Fri-Sat-Sun (12/26-28) - Chasing Unicorns (OAP & Montezuma)

Not much to mention, just a lot of the same.  As far as I'm concerned, sturgeon might as well be a mythical creature... 

Bait used all weekend was fresh, local grown ghost shrimp, and some herring.

Fri. and Sat.
Both days were near identical, with the exception of leaving a little early on Saturday in order to see my sister off to the airport.
I fished the top of the tide and the outgoing, staying close to shore thanks to sporadic wind. Did a lot of moving around, too.  I don't think I gave any spot more than 30-45 minutes to produce before moving to another location.  No bites either day.  Spent a good deal of time clearing my line of salad.


Sun.
Made it out to Montezuma early afternoon to find Reelfish and friend, and RedFish('nDive) gearing up in the parking lot.  Scrambled to catch up, and paddled out to meet up with the rest of the folks. 
From what I heard, all the action came early in the day and then petered out.  Gave it out best, though.  Between the lot of us, we had the big hole surrounded.
There was one moment when I thought my luck was about to turn.  I got one little tap on my line, and got my hands ready to grab the rod and swing on the next one.  It never came.  When I checked my bait a few minutes later, I discovered a FAT bullhead had engulfed my 8/0 hook.  Not so bad that I couldn't unhook it, and it swam away happy.
Packed it in just as the sun was about to go down.
Thanks to Adam whistling out on the water, and the lack of a stereo in my car to provide real tunes, I had the Sanford&Son theme song stuck in my head on the drive home.

Only one day left for me to catch my unicorn this year.  I'm trying real hard to think positive thoughts...

Thanks for the report Bungle. Keep trying bro. your ticket is almost up. I'd like to
catch a sturgeon myself for the New Years day.

Jedmo

Although I am still yakless and I would guess unofficial , I have lived all my life in  Fairfield / Vacaville and fished the sloughs since I could sneak off on my bike as a 5 year old ( 1960 ). Number 1 good idea is to stay in a spot at least 3-4 hours , many times I will not move during an entire day of fishing ! This time of the year salmon just finished the spawn and carp will be doing the same in early spring , use salmon roe for bait !!!!

Two ideas as where to fish , both downstream of the Montezuma Bridge ;
1. Southern bank just across from the Joice Is. Cut , deep hole -50' on a good high tide . Hard to miss with a depthfinder , if not there is a tules to rock shore change and lots of old pilings just downstream
2. Northern bank , further down but before the bend , not that deep , 17-20' and only 100' or so from shore . Good spot if the wind is out of the north , tuck in even closer to shore .

 If we ever get any good rains , try some pile worms and nightcrawlers . On a 2 hook leader put a pile on one hook , crawler on the other , cheaper than using straight pile worms , plus the crawlers are still alive long after the piles are dead . Idea is you still have scent and movement . If using roe , use a one hook leader and a roe ball about  1.5" across . Use gauze and thread to keep the roe ball together and you only need to run the hook through the middle once , sturgeon are not hook shy and much easier to hook with an exposed hook point . Grass shrimp  will do if I don't have any roe !

Good Luck , Dan

Bungle did you manage to see any jumpers?

Nice work bungle...way to keep swinging.  I HATE unicorns!

Nice to see you again Nate. I could not believe all the fish that I marked on the FF and no hook ups not even a nibble for me. But still a nice day getting out.

Nice effort by all the unicorn chasers lately.  The company sounds fun, but I don't know about the sport!   

Ah, I left an oval NCKAsticker on someones truck in the Zuma lot sunday....i saw yak-racks & no sticker....who was it?

reelfish~ i've only been there twice(out of 10) when i didn't see what you saw.
at least you know you in the right spot...right?

unicorns!   we may as well look for a Chupacabre too, through in a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow and I'll be the first to go on the hunt with you Nate! 
WE'LLbeRICH!!  

see you out on the water, somewhere Real_soon I'm predicting.