Sturgeon Fishing Snake River

[charris01]

I am located in bonners ferry, ID and am looking at heading down to the Snake River to try to catch some sturgeon. Not sure on where to go. We have a small boat but nothing that can handle to much. Any possible launch spots or shore spots would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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[Mojo1]

Lower Snake between Heller Bar and Asotin has some great holes. Look for water over 20 feet deep. You can run most of the lower section in a small prop boat if you are careful. You can also get a Washinton license and fish off the road side of the river.
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[idahobigfish]

On or below Swan Falls Dam is a good spot for Sturgeon caught one there the other day.
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[Mojo1]

idahobigfish, he is from Bonners Ferry. That is one hell of a drive to get to Swan Falls. I think he was looking for somewhere closer to home...
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[charris01]

we are going to camp out for a few days so it can be a pretty good drive.
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[Mojo1]

Swan Falls is about 30 minutes south of Boise through Kuna. If you fish there, don't put your little boat in below the dam, because if you have any problems, you will have a couple of significant rapids to run.

I can tell you there are about 300% more fish per river mile in Hell's Canyon than there are in the Swan Falls reach. The estimated population in the Swan Falls reach (Swan Falls to Brownlee Dam) is 155 adult White Sturgeon, with zero natural recruitment. In the Hell's Canyon Dam to Lower Granite Dam reach, there are approximatley 4000 White Sturgeon. It is one of 2 sections of river in Idhao with natural recruitment.

Check out this publication for more information on Idaho Sturgeon numbers, and the relative health of the populations in each river section in Idaho...
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[idahobigfish]

LOL sorry about the ill advice Mojo's right.
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[thebug]

this is the white sturgeon conservation plan as put out by idaho power it does a great job giving guesses on population and river miles at which to fish
http://www.idahopower.com/pdfs/Relicensi...c/E31D.pdf
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[Mojo1]

Nice citation Bug. Ken LePla is a great guy, and I actually contributed to that study. The IDF&G study I posted is a compilation of their own work and Ken's research.
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[Flydragger]

PLEASE use mono. I can't tell you how many sturge I've caught that are cut up from braided. Numerous.
Thanks!
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[drowning_flys]

why I agree with you some of the spectra lines can be really hard on the fish I think the larger braided dacron lines are safe to use as they don't have very good cutting property's [fishin]
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[windriver]

I agree I think dacron is pretty soft.

Windriver
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[Flydragger]

I used Power Pro for a while..steelhead and sturgeon. Had the cut fish deal a lot.
Thanks for the comment/observation.
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