Sturgeon seasons wind down after emergency closure in the ...

ASTORIA -- The sturgeon came easily to the boat, offering just cursory tugging against the reel's relentless winch.

Son Bill Jr., occupied on the boat's opposite rail with a second, obviously much-larger fish on a friend's line, glanced nervously from time to time to ensure the double-hookup
didn't become a single nightmare of a tangle.

"Does it feel big, dad?" he shouted over the net poised at his shoulder. "Keep it clear if you can. Let me know if it's net-able."

That last syllable barely reached my ears when the water exploded in my face. An angry six-foot sturgeon, only its tail still in the water, looked me in the eye then fell away and

charged off toward Tongue Point on a line-tearing run.

"It's pretty net-able," I shouted ... almost in unison with Casey Brown of Milwaukie, standing at my side to stay out of Bill Jr.'s way.

As it turned out, of course, neither fish was netted because both were clearly too long for the 54-inch maximum retention limit and couldn't legally be lifted from the water even if we were up to it. Bill simply drew each one close, turned it upside down (it calms a sturgeon) and pulled the barbless hook free.

Five of us returned to port with one-fish limits after nearly 20 bites and a dozen or so landed; four too long to keep.

I never ever thought I'd see the proverbial "last fish" caught, but it was more than an old saw Tuesday. We were barely out of the water when an emergency meeting of the Columbia River Compact was called. I drove home just in time to hear the tail end as biologists in both states shut down the remainder of the Astoria-area retention season (Thursday evening).

Further, fishing has been so good this year it's virtually certain there will be no further retention allowed upriver to Bonneville Dam, which had been scheduled to reopen in October.

Retention also is now closed in the Bonneville Pool reservoir, leaving The Dalles, John Day and McNary pools -- each has a pretty small quota, however.

Two more local retention seasons will create a boating birds nest on the Willamette River, where 1,733 legals have been earmarked for July 11-13 and (if not all are caught) July 18-20.

It takes little imagination to visualize the meeting of hundreds of sturgeon hopefuls and the peak of the recreational boating season.

No additional restrictions are in store for the Oregon Coast, where highly nomadic white sturgeon are found in most estuaries from time to time. Tillamook, Umpqua and Coos bays seem to have the most, with others found in Siuslaw, Yaquina and less frequently in the upper Nehalem.

On Jan. 1, 2014, sturgeon officially become a living relic and no retention at all will be allowed in either state as the states cope with a population decline for what will likely be years to come.

-- Bill Monroe

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/oregonian/bill_monroe/index.ssf/2013/06/sturgeon.html

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