alright. Be well.

Alright, hey everybody. This So Brown. Welcome back to the Bart podcast. I'm really excited to welcome a,

an old friend. I consider an old friend. How long do how long we've been friends together? I mean,

Black boat. How long ago was the black boat?

I sold it five, six years ago. Okay. And so I'm thinking at it for four years. So... So maybe nine years? Yeah. I remember when you got that. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. So friend of nine years, were almost double digits, so I consider that a long time.

My good friend and fellow guide,

Adam and Dreamy.

Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me. Yeah.

So first podcast. Yeah. This is your podcast. Yeah. We're breaking it. It's

it's it's

realistically, it sounds like a lot bigger deal, but it's really just you me sitting in my living room awkward talking.

Well, discuss. No one is listening, But everyone will be eventually listening.

So...

Yeah. So why don't you tell the listeners a little bit about yourself where you're from? What you do? Yeah.

Grew up in Red bluff.

My whole life. Graduated there, moved to Chico for

college and

just kinda fell in love with it.

I mean, you got the river in your backyard. Yeah. Right? All all the hunting and fishing you wanna do and

yeah. I

started guiding when I was nineteen for ducks,

and... Oh, wow. I didn't know that. Yeah. For one of the best places around, I think,

Mall Poll on Lawn.

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

I did... That's kinda downhill from there. Yeah. Yeah

It's it...

Yeah. I was actually living at a friend's house, and I was rodeo at the time horses,

and

his father while runs the ballard ponds are used to? Yeah. And so one day we're out there and he's like, hey. Can you call ducks? I'm like, why? I think so I, you know, and the answer is yes. The answer is. Yeah. And so he's like, whole, what are you doing tomorrow? And I was like,

Are you are you offering to take me without cutting?

And he's like,

kinda.

God. You know I was like, yeah. Yeah. You know, put time? You know? So like he tells and meet him morning. So I was like, okay.

So show up down there and he

walks away walk out to one of the blinds and sit down and he was, like, okay. Tell me when to shoot. I'm like, what? You know, this is this guy in his seventies or Yeah. Late sixties and been out there for forty years and... Yeah. Like, the Duck God. Right? Yeah. And

so, like,

from what I remember is, you know, it's, like, block flies buy and call lot of whatever. Yeah.

And then another fuck flies by and I call. I don't come in. I'm like, shoot him.

He's he's like.

And I'm like,

get gotta just barely out high school and super green really. Yeah. Here's this guy and She's like, trying to guide him. Right?

And so

he's like, that's not...

Yeah it's not not too bad. I guess. Yeah. So then at the end of the honey. He's like,

next year you wanna work for me?

I was like, yeah.

So it it turned out.

That that was the job interview? Yeah. That was the that was the the most intense and hardest job interview.

That's funny. So... Did you bring your gun? Did you yeah. Okay. Yeah. Did you get the. Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay...

I mean... It wasn't that good of a day. We shot a few, But I'm just thinking of the awkward ness of you show up with your dog and your gun and the. Like, no. No. Leave that in the truck. You're calling man for me.

For pretty butt. Right?

So that kinda kicked off

my guy my guiding career. Yeah. And then

so for five years, I worked for him. And then about the third year, I really started, like,

butt Like, I mean, I always fish and I had and I just kinda like, I'd be out Salmon and watching all these other guides. And I'm like, why why am I not taking people? Yeah. You know? And so just kinda

spiral from there when got my captain's license and

Yeah. Yeah. So when I met you, you were guiding and you were doing

the tours with Henry. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The Eco tours Yeah. Yeah. So,

I still hope him a little bit, but Covid. Yeah. Kinda just shut that down, and he... He's kinda... He's retired and Yeah. Not moved on, but still does few and just kinda scaled back. Those were some of the funniest. Those were he's so good at that, and he's been on the podcast before, but he I always refer to Henry is the most interesting man in the world? You know? He is. He knows everything about everything fun. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, that's cool. So how'd you get into

guy because now, well, what are you guiding for now mainly?

Right now,

like, sturgeon. Sturgeon. Yes. Like sturgeon. I'm gonna do a lot of... You kinda do everything. You don't you? Yes. I mean,

we'll do... I'll do sturgeon,

stripe,

trout,

you can say steel hit, but it's really trial.

Trial still head. Yeah. They're

within then ducks. Wow. Yeah. Now, do you hunt... Do you guide any deer hunting or any of them... No. I don't. Know.

I have in the past. Yeah. But I usually try to stick in the boat. Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting. So... Yeah. Because the reason I... For for the guest, the one thing, Adam does that I absolutely know nothing about, but

have read briefly in the last seven days on the inter web if you trust the inter interim interrupt is sturgeon fishing. And

I think if you've ever spent any amount of time on one of our rivers,

especially in a boat, you've probably seen one.

You know,

maybe not so much in the lower you, you'd have to be below dag gear. But if you've been on the feather, Salmon fisher been on the Sac Salmon fisher or stripe fishing. You've seen them, but

I... I've never heard of anyone fly fishing for them. Have you? Nope yeah. No. And night, like, I've thought about it so anytime.

You... I mean, they're spots I can thinking of or you can maybe swing a fly and... Yeah. But, like, the way their mouths are. Yeah. The the the anatomy,

the biology of the situation doesn't seem to work. Correct. Yeah. Like I couldn't get over that either, because I was... I was thinking about that. And I'm like, yeah. You can't even awesome.

Yeah. The anatomy is just not built for yeah. Grab a fly. No. So how... So

for our listeners, I've... I've... I've always been... I think I got interest in in a last spring.

You were posting just some amazing pictures of fish. Yeah. Was last spring really good for you? Yeah. So typically, drought ears. Okay. Tend to produce corn. Okay. Yeah

they're...

When the water is really low and slot. Yeah. Like, pinch. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah. They really congregate. So. So, like, I feel like you can get more opportunity at less fish. Gotcha. That makes sense.

