Sturgeon fishing

I've never been sturgeon fishing but I've always wanted to so I figured this weekend was the perfect  opportunity! Can anyone give me some tips about where to go? What to use? And anything else that can be useful? I live in rohnert park and I'm willing to drive! Thanks!

Kayak or shore?

If from kayak my advice would be to fish from shore.

From shore sounds good to me!

Tides are kinda sucky for sturgeon this weekend.  you want some pretty big swings, and (at least for san pablo bay) want to be there either on the upswing, or at the bottom (better).  From shore you are limited to near top.
The shoreline along China camp can yield some nice fish-- especially this time of year around Rat Rock.

Next weekend has some great tides- the morning incoming is kinda weak, but the outgo is fantastic. Pick up some live ghost shrimp or mudshrimp from Keith at loch lomond and head out.

Don't forget 7/0 size barbless hooks.  Load it up with ghost shrimp and wrap it up with magic thread. 50# mono leader line . Enjoy the fight !

Thank you Steve, I didn't think about the tides. I just heard the sturgeon fishing picks up after a good rain, so I'm glad you brought that up! I'll probably take it easy this weekend and go out next weekend.

Thanks SlackTai! 

As mentioned above, the tides are very important. The best seems to be a big outgoing.
 I like to stuff as much bait on my hook as possible. I like a combo of pile worms and ghost shrimp with a nice hunk of eel. The eel will last all day.
 One weird thing about sturgeon is, compared to how big they are, their bite it extremely soft. If you think your getting bit, go ahead and lay the wood to em.
 Good luck, a sturgeon fight is awesome.

   Nick.

AAYOK with all the rain we had there will be a lot of crap floating down so it you anchor in your yak there is a danger of a log or brush catching your anchor line which could easily swamp your kayak. Make sure and read up on a quick release anchor before anchoring in current. Sat. outgo is 3' combined with all the rain water will give you a pretty strong current especially in areas like the Petaluma river or Sonoma Creek which both have areas where you can anchor out of the current and cast out in to the main current. Dino fishing can get pretty boring but the reward of a monster is pretty cool. You can also pump Ghost shrimp at Bodega or any sandy area at a low tide making for some great bait and it is sorta fun especially when you catch a fish with it.

If you are shore fishing you might try Cuttings wharf on the Napa River. I have caught some very nice Sturgeon There.I think I would wait awhile as there might be alot of junk coming down the river after the storm we just had!

Kieth is very knowledgable about sturgeon fishing. Pick up his book for an instructional read. He will try to sell you a bunch of stuff but that's his job/livelihood.

The most important aspect of sturgeon fishing is keeping your eye on the rod tip. Usually you only get one chance so be ready!

Sturgeon was my first fish from kayak. I highly recommend trying for them in the yak, it can turn into quite a ride! Good luck and stay safe!

Tomales Bay mud flats on low tides is a great place to get loads of Mud Shrimp and ghost shrimp!

Tomales Bay mud flats on low tides is a great place to get loads of Mud Shrimp and ghost shrimp!

gonna need a pump for that . Bodega has them too.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,7402.0.html

I have a pump  I'll probably try the napa river next weekend! Thanks guys

Heard that the area around McNears is producing sturgeon of late.
if the weather holds i'm doing a yak trip on saturday, if its bad then i'll be on the shore