Sturgeon fishing in the Columbia River is arguably the best in the world! There are more keeper and oversize sturgeon in the Pacific Northwest than anywhere! Oregon and Washington. Anglers target oversize sturgeon in June when the Shad are running in the Columbia River. These fish are 6-15 feet long and can weigh up to 1500 pounds!
Sturgeon can live over a hundred years and are believed to have been on our planet as long as dinosaurs! Catching these fish by the dozens, daily makes this fishery one of the best in the world! Columbia River sturgeon have sharp scoots on their sides and back provide a defense against predators such as seals and sea lions. Many types of baits and locations are used and traveled to catch these behemoths.
Columbia River Sturgeon can be caught with herring, anchovies, sand shrimp, worms, squid, and shad. Depending on where we fish depends on what we’ll be using for bait. Sturgeon are a very finicky fish to catch if you’re using the wrong bait in the location you are fishing. For the most part, bring a variety of baits to some of the areas we fish and let the Sturgeon tell us what they are hungry for.
The lower Columbia River estuary is not one of those areas where we need a variety of bait. The Columbia River Sturgeon migrate to this area from below Bonneville Dam for one reason. Feed on sand shrimp. The Columbia River Estuary is located near Astoria, Oregon and has thousands of sand shrimp beds throughout the river. We target these sturgeon by placing our boats in very shallow sand flats that have channels that feed out of them. On incoming tides, we get into 2-4 ft of water catching sturgeon one right after another. As the tide drops, we follow the channels that are slightly deeper to safety so we don’t get “high and dry” with our boats. Sturgeon do the same thing to escape rapidly shallowing water.
Many times, we will catch keeper and oversize sturgeon in a foot of water. You can actually see their fins sticking out of the water! Sturgeon feed on sand shrimp and bugs that live in the marine grass along with clams. The bait of choice in the Columbia River Estuary is mostly always sand shrimp. These sturgeons are full of spunk from feeding nonstop, and they really give the person that has them hooked a battle to the end!
When fishing closer to home for Columbia River Sturgeon, we fish much deeper holes for the most part. Fishing in over 50ft of water is where to likely find sturgeon everywhere but the estuary. Sturgeon are much more apt to eat a variety of baits in these holes. In the springtime Columbia River fishermen use herring to catch spring chinook, Naturally, sturgeon love the free herring that anglers discard after a day of salmon fishing.
When fishing in the Columbia River Gorge for sturgeon, we switch our bait up to predominately squid and sand shrimp. Squid is the main bait they are interested in and why that is, no one knows. There’s not a squid within 150 miles from where we are fishing. Many of the sturgeon above Bonneville dam have never even seen a squid so there’s a mystery that’s yet to be solved.
Currently we have only a short season for Columbia River Sturgeon which runs from Jan 1st-31st above Bonneville Dam. This fishery usually meets it’s quota within a few days of fishing so getting your days early is important. We fish from a heated 26ft Alumaweld Columbia in the dead of winter so bundling up is a must.
The Columbia River estuary sturgeon season is a much more popular fishery and typically runs from May 15th through June 5th. Three days a week. Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Saturday’s. The Columbia River estuary fishing is by far my favorite just to the fact that the weather is nice and so are the fish. These dates also book fast. As soon as the season is set, the best thing is to contact us to inquire about availability.
Another very popular sturgeon fishery is catch and release sturgeon fishing. Sturgeon fishing is super easy and high catch rates are very common. Most days it’s not the fish that give up biting, but the angler that has a sore arm from catching so many. The Willamette River and Columbia River are our go to’s when participating in catch and release. If catching a giant sturgeon is on your bucket list, the Columbia River is the place to do it!
NW Columbia Fishing Adventures
Northwest fishing guide, Oregon fishing guide and Washington fishing guide, specializes in 1 to 6 man fishing trips on Northwest rivers. From Buoy 10 to Bonneville Dam, we catch Salmon, Sturgeon, Winter Steelhead, Summer Steelhead, Kokanee, and Sockeye Salmon. Book a trip today good dates fill fast.