But I mean, it's also water temperature. So, like, Gotcha. The water gets warm earlier.

Okay. On the drought yours? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Kinda accuse them to come up and spawn, I think. Okay. Because, like,

today, for example, or the last few weeks. I... I'm not seeing as many on the graph is... Yeah. I normally do. Yeah. So

you know, if they're not congregate, It's harder harder. It's a little harder. Yeah. So I was seeing you post some of these pictures. I mean, you you got... I mean, they're enormous fish. They're huge. They're huge. Just a big game of the river. Yeah. And

they're

they're just cool looking. The times I've encountered them on the river. It's, like,

they're, like, curious. They're friendly.

They're, like, gentle giants. Gentle giants, like they see like, they're kinda

had those moments where you you... They kinda look at you and they're cruising on the surface and

you're kinda like, oh, hey. What's up, buddy? How's it? And then they disappear and,

so when you started posting them, I was like, man, I gotta get you on the podcast and talk about these fish because they they are such a...

In a different fishing world outside of maybe fly fishing. They're pretty...

They're right up there as a target species. Yeah. I mean? Yeah. You know? And I think anybody seen the pictures of you know, like, the Columbia River ones and that type of stuff. But, you know, break down, what do what are the fisheries I guess form that we have locally and kinda of what

you talked about them, we kinda jumped the gun and said they're in dry? Or they're moving up into spawn. What is their kinda life cycle as well? Yeah.

So my understanding,

like, the majority of them live our delta, Mh. Kinda est if you want. Yeah.

But they do go out to the ocean and migrate up and down to coast. That's. Yeah. Because...

I mean, there's there's evidence that shows, like, the Columbia river

we'll see, you know, Sac river, sturgeon and vice versa. Oh, really. Wow. That's cool.

Yep. And then,

so, like, they come up all the rivers. Mh. I mean, they're land locked and hold the major lakes. Right? Yeah. Like, yeah.

Nor. Like... Yeah. So that's pretty while to thing. I remember and I, you probably saw this too. Some dude was, you know, bass fishing on cha and kind enormous one. Yeah. I was like choking on a cafe. Yeah. Was that it? Yeah. It was, like, almost a dead on the service he saved it. Okay. Yeah. Because I just seen the picture of the the tail and the dude's hand, and I'm, like, that is an enormous animal. Yeah. Had a real gap up strong.

Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah. But

so every spring,

is like, the major push to come up and spawn. Yeah. They they have to have fresh water

and moving current to spawn in. Gotcha. Okay... So that's why they come up and in,

like, Chico for white sturgeon. Chico to, you know, south inclusive is kinda like the prime

spawning grounds? Gotcha. On the sacramento river. Gotcha. And so, you know, basically

now. Yeah. In March is when you see that big influx of fish coming up to spawn. Gotcha. Once the water hits,

and I have not found anything that shows, like, optimum spawning temperature. Yeah. Subscribers is pretty obvious. Right. Yeah. They go from pre respond also boom spawning sixty five degrees there just... Go time. Go. Yeah. So the sturgeon I've heard. It's a lower temperature, like,

high fifty sixty. But... Okay. I haven't found anything that really shows that or... Yeah. You know? And nate... They'll spawn in big rocks, like big rip wrap rocks. Oh, really. That's my understanding yet. Wow Like, the big rip wrap walls that we have. Okay. So, like, fast current

deep

rock walls. Wow. Yeah.

That's interesting. It's very interesting. No one else uses that, so might as well, You know? Yeah. Exactly. You have. It. It's

so like, if you... You know all the b that they have out for, like, the green surge egg traps Yeah. You noticed most of those are along those walls. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Especially, like, through inclusive. Yeah. So you're talking green and white. Those are two

stink species. Those are the main two that. But we have. I believe there's.

Like, three or four, or five species. Okay. I'll take your word for it. Yes. There's, like, the golden sturgeon, white, green, wow.

Your I, it would have to Google it. But

I... I'm pretty sure there's golden,

looks like a giant goldfish kinda... Really. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Where are those located.

I think, like other countries. Okay. Okay. That makes sense. That makes sense. But I wanna say I saw a picture of one, not too long ago. Really? From the delta. Wow.

Yeah. That's really cool. Like, extremely rare. So the whites are what most

people are fishing for? Yes. In area. So whites are the only sturgeon that you can retain or target in California. Okay. So greens are protected. Gotcha. Okay. So Okay. Above the one sixty two bridge or butte City. Yeah. There's zero start and fishing. Okay. So, like, no tolerance. So like, you can't even, you know, Yeah. Go catch and release. So most of your sturgeon fishing then is below butte city. Correct. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Butte city to Ti.

Gotcha. Kind of the the the range that I like to go. Gotcha. The guys fish warm, you know, basically butte city all the way through the delta. Yeah. Because you hear guys fish fishing form down in the delta, and those are fish either kinda moving through or hanging out type of. So I I think that's kinda where they,

grow or hanging out. Yes. You know, because they're I mean, they're there all year round. Yeah. In the numbers.

Gotcha. Yeah.

And so the green are protected. Yes. But the endangered.

Endangered and protected it. But they still swim up the river as well. Right? Yes. Okay. Because That... Aren't those the ones that lot of guys catch all they're salmon fishing? Yeah. I like, Pie catch. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Yeah. So especially,

like, guys at fish Salmon Room. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Belt eggs. Yeah. So they'll bite that and catch them. I've caught a few like that. Yeah. Yeah. And are they on the same spawn pattern?

Like, the greens? Yeah. Are they coming up in the spring as well? And Yeah. So, like, the last

major article acquired kinda came across James Stone actually yeah to me.

There's, like, two major

migrations up and out.

Of green sturgeon. So

there's, like, a really early

December January one. Okay. Come up? Yeah. Say ten twenty percent come up then? Yeah. And then the rest come up, like in march.

