This report is for the area just downstream from China Bend. We actually went up the night before so I could get my hands on a sloppy heifer from that barbecue joint in Kettle Falls. If you ever have a chance to hit them up you really need to because it's unlike any barbecue you've had. Just a reminder they are closed on Sundays. Luckily we ordered a head. However when we got there they were shutting down early cuz they had run out of meat. I'm told that's quite normal for Saturday nights so keep that in mind.

We went to the China bend shore spot I always hit up. It looked like the river was up 10 ft or so as the area I'd normally set up shop was under water. The current was deceptively fast. For those of you who haven't read my reports before, we set up a 10 lb Rock wrapped in wire as our breakaway weight and tow it out to the desired location with a kayak. It was hard to go upstream at all due to the current. I dropped anywhere from 50 to 60 ft of water and our weights didn't settle until they got downstream and hit up against the shallow areas. They all seemed to stay in that 50 to 60 ft range and didn't go shallow.

Our first bite came at 8am. My buddy got his first sturgeon and our first oversize sturgeon. 70 inches. The internet says that is 70 to 90 lbs. We dropped that closer to shore on a 60 ft deep gash. It's around 30 to 40 ft all around this 60 ft gash. You really have to know the area find it but my assumption is that it's a good spot for the sturgeon to hide from the current for a little bit. I marked sturgeon all around this gash right on the edge of a 40 ft drop to the 60 ft drop.

It was a great day for seeing these things on the down scan. I saw full body profiles, I saw triangular heads, I saw them body twisting. I was very thankful for all of this because I didn't want to venture all over the area with the kayak.

The next bite we had came along the walls of that 0 shaped flat downstream. We were a little worried because every single one of our poles failed to really set into the bottom and our bait might not be on bottom. But it seems to be fine. This bite came at 12:30 p.m. Unfortunately we were in the process of resetting all of our poles and by the time we noticed the line screaming out of the reel he had spooled us. I grabbed the rod and proceeded to set the hook like a muscle builder trying to pull an airplane. Luckily I landed on my back no injuries. Snapped the line on the hookset so I had enough to be butt hurt over. We pulled out at 3pm.

What worked:
Herring and squid candy
Good booze
Good tunes

What didn't work:
Nothing failed us. Often times with sturgeon fishing it's just a matter of getting your bait in the right spot.

---