Dinosaur Bucket List Trip.
Now that I'm a man of a certain age and am fortunate to have a little mad money available, I decided to try and check off one of my fishing bucket list trips. Dinosaur hunting for big oversize sturgeon. I've watched videos and read articles about the season over in the area we fished. Without having the necessary boat and rigging to tackle these brutes, I chose to enlist a professional for our adventure. So, I contacted Austin Moser from Austin's NW Adventures to set up the trip. What a good decision that was! A consummate and hardworking guide. Plus, a fun dude!
I was joined by two of my softball umpire buddies, Wild Bill and Sepe, along with my brother from a different mother, Mike. Although the fish weren't in a crazy biting mood, we had a great time. Lots of b.s.ing, joking, and just enjoying the day. We had probably about a half dozen legitimate bites with 3 being hooked up. Being on a rotational basis, I was first up with a baby landed. Not my monster, but fun. Second was Sepe with about a 5-6 footer, and finally Wild Bill who played his for a little while, but it got off. We were hoping for all four of us to get a chance, but alas not.
This was the first time out on the Columbia for Bill, Sepe's 1st sturgeon, and my first trip with those two. Mike and I have been out trout fishin a number of times before. The largest sturgeon I had caught previously was about a 5 footer. Seeing as that still is my largest, I will definitely be back next season for another shot at checking off my bucket list entry. And I'll be contacting Austin again. His boat is amazing and his gear, bait, and skill sets are exceptional.

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