Interesting big. Yeah. It's off, like a acoustic goal. Mh. Tag paintings. Wow. And so they'll

some of them hanging in the river for six months to a year

before they spawn. But well, I don't know about that. But got they turn around leaf. Before they turn on leaf. Okay. So, like, they'll come up, and I'm sure they still spawn in the spring within that temperatures Right? Yeah. That makes sense. But if they're going farther up river, it takes longer for that temperature to warm up. Gotcha. Maybe they're later. Gotcha.

But and then there's a big outflow in

July, August. Gotcha. And then

as far as migration out. Yeah. And then some will go out later, like, with the first flood, like, November, December.

Interesting. Yeah. And

from what I can remember from the article, like, there's really no rhyme or reason. Yeah. Like some fish would stay, you know, year and some would only stay six months? That's so interesting. In their world, there's a reason. We just not know it Yet.

In a lot of it's timed with, like, the big

summer

flow push in, like August. Gotcha. Yeah. Yeah. That big influx that they would leave.

Gotcha. And then same with, like, the first big flood, a lot of them leave. That's interesting. You know, it's like nature finds a away. Right? Like, there's a reason. Well I mean, a lot of those fish been live, way longer than the dam. That's the thing I was gonna ask too of, like Yeah. You know, that's one of the things that I started digging into it is, like,

how

they have...

I mean, everybody calls some dinosaurs. Right? They have. They are. But, like, they're I was reading too. They are

as closely related to the dinosaur or the prehistoric fish

as any species we have, I think outside of the shark. Crocodile there the crocodile in the sharks. Yeah. Yeah. Because they they are

goofy looking oh, they're... Yeah. They're cool. Yeah. They're so cool. So how... You know, when we talk about the two types. So greens are completely off the... Yeah. Those are buy catches at best. Yep.

Like, if you catch one, you're not even... Taking it out of the water. Yeah. Like un, cut the hook, whatever. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Let it go. Yeah. And... But the target species are the the whites? Yep. And

now is there a slot limit on those? Yeah. Okay. So the slot limit is forty to sixty inches. Gotcha. From the nose to the fork of the tail.

Which for those fish, that's not a huge sturgeon. Right? Like,

I mean, forty to sixty inches is pretty big, but, I mean, it's five foot fish on the big side. Yeah. I guess you're right. Close. Add eight to twelve inches for the length of the tail. Yeah. So I mean, overall, that's a... That's a pretty big fish. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm crazy. I was... Math the maths are not my thing. Yeah. Five So

now and the meat is the is it a is it a good fish to eat? They're delicious. Okay. That's that they got that working against. Yeah. Yeah. They do.

Yeah. It's like... So they don't have any bones.

In their body. That's right. I remember reading that. It's all Yes. It's just cartilage. Gotcha. I have a spinal colon. Mh. That's, like,

you know, maybe two inches around, Like, it's huge.

Wow. That runs from their back of their head to their tail. Okay. And it's just, like this giant

membrane.

And that's where they're, like, their nerves and all there. Okay. And it's... I mean, you can take it out. It's like, a rope. I that's same stiff though. It's like, Yeah. It's like, a soft stiff rope. They do kinda look like a big ball of goo when you put put them up on the deck or something You know I mean, that's why, like, handling them. Right? Yeah. Like, if it's so if it's... I think it's sixty six or sixty eight inches. Yeah. Precise, you're not allowed to taking out of water. And that makes sense. Right? They don't have the supportive of structure to hand that. So, like, if you pick them up, say by the belly with new hands,

and they don't have the bone structure to support them so you can hurt them. Yeah. And so that's why, like, the really big ones. You're in the water with in the water. Yeah. And that's... I think those are so many of the shots you had last year. I'm just like, oh my gosh. Look at that person with the fish in the water. Yeah. So cool.

Yeah. Couple of them last year were, you know, over nine feet. Yeah. You got some insanely large fish last year. There's one in particular, I couldn't put arms around. You know. That's insane. I holding it like this in the water and Yeah. The tails longer than the tip of your fingers here. You know, arm pit, just a big old paddle. I mean, it's that's insane.

Yeah. And so

so the bigger fish are obviously protected, then there's the whole deal of

isn't... And I... I think I know this for sure, but the eggs are delicacy as well. It's essentially caviar. Right?

So

they got multiple things working against them. Yeah. So there's a huge, like, poaching issue. Right? Yeah. I mean, especially the big females, Those cruisers.

Typically,

I mean,

I could be off on this, but from my experience

of catching all the ones I've caught. Definitely definitely only ever caught one that was a keeper sized female. Gotcha. Yeah. The rest that... In that keeper slot of in males.

So most of the big ones are females and you're letting them go. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

I mean, I I I have... I've been

hearsay. Yeah. I told. I know if it's true enough not. Yeah. I've heard that they can...

Potentially, like, shift sex. I... You know, I read something like that too. Yeah. So, like, if there's too many males or too many females. Yeah. They can adapt,

That's insane. Or, like, once they hit an a... I Don't I don't... That's... No No. I I've heard that before too that there's their... They adapt to, like, a herd mentality. Right? Like, they can It's really weird. Yeah. But

You would think though a fish that has been around that long.

Has adapted many times over. Yeah. You what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. They figured something out. Yeah. So when you get to the age thing, that is another trippy thing. Like,

they don't grow incredibly

fast from what I read. Right. They're very slow. They're very slow growing. Yeah. So when you catch, like, a six foot fish. Yeah. I mean, how old is that thing? I mean,

it's... Yeah. I'd have to pull the charts know for sure, but, like,

some of the... So once they hit a size, they grow even slower. Right? So once they go over, say, eight feet. Yeah. They grow slower. So like instead of say an inch interior year or whatever the growth rate is they go down to half inch or. Wow. So once you get over eight feet,

you know, nine feet, like, those fish or so like, the charts or, like, you look at... You can like you pull five or six different charts and now say different ages. Because they don't. It's, like, stripe or weight charts. Right? Right. Right. Yeah. So like, last year, the one we caught it was, like, not almost nine and a half feet and the chart was newer anywhere from a hundred to a hundred and fifty years. Jeez. Is, you know, corey. The ones that I could find on Yeah. Google. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like...

