trying sturgeon

Hello board
My name is Matt.  My wife Marni and I would like to try sturgeon fishing from our kayaks.  We have abalone dove, rockfished and crabbed from them but now after having good luck for sturgeon on our bigger boat we want to try the kayaks in San Pablo bay.  Some questions I have is do you anchor from the front and fish facing into the tide or from the stern and face away as is done in a large boat?  Also, I am buying a Garmin FF and need to know if a in-hull transducer will work or mount a transom style outside like a bigger boat.
Thanks for any info and I am sure there will be lots more questions later.
Matt

fishbutt, Welcome. Anchor from the stern and cast over the bow or off to one side. Make sure you can dump your anchor with a simple one hand move. Nothing worse then trying to wrestle with an anchor line while hooked up. You can look at the site for anchor rigging suggestions. Thru hull transducer is best unless you have a scupper hole that allows you to get it directly into the water. Most here do a thru hull install so weeds, trash, and kelp don't get caught.

Welcome. Most of us fish with an anchor at the rear rigged with a realease line so you can be free to fight the fish or unhook in an emergency. There are lots of tutorials on the site about creating an anchoring sysytem. As there are with in hull transducer mounts.

Welcome fishbutt & wife! 
I'll let others answer your specific questions. There's a ton of info in previous threads & check out the Sturgeon article on the front page (or side bar at left).

Aaron

Thanks for the info
 One more queston that I have not found an answer to yet is about releasing the anchor.how big of a fish do you need to hook that you want to dump the anchor? From what I have experienced in the past we always stayed on the anchor to give us a base to pull against the fish instead of drifting with the tide. Or is it more of a fish by fish decision based on the fishes attitude

I tend to release if the fish takes more than about 20 yards or so...which ends up being a pretty small fish!

you can use a the transom transducer mounted inside. you don't need a thru or in-hull. We're only talking a teeny-tiny bit of plastic between you and the water, so as long as there are not any airbubbles in however you mount/install/place the transducer inside the hull there are no issues.
my first FF i bought an in hull version- since then (4 FFs) i've alsways mounted the transom transducer inside....

Thanks  for the info
I just found out my new FF shipped on thursday so maybe by next weekend I will have my kayak ready and can make a sturgeon trip out.Sounds like releasing the anchor is just a experience thing depending on what each fish does

Thanks for the info
 One more queston that I have not found an answer to yet is about releasing the anchor.how big of a fish do you need to hook that you want to dump the anchor? From what I have experienced in the past we always stayed on the anchor to give us a base to pull against the fish instead of drifting with the tide. Or is it more of a fish by fish decision based on the fishes attitude

I've only fished on the anchor twice but I dumped it every time I got a bite just to get away from the anchor line; even a small sturgeon or batray getting wrapped on the anchor line is going to be a pain in the ass. Or worse. Less of a problem if you're in a PB I guess. The current will usually carry you away from the line if you're anchored to the rear.

Plus, even the smaller fish will give you a sleigh ride and that's half the fun of fishing for these things on the yak!

I am getting more and more excited about getting out on the kayak here real soon but one more silly queston what is PB that I read often
Thanks again
Matt

power boat

I am getting more and more excited about getting out on the kayak here real soon but one more silly queston what is PB that I read often

power boat

and all this time I thought it was Peanut Butter! 

Having fished from both I was not sure if it was a private boat or party boat