Buck's Landing 1/7/06 Report

Got bait at Western and made it to Buck's by about 7:00.  I spoke to Keith Fraser on the way about the debris issue and he advised that it wasn't really that big of a deal (of course he wants you to fish SP Bay and buy his bait... but whatever). 

In total the group consisted of (forgive me if I forget someone) myself, Rockhopper, Mr. Matt, Tote, Mooch, Jason, Bob Neal, Sharkbait, Scwafish, Gowen4bigfish (who caught up with us later).  I think that's it.  We paddled out to the flats in flat calm weather and yes, there was a lot of debris floating on the water.  Mostly tule reeds and hunks of some lillypad looking stuff and the occasional tree branch, etc.  It wound up not being much of a problem at all since fishing downstream from the kayak, the kayak sort of diverts the debris out of the way of your line. 

We went to "the spot" (about 2 1/2 miles out) and set anchor and fished.  A few smalllish stripers were caught and Matt caught a flounder.  Sharkbait was the first to hook into a sturgy but it quickly broke his 40# mono main line... must have gotten wrapped up... bummer. 

At about 11 or 11:30 or so, RH, Matt, and Tote headed back with the wind picking up and signs of rain on the way.  Unfortunately for them, as soon as they left, the weather got nice and flat and the light sprinkle of rain only lasted a few minutes. 

Then at about 12:00, just as the current was dropping a bit, I got hooked up.  The fish immediately took air when I set the hook and this fish was HOT.  Ran me around in zigs and zags and gave my new Marauder a few tail slaps... really had a lot of pizazz.  Sean came in for the assist and after about 15 or 20 minutes we were ready to get a snare on her for a measurement. 

After one failed snare attempt, I finally got my new 46" snare around the fish about 2/3 the way back and passed the snare to Sean.  Sean lifted the tail, I used my rod to lift the head, and I grabbed the tail and held it on my zero mark.  Sean marked the location of the nose on the side of my  kayak and then I decided we'd release the beast to fight again another day.  On the water, our rough measurement was 60 1/2 inches.  Once I got home and used a tape to more acurately mesure from my zero line to the mark I made on my kayak, it was 61 1/2 inches.  I guess we'll call it a 61 incher.

Nice fish... VERY pale white color and very fiesty.    Felt good to release it, but the way the Jerky is going, I'm going to probably need another fish in the freezer this year. 

After a few high fives and Sean and I were heading back to our respective anchors, Gowen got hooked up.  He had the fish on for several minutes before the hooks just came unbuttoned (bummer). 

That was about it... we fished until about 1:15 and headed back in against a slight headwind. 

Nice trip... the Marauder performed extremely well and we got a little of that Dino Love once again.  I'm hoping more of you can experience the fight of a healthy dino this year... and with persistence I'm certain it'll happen. 

(If you buy one of my rods, I'll almost guarantee it'll happen  )

Sean and Mooch will have some pics to post, including an MPEG of how to snare a sturgeon (hope it turns out).

Erik

Wow man 2/2 so far this season, outstanding! You are the sturgy king!

ARGHH....

Glad it worked out for you and kicking myself at the same time.

Note to self: Just go next time....


MolBasser

Another day at Bucks.  The weather was all over the place, but really one of the nicest days I've had on San Pablo.  Nothing for me but a pair of schoolies and a great time with the boys.

Erik is now the undisputed, ABSOLUTE dino master.  I was gabbering with Mooch when we heard a holler and saw a big sturgie break the surface...fish on!!!  I dropped anchor and went in for the assist.  By the time I got there Erik was on an erratic tow.  



After a good struggle, the dino was at the boat.  Nice big sturgeon.  This fish was a thrasher, felt like and episode of crocidile hunter...



Erik said he wanted to release it, but to try and measure it.  We tag teamed it using the snare, the leader, and a little lifting from my leg.  After a few fumbles it worked!  We got a pretty dang good measure, marked the spot on the hull, and Erik graciously let the old fishy go.  Awesome to see such a trophy released.  I took this pic as we got ready to measure it, but needed all hands to do the real deal...