That's

you know. That's just awesome being... I don't know about you, but, like,

whenever you're holding or in the presence of an animal like that. Oh, yeah. So much respect. You know, standing next to something and holding and being, like, did this thing is a hundred years old. Yeah. Like, I mean, that thing's... You know, I don't I don't believe they spawn every year. I think it's every

couple three years. Yeah. So that things come up the river thirty times to respond. Since like the great depression. Right. Yeah Yeah. You know? It probably spawned one time up by Dun. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like? Potentially. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's it's seen every

condition of the river. Yeah. And here it is still coming up.

That's so cool. That and then and that's kinda one of the things when I was I was researching him I'm like, dude. Just thinking that, like,

you know, there was a couple shots I think of that big one where, like,

somebody's in the water with it, and I'm just like, dude. That is just That's an experience. Yeah. And then seeing that big

just peaceful animal swim away. Yeah. Like... Yeah. Yeah. What's funny is, like, they look... Like, you'll see him swimming in shallow Or... Yeah. And you're just kinda there Just kinda... Peaceful and docile, you know? Totally. But when you hook one, it's like, all hell breaks loose. Well, that was... So when I see them, they're just up on the surface like chilling. And, you know, you kinda... They just kind of appear and you can tell they're curious. Right? Like, they're just kinda looking and

but you do see, I mean, the the classic Youtube search of Columbia River.

I mean, they jump. Like, that's a thing. Yeah... Now do the sack fish jump? Oh, yeah. Okay. Yeah.

I almost hit one in the boat today. Did you. Yeah.

Jeez. I was go... We're going back into the launch and.

But I mean, I was going thirty miles an hour. Yeah. Maybe fifteen twenty feet in front of me probably like a five six footer,

tail walked out of the water. Really. And I mean, it was

half a second in a second sooner. Like I could almost hit it. Holy out. It made me jump like, A I jump back off,

deer running out for. Yeah. And

You had some bad luck on the way here today. Yeah. Said it deer too. Yeah.

Yeah. And I mean, it's pretty pretty cool. That's insane.

So they do jump

like you see on the videos And stuff. Yeah. That's insane. The last one we caught

hooked it and it made, you know, like, a hundred hundred and fifty foot run. Wow. I mean, just instant just run. So they run

they're fast. They're gonna take off. Okay. As fast as you... Like, hooking up to a car and flooring in it. Okay. And just run run run run, they turn around and run right back at you. So you get it real as fast as you can. Wow. And just, you know, and then they turn it. Yeah. Duty and digging Usually should get, like two or three really big ones. Yeah. And then they kinda go into, like, bulldog mode, like, hun down mode. Yep. Yeah. And usually, like, the first or second run,

they'll they'll... For whatever reason they'll go straight up. Like, try to come completely out of water. Because... And that's... What what's always amazing me about that is that they're completely bottom dwelling fish. Yeah. Right? Like, they're they are built to be on the bottom. Yeah. Yeah. The way their mouth is. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They have...

I call it like a trunk it, like, pro out. Yes. And

I mean, when you... When they're sitting there, it's completely flat in the bottom of their mouth. But yeah. When they feed

or you pulled out. Like, it it'll come out, you anywhere from four to six, seven, eight inches. That's insane. And it's...

It's just pretty wild.

Yeah. And it just made the suck stuff off the bottom. Right? And hell. Yeah. Is it similar to, like, the front of a carp? I'd say it's more like a like a sacramento of sucker fish. Okay. Okay. Just in

orientation to the bottom of the head. Yeah.

And how how it's positioned. Yeah. It's like, straight down. That's not vacuum. And it's like, they have, like, almost like, a little beak too. Right? Yeah. And it's touched up under there. Yeah. So, like, I mean, they're very aerodynamic.

Yeah. And I think

like, I... I'll see them in really fast current a lot of times. Yeah. We've seen them on the Hub down below to gary some rip and water. Yeah. And just like,

glued on the bottom. The way they're made, like, making to sit there. Yeah. Like they're... It's almost like a the the way their head nose the shape, it's like a scoop, Like it just pushes them to...

Exactly. You know? Yeah. But

there's... I've never seen, but I I guess, up on the Columbia,

like white sturgeon will, like, crap Chad. Like the school dad.

I mean, they're... They can move. If they wanna catch something, they can catch something. That's interesting. Yeah. I I mean they'd have to if they're... They'd have to feed on Chad here. And Right? Oh, yeah. Yeah.

So

with that, so they'll jump, which is crazy because you hook them dead on the bottom. Right? Like... Yeah. So a lot of times, like,

Like, you're using depending on the spot, but you're using a one pound lead weight to get it to the bottom, stick it to the bottom. Gotcha. And then you use a short leader,

it has to be a minimum of eighteen inches. By law. Yep. Okay. Like, all my leaders are right at, like, nineteen. Gotcha. And

here's the reason you do that to keep it closer to the bottom. Yeah. And then you can run up to a half ounce sliding egg weight on the leader. Okay. To help keep it to... Keep it even closer to the bottom. Yep. Yeah. I mean, the idea is put it in the spot, put it down so it doesn't booth. Yeah.

I mean I have friends that catch them and they, like, using, like, five foot leaders.

And, you know, it's, like, sway and... Yeah. So I mean, if they're hungry and or there, they're gonna eat.

