I'm thinking of trying out sturgeon fishing since steelheading is so slow. I need some advice on terminal tackle.

I understand that mostly shakers are being caught, which is okay with me. I'll probably fish down by Trojan Power Plant. So what size line, hooks, weight will I need? My partner's got a bunch of frozen smelt left over from last year, will this be okay for bait?

Thanks for any info you're willing to share.

If you've fished by Trojan before You might know how fast that water is. You better have a rocker anchor and 300' of rope.
If you fish above or below you can use a Danforth ,or as I call them a sand anchor.
I use 30 lb mono or 65 lb tough line.7/0 hooks,and 80lb dacron leader.You can get by with smaller.Thats just my preference.
The smelt should be fine.I thread mine up then kinda smash em up a bit so the meat kinda flakes off.Puts more scent in the water.Or cut the heads and tales off.
If your fishing fast water,use a short leader.1' or less. Slow water you can go up to 1 1/2'-3'
I always use scent.Shrimp gel,or for some reason garlic scent works real well there.Sometimes I will fill my smelt full of the shrimp gel.Then coat my leader with the garlic.Or vice versa. I've also had good luck with sand shrimp.and always bring 3-4 cartons along just in case.
During slack tide in the flats you can get away with 6-8 oz of lead up to 16oz when its running.Down below in the deep hole.100' + deep maybe 8-10 oz at slack,and I've gone as high as 32oz when running.
I drive by there to work and back everyday,and it looks like its running pretty hard so be prepared.
The water looks likes its been pretty calm,but the wind can pick up and make it ruogh in a hurry.
I would think you should do pretty good.Don't be afraid to move around.
Anymore ? let me know.
Rick

Geez, I feel kind of naive. I knew sturgeon got big, but didn't realize it took line quite that heavy to fish with. Nor did I realize that I needed weight that heavy to stay on the bottom. Will I be able to get away with a heavy action rod like a Lamiglas Kenai model? My partner's got some Ugly Sticks, maybe that would be better. Or should I pick up a heavy duty fiberglass boat rod?

I read somewhere that sturgeon are light biters. Do I need to rig the weight sliding? And what about those sand shrimp; do you string a bunch on like smelt?

Thanks again.

I was down by the Trojan nuke plant this weekend, at Prescott Beach park. I'm a bank fisherman, so what I use is a little different than a boater.

I use a big 15 foot surf rod with a spool of 60 lb. braid on a big Daiwa spinning reel. My combo is a slider with a 6-8 oz pyramid and a 18" leader with a barbless hook. I bait my line with smelt and plenty of either sand shrimp or anise gel.

Happy plunkin'!

The ugly sticks would definitely work.The lamiglass ought to be fine. I have a 10' 6' Lami Westcoaster that I use that can be pretty fun.When fishing the shallows or slack tide.
You could probably get by with 20-25lb line I just like to be prepared for the occasional big one. Part of the reason for the heavy line is that sturgeon tend to roll a lot when hooked.The scuts on the sides of them are pretty sharp and can cut and fray your line pretty good.I never fish with a lighter leader partly for that reason.
I also like to use a slider. You can get away with hooking your weight to the snap on the slider about anywhere but the Trojan hole itself. Down there I would use about a 6-10 dropper of 15lb test.You can also rig Bonneville style and it works pretty good there.(tie your dropper into the same eye as your mainline)
They can be real light biters,but usually its pretty noticable and hard to miss. Last year at this time I had a lot of them pick up my bait and just take off.Did'nt even see a bite.
With the sand shrimp I usually put on a couple then wrap them good with stretch thread.On your last wrap just run the thread over the the top of your fingers and pull the end through and tight.It will work pretty good.
I like fishing below the island,thats straight across from the launch.Or maybe better yet,up by the wing dams and channel markers just upriver from the launch.Also good fishing at Martins bluff about a mile or two upriver and on the east side. There is no shortage of good sturgeon water so look where the boats are and you'll see lots of other places to try.