Sharkbait also hooked up, but broke off    Gowen also had one on but his came unbuttoned  

Today was the first time most of us got to take the Mauraders out into open water and they were great.  Fast, stable and did a great job cutting through the chop.  They were nice and quiet and also rode well on anchor.  Eriks appears to have some kind of a tiny leak, but we'll track it down and take care of that, otherwise fantastic.

I took one on the water mpeg that came out pretty cool...how do we post those?  

Truly, you are dino king!     Awesome job!!!  Can't wait to read your next report - great pics also!

Very nice job you guys!!!
I wish I could have stayed longer. I was headed in just a little bit to try a new location when I glanced at my watch. With a 2 hour drive ahead of me I had to bail ( dad responsibilities ).
Fishing for me was slow. 3 quick bites and 3 quicker misses. nonetheless i had a blast as always.
Thanks to Dustin and Matt for making the paddle back more enjoyable. I learned about pumping for ghost shrimp from Dustin ( rockhopper ).
Looking forward to giving it a shot.
The paddle out was perfect. Going with the flow of the river was a plus.



The weather picked up a tiny bit but not bad. Here is a shot of everyone ( if you can see ) as I was leaving.



Looks like it would be deeper out there, but as you can see on the fish finder it is only 6 feet deep.



Question to the king ( Erik )..How many times during the day do you set the hook while you are out there? I was just wondering with the soft bite of the sturgeon do you set it way more than you actually get bit?

Ah man!  There is diddly in the water!!!

I don't know what I got myself so convinced it would look like but that water isn't bad at all.

 

MolBaser

We went to "the spot" (about 2 1/2 miles out) and set anchor and fished. 

Got some rough coordinates so I can look on a map as to where you were set up?

MolBasser

There was some misc. debris but it was no biggie.  There were a few minutes were it passed in waves, but they were short lived.

Good job guys and....  CONGRATS to Erik "The Kayak Sturgeon King" again
All I can say is that I screwed up by changing my plans to join you guys at Buck's..   I wish I wouldn't have listen to those darn reports of debris last night.
Anyways, I missed out on a good chance to to land my first legal dino from Erik and Josh's sturgeon honey hole.

I ended up fishing the Oakland Airport with InsaneDuane, Freddie, Dave, "Bigdog" Dave, and Eric "eyeatbay".  No dino love for us, but we landed a number of leopards, a big batray, a starry flouder, and a nice 8lb striper.  I'll post a full report with pics.

Congrats!
I'll be over this cold for the next run.

fine work you guys, great post too! scwafish I think you have be second in line for most deserving of the first
non-erik sturgeon behind maybe only chuckE.  Erik has that fish radar.  the sixth sense.
In every generation there is one girl, err big dude, that is known as the vampire slayer, err sturgeon catcher.

Had an awesome day out on the bay today. Much thanks to Eric for sharing his Sturgeon knowledge and jerky.

I'd also like to know if Eric strikes frequently. I found myself making several empty strikes through the day. The fish that I hooked into had the typical Sturgeon pump that you hear so much about, no question there was a fish pulling on the line.

Today was the first time most of us got to take the Mauraders out into open water and they were great.  Fast, stable and did a great job cutting through the chop.  They were nice and quiet and also rode well on anchor.  Eriks appears to have some kind of a tiny leak, but we'll track it down and take care of that, otherwise fantastic.

Hey, where do your guys get Mauraders? I am interested in getting one for myself. Thanks.

Today was the first time most of us got to take the Mauraders out into open water and they were great.  Fast, stable and did a great job cutting through the chop.  They were nice and quiet and also rode well on anchor.  Eriks appears to have some kind of a tiny leak, but we'll track it down and take care of that, otherwise fantastic.

Hey, where do your guys get Mauraders? I am interested in getting one for myself. Thanks.

All of the Maruaders were purchased through Sean aka scwafish here on the board. You can PM him here or get his contact info off of his web site http://www.gwkc.com/. If you're thinking about buying a Cobra or Malibu, everybody here will recommend Sean, I bought my Maurader from him and would highly recommend him to anyone.