So you cassie you'd anchor the boat. Yep. Anchor the boat, and have you... Are you graph fish and then fishing to them? Yeah. K. Yeah. That's the only way to do it what I would imagine. Yeah. So

they're... I mean,

there's fish in, like, all the spots. Okay. But what I look for is, like, the the the water fish. Gotcha. So some mornings,

It might take me an hour and a half two hours before I actually fish. Gotcha. So I'll just trick cruising and look and drive and look and drive, look. Sometimes we'll go

fifteen miles and go, you know what? We saw most of them the first mile around, go all the way back down there and Gotcha up on them. And

until I started doing that,

I had limited success. Yeah. But everyone's doing that, like, it's really increased productivity.

Gotcha. And if you spend the time to find them. Yeah. Find, like, a lot of them. Gotcha. It's like duck hunting. Like, it It takes a couple of flock for one to come in. Like, it gotcha takes a lot of fish to get one to bite. It's. Same with salmon. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So are they are they eating in fresh water? Yeah. Okay. So it's not like salmon where they're, like, correct? You know, not eating, But they're looking to chow? Yep. Okay. Yeah. And I mean,

you can...

When you throw out bait, it's like a mortgage board. You? Yeah. No. And that's so funny because I remember.

I can't... I was watching some fish and show.

And I think It was one of Conway fishing shows. Was call Bowman and he went cart fishing in the Columbia in this guy that was guiding him had, like, mason jars full of like,

like dead rotting fish, of course, because it smells horrible. With, like, gummy bears and, like, all sorts of weird gummy candy and, like,

it's and it was like lined up. Right? It looked like something out of like a horror movie. You know?

And

And it's... It's just sent. Right? Is that? Yeah. I mean,

I I think that kia in on certain things. Yeah. Throughout maybe day to day week week. Yeah.

But, like,

there's a lot of eels that comes out. Yeah. Like, that's a great food source form because there those are coming up. Yeah. And they're right on the bottom. Yep. So you got eels.

I mean, they eat a lot of

like, sardines, herring

Right? In the Yeah. Ocean. Gotcha. So you're using a lot of that. Makes sense. Same with Ghost shrimp. Gotcha.

Like, those things aren't in river? Yeah. And... But they're back home. Right. Exactly. So you gotcha. Use them here. Gotcha.

You know. Yeah. Night crawl, and lots of trolley

power bay.

Everything. Everything. Are you stuff at all on one hook could soak it down there. Luna clams,

and hair... Yeah. Like, pickled herring. Like, you go to to grocery storm bike. Stars tear. Oh, that's amazing.

So do you... And, I mean, this is gonna be...

Do you do you pattern

those baits? Like, are you, like, oh, dude I gotta have pickled herring because that's what they're on?

Is it like, you know, you gotta have the... So I. This color of fly, if if I'm going, I always have, like, at least

six cans of night. Okay. That's like the always. That's that's the sa and white. Yeah. Yeah and then eel. Because

the eel really tough. Yeah. So, like, if the sq are really bad? Oh, yeah. Yeah Yeah Yeah

the bait robbers. Right? Yeah. I didn't even think of that. How do you feel big stinky ball of bait down on the river. Eel. They can't eat it off. Wow. So, like,

as the water warms up and those fish become more active. Yeah. I mean, it gets to a point where, like, eels, like, the only thing you can keep I was just gonna say that. Right? Like, you couldn't

keep bait on. Yeah. And then, like, like, ross ham eggs. Yeah.

Worked really well. That's what we hooked the one on them today with. Wow. And,

I mean, there... There'll be a day where you cannot use anything but you'll. So you could... Because I'll just go in... Because it'll just get maul. You throw it out. It's like, pack peck peck peck all, All, I gotta real up. I don't know how any bait. Yeah.

So that's interesting. Yeah. So you you you find them and then yeah. Drop anchor? Yeah. So like,

they

I I wish you could say they're pattern? Yeah.

But when you

start looking, they could be in a a slow flat. They could be in a fast run. They in a deep hole. Like... Yeah. Like,

today where I was seeing them the last time, they really weren't.

So I, like, all thrown off. And I yeah only had, like, a half day of fish. So. Yeah. We were

wind ended up finding some in a a deep hole, and that's where we fished.

But, like, there some

They're were really strung out. There's, like, some in some runway or something some flats or some in some holes, but it wasn't a concentration anywhere. Yeah.

But if you can find them concentrated in, like, a pinch spot or somewhere that's real tight. Yeah. You know, you you have a better chance. All those fish seat your bait. Gotcha. We're, like, if they're in the big

ditch pitches or flat. Mh. They could be, you know, say the river a hundred and fifty two hundred feet wide. Yeah. And they could be going through a hundred foot area of it. Yeah. In your fishing

a fifteen twenty foot wide debate. Yeah. You got. Yeah. Coin... Unless you're on the perfect line? Yeah. It's hard to. Now are they moving? Are they holding?

So

if they're in a hole k. Or an area. Right? Yeah. So say

so you have, like, your main current line,

and then there's always, like, a soft eighty spot within a hole. Right? Yeah. So

From what I can tell from watching, like, the the fish finder the sites hand and all that.

They'll feed up a line or move up line or swim up a line whatever they're doing.

They'll hit a point and then they'll ride that

current back down to the bottom. They don't want they're carousel. Yeah. There's two donuts in there. Yep. And that's...

If they're active, that's what they're doing. And that's probably what you want. Right? Yes. Because they're active. Yeah. They're feeding. They're moving around. Yeah. If you go through in your market bunch,

you set up. And you sit there for twenty third minutes, and you don't see any activity on the screen? Yeah. They're just... They're static for whatever reason they're testing Sleeping. Yeah. You know? Totally.

And then you pull a anchor and you float back and you're, dude they're all around my bait. They're there. They're... Yeah. They're not doing anything. Yeah. Not interested. Yeah. So, like in the delta,

the tight charts.

Gotcha. Are the main feeding queues. Gotcha. So, like,

incoming or outgoing, like, they target those tides. To target to fish, because that's something they feed. Makes sense. The consistent current the whole time. So They can eat anytime they want. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, that's weird.

