10,000 Sturgeon fingerlings

[Chris Haley]

Were released in Red. This will make for some fun fishing in the next 10-20years.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Hope they don't suck up all the crappie and walleye spawn, muck everthing up so you can't see anything icefishing, scare everything off when they come through, tangle up all the lines, get stuck in the iceholes, sink the Titanic when they are sunning...otherwise it sounds good...since we already have Red Octobers, these must be Challengers/Space Shuttles, or Aircraft Carriers, Tankers, Icebergs???!!!

[CatManLee]

Were the Sturgeon released in Red Lake or The Red Lake River? I have been told both, some say the river others say the lake...I don't know who to believe. Do you know what is correct?

[fisherdog19]

I was at the access yesterday on Big Detroit Lake where they released a few thousand sturgeon.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Catman, Another thread has just been posted that gives the Sturgeon stocking info.

[CatManLee]

Thanks, that's the answer I was looking for.

[Mike L]

Lottsa good pics of the release on the Red lake nation website.

[Bassman09]

I attend BSU and the Regional fisheries manager came into my class yesterday and talked about sturgeon restoration projects in the state. for the next 20 years, 100,000 sturgeon will be released into the red lake river each year. As for eating walleye and crappie eggs, a sturgeon's main diet consists mostly on crayfish. they use their noses to lift up rocks and suck up the crayfish that are under those rocks. if they were to base their entire diet on eggs, they wouldn't live very long since the eggs are only available for a short period of time in the spring. In the next 20 years it will be very interesting fishing to be able to catch a 30, 40 or even 50 pound sturgeon while walleye fishing. Good Luck

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Yep, the eggs are only available in the Spring, during spawning, and if the eggs are eaten... produce only big fat Sturgeon...

Increased competiton for crayfish, worms, etc.

An additional 100,000 Sturgeon every year for 20 years, 2,000,000, will have an impact...

Once these reach significant size, nothing will eat them.

There are not enough big Gators to control them, and they wont want those bony things.

They are spending more on these things than was spent for restocking the Walleye.

Three to five years from now, when the Sturgeon have adapted to the Lake, if Walleye reproduction is down, factor in Sturgeon, not nets...

[kelly-p]

100 years ago sturgeon were very well established in Upper and Lower Red as they had been for centuries. They didn't hurt the walleye population then, why would they now? Smarter sturgeon?

I think it is a good deal that they are being re-introduced and hope they make it. Maybe my grandchildren can watch the 100+ pound sturgeon rolling in the shallows like my Father and Grandfather did. I was too young to see that in the past and I'm too old to be there and see it in the future. bummer

[MOBY RICHARD*]

Smarter Sturgeon or maybe Dumber Fisherman...

Anyway, that many will eat plenty of eggs, crayfish, worms etc., and stir up the Lake more than this Forum...

[JBMasterAngler]

It's been about 10 years now since sturgeon have been reintroduced into the ottertail/red river system...they've done quite well, haven't heard anything about them affecting walleyes.

Also, I think 1 windy day on red stirs the water up more than any 1 sturgeon could in it's lifetime.

[MOBY RICHARD*]

1...would't be so bad...

Thousands...every day...???

[Random guy]

I have sent an email requesting info on sturgeon impact on walleye populations to a couple of fishery guys and a fellow at the U of M so we can get some facts before you guys start biting each other.

[hanson]

Here's some interesting reading about the Sturgeon restoration project in the Red River of the North Watershed. There is no reference to Red Lake in this article but it is a small part of the bigger picture.

For those who don't realize, there is a huge effort being put into this and dollars as well. One of the biggest components is removal or replacement of the low head dams on the rivers with rock/riffle dams.

Riverside Dam in Grand Forks has been replaced with a rock/riffle dam already. The lowhead in Crookston has been replaced with a rock/riffle. The lowhead upstream from Crookston is now gone. There are others as well but those are the ones I'm familiar with.

Guess there is more involved in the project than just dumping some baby sturgeon into Red Lake. They have been at this for awhile now but its suddenly becoming an issue because its going to affect Red's walleye population.

Here's the link-

Restoration of Extirpated Lake Sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) in the Red River of the North Watershed