Should You Book a Salmon or Sturgeon Charter in Portland?

The Portland, Oregon area is an angler’s paradise, a unique urban hub where two of the world’s most incredible rivers—the Willamette and the mighty Columbia—converge. These waters are home to two of the most sought-after gamefish in North America: the powerful, high-flying Salmon and the colossal, prehistoric Sturgeon.

If you’re looking to book a Portland fishing charter, you’re faced with a fantastic choice: Do you chase the chrome torpedoes of the Pacific, or do you test your mettle against a living dinosaur?

The point isn’t to determine the “better” fish, but to assist in determining the “better” adventure for you. Let us deconstruct the salmon vs sturgeon charter experience so you can make your ideal day on the water.

The Battle: Acrobatic Sprinter vs. Heavyweight Brawler

The real reason you choose one over the other is the battle. Selecting one is no different than choosing the type of prize fight you like the best.

A Salmon is the river’s sprinter. When a Chinook or Coho salmon takes the bait, the reaction is electric and immediate. The fight is a series of blistering, high-speed runs that can strip hundreds of feet of line from your reel in the blink of an eye. They are notorious for changing direction on a dime, shaking their heads violently, and launching their entire silver bodies into the air. It’s a dynamic, heart-pounding battle that demands quick reactions and finesse.

A Sturgeon, by contrast, is the undisputed heavyweight titleholder. The first bite can be unexpectedly gentle, but then comes the revelation of pure, raw power. Hooking a large sturgeon is like grabbing the bottom of the river, until the bottom begins to move.

The battle goes the way of a deep, ancient tug-of-war, a trial by leverage and endurance. The giants will often remain down low and utilize their huge weight and the surging current to their benefit. While they do and will come flying up out of the water in a dramatic demonstration of their strength, the nature of the battle is a prolonged test of wills that can persist for the better part of an hour.

The Bounty: Valuable Fillets or a Picture-Perfect Memory?

Your reason for taking the trip makes a difference. Are you wanting to stock the freezer full of the world’s finest-tasting fish, or are you after the experience of the catch?

A salmon trip is about harvest. Because hatchery efforts have been successful, any salmon an angler catches can usually be kept. Nothing can compare to the experience of wrestling a large King Salmon and then sharing the delicious, rich fillets for weeks to come with family and friends. It’s a payoff that is exciting in the moment and tasty for weeks to come.

A sturgeon trip, however, is almost entirely catch-and-release. The massive, trophy-class fish you’ll be targeting are protected and must be returned to the river to fight another day. The reward here is the fight itself, the connection to a creature that has been swimming in these waters since the age of the dinosaurs, and the incredible photos of you next to a fish that can easily be longer than you are tall.

Timing Your Adventure

Your calendar can help you too. While there’s a fair amount of overlap, they each reach their prime time.

There are waves to the salmon runs. Spring Chinook, the “Springers,” are the prize for the months March to May. The “June Hogs” come in the summertime. The activity peaks from August to October for the huge fall Chinook and Coho runs.

Trophy sturgeon fishing gets in the groove during May until early fall. That is when the river has hordes of baitfish and the larger sturgeon are on the bite, giving the greatest chance to hook up to a real river monster. That leaves a fantastic time period from late spring until early fall when both fisheries are red hot.

The Angler’s Paradox: The “Great Problem to Have”

So, how does one choose? Adrenaline-fueled, acrobatic fight of a salmon in the prospect of a delicious harvest? Or the back-holding, ultimate test of strength and endurance in an actual freshwater titan?

Choosing between these two world-class experiences is a good problem to have. But what if you didn’t have to decide?

For the majority of our anglers, the answer is our Salmon & Sturgeon Combo Charter. The charters enable you to experience the thrill of trolling for salmon and the raw power of wrestling sturgeon in one day. The charter has become so popular in the spring for a reason. Call us to learn how to book this Portland fishing trip to remember.