I think there's something to be said about,

like, the peak fishing time charts. Yeah. Like, I'd I never believe the until... Until start stirred and fishing because we would... I have buddy Mike who Henry who would you know, swear by them. Right Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Everybody has that for. Yeah. Yeah. So we would we'd

we'd look back and was like, oh, we had a bunch of activities say, you know, eleven o'clock we want it noon. Yeah. And then just kinda died off. So he he pulled up his time chart and sure enough, like, the peak, the peak bite hour was, like, right at noon And you're like, seriously. Dude. I don't know how many times I've downloaded that app on my phone and been like, I should really pay attention to this, then Never... Then I'm like, yeah. As soon as my phone's, like your memory is full It's the first one to get deleted. Yeah. Yeah. I I'd I still don't have it downloaded.

Yeah. I'm gonna go regardless of. Yeah. Totally. But totally.

But with that being said, like, we've looked at it plenty of times and it was, like, four day, like, no bite. On the app, but we call, like, two or three fish. Gotcha. You know? Yeah. Like,

That's interesting. They're just such a... There's... They...

There seem to be such a mystery, and I I don't know I mean, it doesn't seem like a lot of people fish for them. Right? Yeah. So

I mean,

they're they're, like one fish that's always, like, intrigued me. Yeah. And so

like, I've

I mean, that was like,

one of the first things I can remember, like, I gotta figure out how to catch this. Yeah. And, like, they're so hard to catch. Yeah. In the river anyways and, like, Everybody knows they're there? Oh, yeah. Yeah. And it's like, I gotta... I gotta get one. Yeah. And I don't know how many trips I spent with and, like, never calling. How long did it take you to catch one? I I mean, like, a year?

Yeah. Probably. About it's, like a season a year going out and doing it. Yeah. And then kinda figuring out their pattern Yeah. And, like, getting a better fish finder and Yeah. I was gonna say electronics are crucial. Yeah. And then, like, going with

friends that had done it before and had success and. Like. Okay. So we're here, why are we here? You know? Yeah Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Yeah. Go two or three times only catch one. And then

I think, like...

Well, well,

three years ago. Yeah. When I finally, like, feel like I figured it out. Yeah. And that's when I started taking people. Gotcha. Like, before, it was just fun fishing, like, totally. I wasn't gonna take anybody unless I felt like I had a chance. Yeah. Yeah Yeah Yeah. So about three years ago, I figured it out, like, to the point where it was like, okay. Yeah. I can do in, like, last year it was just. It was on. I I mean... Yes. Last year, you posted a lot of amazing fish. I I would... I took notice. Yeah Yeah.

So on a big water you're like this, it just spreads them out more. Yeah. They have more water swimming. Yeah. And

does it pull more up?

Theoretically it should. Yeah. I mean, it usually does. Yeah.

But I... The... So this... Typically, by now, the water's is over fifty. Yeah. It's cold. It's forty seven to yeah. Includes that. Yeah. I mean, that's cold. That's cold. I have... Last time I went out. It was, like, I was stripe proficient. It was like, forty seven forty eight. I'm, like, this is Yeah. Pretty fruit. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So

with it being this cold this late.

I mean, we've had enough flows for them to... Yeah. Queue up. Yeah. But

I suspect as soon as it warms up just a little bit a lot more will move up. Yeah.

Because we did hit fifty, but, like, a month ago. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Since then it, it's going back down. Yeah. There was that little pseudo spring. Yes. Yeah. It's the teaser. Yeah.

Yeah. I... But I feel like fifty is for me is, like, the magic number of Yeah. Action. I mean, like, you can catch them when it's colder. Yeah. But there I feel like there's more fish more activity when you warms up. Now do they eat a lot?

I mean, are they...

I mean, I mean, I look I think of a nine foot fish, and I mean, I think of my like, that fish has gotta... Yeah. So my understanding, they have a slow metabolism. So live so long. Gotcha. So they... There's there's a key to survival there that... Yeah. Yeah. So they don't have to eat as much

because they have a slow metabolism.

Gotcha.

But, I mean, a fish that big still has to eat. Right. Yeah. Like, you know, I'm thinking, like, dudes fish is eating an eel. It's like, boy, you may need to eat a few more than one Right. Eel. No. Especially compared to, like, stripe Totally.

It's the first thing Yeah. Gorge, but they just all fast they grow. That's true. Yeah.

Yeah. That makes sense though. That makes sense.

You were talking about them eating like, live

baked. Yeah. Have you ever seen them? Like...

I mean, they don't

seem like they chase. Yeah. I've never seen them, like, you know, chasing things are like... Yeah. I. I take that back. Take that back. Okay.

I have multiple times on the fish finder. Yeah. In the summer. Okay. Like, like, June, July. Mh.

And these are more... I'm guessing greens just because I'm farther up river, like, yeah fishing? Yeah.

And I'll see

undoubtedly, a giant ball of s on the fish finder. Yeah. And then next thing you see, you'll see three or four sturgeon come by. That's then you'll see the

the ball she had come back by on the other side of the boat and those sturgeon or following them. That

I have seen that. They're jumping tires ears. Yeah. Yeah. They're are they're doing something. Yeah. Whether or not they're. They're not making friends. Yeah. They're they're. They're thinking about. Yeah. It's way too... I've seen it many times way too coincidental work. Yeah. They're they're hurting them or, you know, moving around. That's funny because Chuck talks about seeing them on unlike, the feather in the hub. And they're always behind, like, schools of shaq. All bet. Yeah. Yeah. It's especially lower clear water see that. Yeah. Yeah.

That'd be... That would be something to see. Yeah. See Bunch of big sturgeon smashing on a school of vape fish. Just rushing them and. Yeah. It's funny, you know, there's... That's there's a shortlist list of things that I'm like, I really wanna see that at some point of my life on the river. A lot of them are things Henry's has already seen and told me about. Yeah. But that... That's gonna come up on the list. Yeah. That's pretty cool. I... I mean,

I've... The stories I've heard from, like, the Columbia? Yeah. They're...

