MARCH 4, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A11
Submitted
Donald Koskela and Mike Wilcox with the big sturgeon catch of a recent outing.
Urgin’ for sturgeon?
Four pairs of eyes are
drawn to the rod tip. It be-
gins a slow rhythmic bounce
as it dips toward the surface
of the Willamette River.
“He’s there,” Donald
whispers. “You’re up Rick.
Wait until the rod loads up,
want to make sure he has
fully taken the bait.”
Rick carefully eases the
stout rod from the holder.
“Now,” Donald hisses as the
rod slams down.
Rick comes back hard
and is rewarded with a rod
bouncing wildly. Sixty-fi ve
pound test screams off the
reel. “Fish on.”
Welcome to Willamette
River sturgeon fi shing in
February.
We are fi shing with Don-
ald Koskela of Pastime Fish-
ing, out of Silverton. Koskela
has developed a reputation
for knowing how to catch
huge, oversize sturgeon. He
has clients from as far away
as Germany who come twice
a year to catch-and-release
sturgeon.
Today, is a fun day for him.
He likes to fi sh also. He has
invited me and two other
friends to get together and
by G.I. Wilson
have fun catching and releas-
ing sturgeon on the Willa-
mette.
We drop anchor at one of
his favorite spots out of the
boat launch at Oregon City.
We are in 40 feet of water
above a deep hole. We will
cast herring into the deep
holding water.
A large infl ated ball is at-
tached to the anchor line.
Hook a large sturgeon, toss
the line and ball overboard
and fl oat downriver to fi ght
the fi sh.
Our setting is some-
what paradoxical for an-
glers. Here we are anchored
in one of the major fi shing
rivers in the Pacifi c North-
west. Thousands upon thou-
sands of salmon have passed
through these waters for de-
cades. This particular area is
spawning grounds for white
sturgeon, a magnifi cent, pre-
historic creature that has sur-
vived for centuries. Canada
Geese serenade us as they vie
for nesting spots on the rug-
ged shoreline.
Yet we are a quarter mile
from major freeways and
bridges. From the bow of
the boat we are looking at
a beautiful bridge tower-
ing above the river. From
the bow we are looking at a
spectacular waterfall at a half
mile.
The Willamette River is
ideal spawning grounds for
massive white sturgeon. Up-
river passage is blocked by
Willamette Falls. Sturgeon
are not able to navigate the
fi sh ladder at the falls.
Sturgeon live in the Wil-
lamette year-round. In the
winter months the Colum-
bia River becomes colder
than the Willamette, so good
numbers of Columbia stur-
geon become “snow fi sh”
and go south into the Wil-
lamette.
My boat mates for the day
are; Rick Garner of Salem.
Rick and Donald have been
friends since high school.
Mike Wilcox of Salem and
Koskela have been friends
through work for years.
Although Garner has
fi shed for years, he is now
hooked up with his fi rst stur-
geon.
Now, Rick is big and
strong, a guy I would pick
fi rst for my tug-of-war team.
He has a heavy action rod
arched almost to the danger-
ous level, 65-pound test line
peeling off the reel, and he
breaks into a sweat. A hand
begins to cramp up and
screams for a break.
“I can’t believe how pow-
erful this fi sh is. “Rick hisses
through clinched teeth. “I
can’t even slow him down.”
“And that one is only go-
ing to be about four feet,”
Koskela chuckles. “Wait until
you get a big one.”
After a battle--that Mike
and I enjoyed watching--Ko-
skela deftly tails a fat, four-
footer into the boat. Garner
breathes a sigh of relief. He
has his fi rst sturgeon.
Quick photo op and the
fi sh are gently returned to
the river. Little did Rick
know what was ahead for the
day.
Then it gets exciting.
Mike’s turn, and it’s a thumb
burner. He is in for a tough
battle. Just as he thinks he is
gaining back the line he had
lost, the critter fi nds an un-
derwater object that stops the
retrieve. He and Koskela take
turns working the rod in an
attempt to work it free. They
can feel the fi sh moving
around and the line grinding
against something. Eventu-
ally the line snaps.
“This part of the river is
full of big boulders, and all
kinds of heavy objects that
have been dumped in the riv-
er,” Koskela explains. “Years
ago that’s the way people got
rid of things. Throw it in the
river.”
Like with Rick, Mike has
his work out ahead of him,
far beyond his expectations.
Koskela and I sit back and
smile. We know.
I’ve been through this
drill before. When it comes
my time, I’m going to pick
up the rod, experience the
excitement of the bite and
set the hook. When that baby
takes off like a 250-pound
half back, I’m handing off to
one of these fl at bellies with
me.
One of these 7-8 foot,
170-180 pounders can send
you slinking back to the gym,
tail tucked between your legs.
Mike’s “Kodak moment”
comes with a beautiful six-
footer. We yell as one when
the magnifi cent creature
catapults in the air a few feet
behind the boat. Easy to un-
derstand why they are fondly
referred to as ”freshwater
marlin.” After another one of
those epic battles, he and Ko-
skela hoist a beauty into the
boat for photos.
Mike’s next hookup is ob-
viously the heaviest fi sh of
the day. We follow it down-
river. Then we follow it back
upriver. There is no turning,
or slowing it down.
Mike, Rick and Koskela
take turns at the rod as we
work our way past other
boats at anchor.
Eventually, Koskela takes
over the rod. We watch as he
doubles the rod all the way
to the water. It could snap at
any second.
“Something’s wrong. No
movement at all,” Koskela
groans. “I’m just lifting dead
weight.”
When
the
180-200
pounder is fi nally drug to
the boat, we have our answer.
The hook is snagged in a fi n.
A short time later–stur-
geon bedlam. A double. Two
sturgeon in the 180-200
pound class at the same time.
We can only hope they don’t
decide to go in opposite di-
rections.
Things go pretty well for
a while as they both power
their way upstream. Things
go well until the river cur-
rent pushes us slowly down-
stream directly across the an-
chor rope of another boat.
I am in awe at how Koske-
la somehow keeps a 20-foot
boat under control and man-
ages to get rods--hooked to
fi sh--under that anchor line.
We fl oat closer to the oth-
er boat, one fi sh decides to
go back to the other side of
that boat.
Strong hands keep the
boats from bumping as our
rod is handed off to their
crew, then back to us as we
drift past.
The battles continue an-
other quarter mile before we
release the two giants.
A collective “no mas.” We
head back to our anchor.
Koskela fi res up the grill and
we feast on fried rice with
shrimp and Parmesan hali-
but, capped off with a bottle
of white wine.
A lot of smiles on the
drive home.
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