Jon’s Outdoors Fishing & Hunting News

July, 2008 Archive

July Newsletter

Saturday, July 5th, 2008

Hey Everyone,

How is your summer going? This is the strangest weather I have ever seen. It goes from one extreme to another. This spring we had more snow drop on us out in the boat then any other year I can remember. It was so cold there were days you could not get enough clothes on. Now we are in 100-degree weather. What happened to the days of our mild wet northwest weather in the spring and our beautiful 75-degree summer days? Although, our weather could always be worse. Some of you are in a real heat wave and I cannot believe the fires all over. Maybe I should just quit complaining and talk some fishing and hunting. Let’s start with the fishing.

STURGEON FISHING

We have been doing very well with the big sturgeon. Folks, these fish are magnificent. A couple of weeks ago we had the longest fight ever on my boat. These customers fought this sturgeon for 2 hours and 10 minutes and they were putting the hurt on this fish. It wasn’t like they were just babying this fish. They were working it steady for over 2 hours. My average fight will last 20-30 minutes. But, this fish was hot. We measured it and the fish was just under 11 feet long and very heavy. It was awesome. It was fresh right up from the ocean. I had a few very tired fishermen on the boat but I think they would have done it again in a heartbeat. We have seen some very big fish this year. Yesterday we got 4 fish to the boat and 3 of them were between 9 and 10 feet long. These trophy sturgeon usually average about 7 ½ - 8 feet and those fish are around 200 pounds. The three big ones yesterday were in the 350-400 pound bracket. That is huge and to see them jump out of the water on their tails is an incredible sight to see. If you haven’t gotten out with me yet to fight one of these trophies you are missing out. Give us a call and let’ do it. I will continue on the trophy sturgeon through July 14th then I am heading to our bunkhouse in Wyoming to do some maintenance on it. I will be back the first week of August.
Fishing either July or August will be good. Right now in July we are still getting fresh fish from the ocean and these fish are hungry and wild. I like fishing the early ones. In August the area below Bonneville Dam will open back up. You see on May 1st a sanctuary is in place below Bonneville Dam and it goes down for about 3-4 miles so the sturgeon can go up and spawn without being harassed. August 1st that sanctuary is lifted and we can fish up there. This can be some great fishing since these fish haven’t been messed with for 3 months. There should also be a lot of steelhead in the river at that time so we will be doing a lot of combo trips. I will continue fishing for sturgeon and steelhead through the end of august. Then it is fall salmon time.
I am going to fish fall salmon the last part of August through September 14th. This is a great time for our salmon fishing here on the Columbia River. It should be very good this year due to all the snow we got this last winter and spring. We usually always get a good, healthy run of fall salmon but on some years that we didn’t get much snow in the mountains created some low water and very warm temperatures and those salmon are just not going to bite well when the water is too warm. This year should be a great bite.
The way I do my salmon fishing is easy for everyone. I am usually always on anchor on strategic spots where I know salmon are going to come through. I will be using either a wobbler lure or Qwik-Fish depending where we are. This is a good fishery for everyone to do. We just get the rods out and when one lays flat the fight is on. I will probably start fishing the mouth of the Cowlitz River then work my way up to the mouth of the Sandy River then work my way up to Bonneville Dam area. These fall salmon also can run pretty big. My biggest on my boat was a big bright 52-pounder. That is a good salmon in anyone’s book.
Give Stacy or I a call and we would love to talk to you about a trophy sturgeon trip or a fall salmon trip. Now, let’s talk some hunting.

Wyoming Antelope Hunting

Well, did you get you tags you wanted to hunt this year? My family didn’t draw a thing here in Oregon. These draws make me wonder sometimes. I talked to a guy the other day about sheep hunting in Oregon. In Oregon we do not have a point system for big horn sheep. It is a lottery draw. I am talking to this guy and he told me that he put in for this unit that he knew very well and drew the tag a few years ago. He got a good sheep and put his wife in for that area the next year and she drew. Then this guy was talking to a friend of his about sheep hunting and he told his buddy to put in for this unit that both he and his wife drew so this guy did. His first try he drew the tag. That is either a lot of good luck but it doesn’t sound right to me. I know guys older then me that has put in since they started this draw and has never drawn. I just am not sure about these draw-hunts. Anyway, if you have not drawn and are looking for a place to hunt then give us a call. We will have leftover antelope tags for our place over in Wyoming. This is a great hunt for everyone. Lots of animals to choose from. We will be in them all day long. It is a very fun place to hunt. Last year we had leftover antelope tags available clear to the end of the season and I have no reason to believe we will not have a lot of leftover tags again this year. I have talked to a couple of my ranchers over there and they got a lot of rain this year. That should make for some very good horn growth. I will have hunts available for October 15th through the end of October. I have room this year for about 10 more hunters. Give us a call if that will fit you schedule.
How are you doing in inviting kids around your neighborhood on an outdoor outing? It is not too late. There is a lot of summer left. Don’t miss the chance to make an impact on a kid’s life.
One more thing before I go. This is for you guys that are in the Portland area. We have started a hunting/fishing club here in Sandy Oregon. It is going very well. Without going into a lot of details, I will tell you that this club is a bit different then a lot of other fishing/ hunting clubs. This is a tough time for a lot of you guys out there and we want to help if we can. We are trying to be more then a fishing/hunting club. We want to encourage men during this tough time. Once a month we have what we call our main event. We feed you well and then have a guest speaker come in and give us a seminar of his expert area. We had a tuna guy come in last month that was awesome. July 19th we have an outfitter from eastern Oregon coming to give us a seminar on archery elk hunting and calling. It should be great. Then in August 9th we are having Boyd Iverson come and talk to us about trophy blacktail tactics. Boyd is an author of a few books on blacktail hunting. He has the proof on his wall at home that his tactics work. There is no cost to come to any of our main events. All you guys are invited. Give me a call and we can talk more about it. You can learn more about our club at www.CrossTrackers.com.
Thanks again for giving me a bit of your time and I hope to fish or hunt with you this year. Stay safe and take a kid with you on your next outing.

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Oregon Sturgeon and Salmon Fishing in the Columbia River Gorge

July, 2008 Archive

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