One of my buddies dad's just always talks about it. The... I guess there's, like, glass viewing windows at some of the jazz. And... Yeah. Yeah Yeah. Absolutely. And so he's seen you know, like, just joint sturgeon.

Like, crush the shouting to glass. You're standing there watching. Yeah. Pin them and eat them. Oh, my god. Gosh. I mean, you're there was little Joey and... Right? And just pin and killing things. Yeah.

That's awesome. That that I mean, that's up there. I think they have way more. Yeah. Fish in general. Yeah.

Is that is that kind of the, like, val of

sturgeon fishing as the Columbia? Yeah. Okay. Okay. For my bachelor party, we went up to out of Portland. Yeah. And well, a couple of reasons, but

the surge fisherman was one of them. That's awesome.

And

we caught... It we it was a full day trip. Yeah. We one of the guy named Sturgeon Frank.

That his guide serves name. I hope that's really his last name too. Right? Like, her first name for that case. It was Frank. Yeah. That's...

And

he was, like, the the gru Crest oldest

sterile typical fish guide that you can her. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah.

We get in the boat, and goes, alright. You're ready. We're like, yeah. And he goes,

hits the throttle and packs off and goes, alright. We're here.

We're like, what? You know, we went straight out from the boat launch. And, like, this is, like,

right at the mouth of the will laminate in. Yeah. Yeah Yeah. And there's big old grain chips going by and you know.

He, like, like, he goes, well, should we make sure they're still here? We're like,

okay. So he does, like, a little circle on his boat and because goes, yeah, they're still here.

It just pitches out the anchor and, like,

Oh this is what this guy does. Yeah. Like, we didn't even get the first second rod out and because I like, hey. You might wanna reel that one up, Peter. Wow. And we caught... I think it was fifty one and six hours. Fifty one fish. Fifty one sturgeon. In six hours. How many dudes was that? Six o.

Holy cow. I you got to the... We at four Raw. You're nuke. Like, you're... That's why that's went six hours. Yeah. You are done. Yeah. We hit fifty, and he was like, well, you always had enough. We're like, yeah. We wanna drink here. Yeah. This is a bachelor part. I wanna be able to move. Right.

How... What what were the sizes of those? So they were, like, quote unquote school. Yeah. Anywhere from three to six feet.

Dude. That's a still an Yeah awesome. We're using, like, Salmon rod, You know, light rods because... That's so cool. It was amazing. Now those fish,

do they live in the river year round or are they moving in and out too like our fish?

You know,

I'm not that familiar up there, but I know, like, we're still very title. Yeah. They're you're still getting... Yeah. I guess you're right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Yeah. I'm guessing...

That's probably their delta area They're moving. Like, maybe they're upper delta. You know? Yeah. Because there's still predominant recurrent, but they're still title. Yeah. Confluence influence, but it was slightly bra, but not bra. Yeah. And you can get... I mean, what are the big ones up there? Gosh. Like, like, twelve feet. Yeah. I'm, like, ten feet, eleven feet. In tens like the holy grail. Is that the, like, twenty inch trout or the fifty pound stripe? Like, Okay. Yeah. Okay. Ten plus, you know? Ten feet. That's insane. Yeah. Giant. Yeah. And those those things are still bigger around? Mean... Yeah. Like, those are the ones where dudes are, like

every dude in the boat hanging over the boat, like,

holding it. Yeah. Or at least pinning in against the boat. Yeah.

Now, those fish would obviously be females. Yes. The big ones like that.

Yeah. I mean, they up there depending on, like, the really big ones. Yeah. They're, like, land lock between the dams. Oh, okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. I don't know if they're... Don't know. Yeah. They're just old. They're old it's. Yeah. Old and stuff.

That's nuts...

Well, so you have

how long will this go? How long will start in fishing go this year

it'll go all the way through April. Gotcha. Know, and be good. Yeah.

I'll quit fishing form

first week April because stripe will be Yeah. Plentiful.

Yeah. All those trips start. So... Yeah. So on that note,

April, you start doing conventional trips for sc. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. So I do a lot of gear trips.

Pretty much a first through May fifth.

Gotcha. May tenth depending on the year or somewhere week in May. Yeah.

Then what you... What why stop in May? Is it the... Those school you just kinda spin out. Typically, by then, they've they're starting to spawn. Yeah. Warming up. Mh. They kinda do their deal on scatter. Gotcha.

And then I just... I move on. Gotcha. I hope do some s trips.

Gotcha. And then roll them to

like, my summer stripe fishing. Cool. Yeah. So with the gear trips for stripe because I know... I mean, it's a great trip for kids. Oh, my gosh. It's like, yeah best. Yeah. And I know I've done it with you if I did it with you and Darren once.

And

I've done it a couple times with my boys after I did it with you, and Darren. Yeah. With moderate success.

It tell people a little bit about that because I always say that's a good trip like,

to make the sale of fishing with

young

kids. Yeah. Absolutely. You know? Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, it's usually a lot of action. Yeah. And you get to keep two of them. That over eighteen inches and they're delicious. Yeah. So... Well, and and you can you can keep to and keep fishing as long as

someone else doesn't keep too. Correct?

How's that work? I remember you and Darren were trying to explain to it me one time. You the math is not? Yeah. If you catch your two fish tech... You're done you're done stripe fishing. Gotcha. Okay. So

if you catch one and then catch another, you could upgrade, like, throw one back. Gotcha. As long as you don't have two in possession. Gotcha. Okay.

And then...

Yeah. So... Gotcha. Like, so you can keep one and keep fishing as long as you want. Oh, yeah. Yeah. But it as soon as you quote unquote, keep two? You're done. Yeah. So Gotcha. But if they're still alive and live.

