Eli Rico, operator of Hot Shot Guide Service, turned to the left before he made his first cast. Then looked to the right. Finally, he twisted his head, peeked over his left shoulder and heaved his bait 20 yards in front of the boat.

Guide Eli Rico has some tricks up his sleeve for getting past the vast numbers of short sturgeon and into the keepers. Photo by Chris Shaffer.

"Man, it's a busy day on the river," he said. "We'd better get our lines in the water."

Rico was kidding. There wasn't another boat in sight. Anchored in the middle of the Columbia River, we could see plenty of cars speeding along the highway, but no boats.

"The main reason is because it's underfished," Rico says. "There's not a lot of pressure. Most people target the areas they are informed about, which is from Bonneville down to the mouth."

They're missing out! The section of the Columbia River between Bonneville and The Dalles can produce non-stop action on sturgeon during spring. And anglers don't have to deal with crowds. While many local anglers know how productive it can be, Bonneville Pool's sturgeon fishery is one of the most overlooked waters in the Northwest. Yet it's a destination where anglers in the know have a legitimate chance at hooking dozens of sturgeon per outing.

"On a good day, per rod, you can expect to average about five hits per hour," Rico said. "You'll get a lot of hits. You won't necessarily hook that many fish, but you'll get a lot of bites. A lot of times, the smaller fish will sit there and nibble on your baits for a long time and won't actually take it. Sometimes you really have to pay attention to the rod to know when to set the hook."

In spring, sturgeon in this stretch of the Columbia are on the feed. When positioned properly from a boat, anglers can expect to hook up with lots of sturgeon, many of which will be undersized.

The tough part about this fishery is that it's overwhelmed with undersized fish, and there's just no way to deter them from biting. To tap into some larger legal or oversized fish, you'll simply have to sift through the small ones and release dozens of smaller sturgeon. It's just part of the game, which could be part of the reason why many anglers avoid fishing here. On the other hand, if you're looking for lots of action, you couldn't pick a better place.

"They haven't had much of a food source from the winter to the early spring, so they are hungry," Rico explained. "Once the smelt come up and spawn and die, that's when they're looking to gorge themselves. They're very competitive when it comes to food. As soon as something gets down there, they are all over it. It usually never takes long to get bit."

This is good, because you get a ton of action. But bad, because — again — many of the fish are undersized. In fact, most of the bites that you'll get will be younger sturgeon. So many nibbles can get annoying, but patience pays off. Plenty of fish fit the legal slot limit, with oversized fish available, too.