Gotcha.

Okay.

Gotcha. Because, I mean, I think about it, like, you... I mean, when it's good, you're not gonna need to fish long. Well, yeah So like, when it's good,

like, if you catch one, say it's, like, eighteen and a quarter. Yeah. It's kinda like. Back. You're gonna catch a bigger one. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's

And so for kids and stuff, what what what do what does it look like? So you need early? Yeah. So typically you meat early.

You start fishing...

Excuse me before the sun comes up or right when sun's coming up. Yeah.

Usually have my area spot that I like to go to. So you, you know, kinda race there Yeah start fishing and

depending on the spot or the year, you'll either troll

Min Down river or sit in a spot and back bouncing them or kinda anchor up. Yeah.

But I run all line counter reels. Gotcha. So it's really easy. I mean, Yeah. As long as you can read numbers.

You do. You know, Gotta let it out. Yeah. Hundred feet and stop it. Gotcha. And just set the hook when you feel wiggle. You know? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's perfect for kids. It's perfect. Yeah. Yeah.

Because I mean, I remember you posting pictures your your boys and they were young young when you started taking them out. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Joey, me six and a half and and that kid's got a ton straight away. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

That's awesome. Yeah. I got them Yeah. Last year caught. His first

casting.

That's awesome. Yeah. Casting out. Little swim bates. Yeah. I... Tell my boy started, man. I mean, they started doing the bait after I went out with you and Darren in that time.

Cut myself a bait tank. And

then it was bait caster. Yeah. And then it was eventually the fly rod. So by the time they get to the fly rod. It's like, they're sold. So, yeah. You know? They're committed. Yeah.

That's great. And so that'll will that'll take that'll go April through May. Yeah. And

And that those trips are Right, like, I can take up to six people. Yeah. So that's kinda when I feel like, you know, you can go catch six limits. Yeah. You can go with family and get, you know, dad grandpa of kids. Yeah. Yeah. And that's a that's a really... I remember the times I've gone down there because we can go down there and fly fish. Like,

north Ka so the river is still really pretty. It is. I I... You know, I have noticed that. You know, there's... It looks a lot like... It turns of up here. It does. Yeah. It looks very similar. I always tell people that you go Salsa

completely changes. Turns into a ditch. It turns into a ditch. That's a nice way to put it. But you go north than it is the river that... You know, we all know up here. Yeah. Yeah.

And it's a great way to get some fish for the table and not really feel guilty about keeping them or anything that because there's School Yeah. They're all school males. Five pounds off.

Yeah. Yeah. That's cool.

So you do that, and then

Chad fishing. Yeah. You do that S

conventional and fly. Right? Yeah. Yeah. Both. Yeah

Yep. And that's kinda like a May may. You know? Yeah. So I kinda roll into that. Do a couple weeks of that. And then... You know, right after then I'll go right back in I called casting trips or either Yeah. Fly or conventional and Yeah. Go cast for stripe. Yeah. So I think cross your finger for Salmon. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe maybe. So do you have dates open for sturgeon and Stripe conventional stripe trips coming up this year? Yeah. I have a a few stripe trips open, and the april, it's pretty full, but I have a few left. Cool. And then I have a few at the end of March for sturgeon still. Gotcha. Gotcha. That's good. So where can people reach you for those?

Well, easiest I get on my website's fish adam dot com. So it's... You locked that down early. Yeah. You got that one like, A came out. Yeah. But yeah. You're like, my name's is Adam, and I like to fish. I need that.

Adam dot com. That's the easiest way to remember. Yeah. Yeah. And you got a good website, you're super active on social media, fish adam on Instagram, and I know you're good about returning phone calls and emails. So... Yep. Yeah.

And then, yeah, we'll have to be back on over the summer and talk stripe fishing too since after we've both been out there a while. Yeah. So Hope should be good. Lot of water. Should be There's a lot of water. Yeah. I

I'm excited. I think should be good. You know, how far you think those mig fish are gonna come this year.

Well, I mean, like, the bulk... The schools the responders? Yeah.

If we get to, like, the end of the week, the guidance plots show they're river going really big. Yes. Because that storm supposed to be warm this week. Yeah. And all weekend no. Yeah. So if that happens, and then we get some more rain,

that'll put us middle into March. Mh.

Those... I mean, if we get another storm after that. Yeah. I don't think it's unreasonable to say

potentially butte city? Yeah. And

correct me if I'm wrong, but the last big water

butte city was packed.

Do you remember that? Oh, yeah. Like, that was where all the guides were. Yeah. It got to the point where there's so many guys. I started going out Or ben and there's just as many fish. Yeah. Yeah. No. I totally remember that. Because you... Yes. Scott a couple times and Didn't even leave the boat launches. Yes. Yes.

Okay. That's... So that's that's what my memory was as well, and that's what I was... I'm mentally preparing for. Yeah. I don't think it'll... That was that was seventeen. Yes. Sam. The.

Yes. Damn Dam here. And...

I mean, I was like, They're not gonna make that mistake again.

Well, I don't know if the light gets full. I I... Which it very well could this next week? Yeah. No. Two weeks. Yeah. And then we get another rain and they gotta let water out? Yeah. It could be. It won't be the same, but it could be. Could be. Yeah. Could be Oh, it's gonna be an interesting spring, man, and those be a lot to do. So... Yeah. It's gonna be fun either way. Yeah. Well, thanks for coming on the show, man. I appreciate it. We'll have to do it again. We've tried to make this happen a few times, So it's glad to get you here. So... Me. Absolutely. And I wanna thank our sponsors, Luna outdoors in Siren Nevada brewing, and definitely, if you wanna get out with Adam,

check out fish adam dot com, follow on social media, you can see all the giant sturgeon as I usually do. So Take everybody, and we'll listen to you and talk to you next time. Bye bye. No better, fish better. Part of the Barb podcast network.

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