Spring sturgeon questions.

[MinDak Hunter]

I don't want to come off as sacrilegious but I'd rather fish for big sturgeon than walleyes this year.

If you only had 3-4 days to fish this year and knowing what you know now (weather, water temps...) what days would you shoot for to schedule a trip? I see that the water temps are still in the low 30's at Manitou Rapids, what temps should I be looking for? I've tried sturgeon fishing a couple times but we've only hooked up with a couple fish so I'm just looking for some advise.

I've looked back on many of the pages and tried to research this but thought I'd throw it out there to the forum too.

[gixxer01]

The few times I've been up, it seems the sturgeon coincide perfectly with the walleye. From what I can tell, that 40-45* mark is where its at. It also appears that the sturgeon window lasts longer, so if you could find a time where flows are manageable and debris is limited, that'd be the time to go. Although, I doubt they are concerned with low water clarity.

[JacobG]

Under the species forums, sturgeon, there is some great advice. Another fellow angler and forum user asked a similar question. Darren, Dtro, and myself offered some good info. Even I learned a thing or two and ive been doing this for 13 years now.

With concerns of the water temps, the best fishing, bar none, is right now. soon as you can get a boat in the water and are able to fish the most likely areas, your good.

Ill be up this wed thru sat. cant wait!

[bassbuster1]

In my opinion ,when four mile bay opens up the sturgeon head into the river ,in droves.There are fish that stay in the river all year long,Once the sturgy leave low they are headed up stream to the Littlefork river for spawning obviously not all the fish spawn in the Littlefork,but this is where the Dnr net most of the fish for study.With that being said , I would plan a trip (this year) around the last week in April 1st week in May.The river should have fish all up and down the river giving you lots of options of where to access the river .One place that is overlooked is the dam it can hold a lot of fish and some big ones too.

Bb1

[DTro]

The best bite always happens a few days before you see pictures and reports posted here.

Honestly there is never a bad time to Sturgeon fish on the river.

I've talked to a few guys that hit it hard, and they like to follow the open water as it moves out to the lake.

The worst bite I've had up there was 2010 (I think) when the water was super high and muddy and you needed 15oz to stay down. The ONLY place we could find fish was quite a ways out into the bay hugging the Canadian line. Timing means a lot in the spring and I would suggest avoiding the rush of water from the forks. Before or after, doesn't really matter, but if the rush happens during your trip you might have a tough go of it.

[MinDak Hunter]

Thanks for the advice, I'm hoping to make at least one trip up in the near future.

[Random guy]

The worst bite I've had up there was 2010 (I think) when the water was super high and muddy and you needed 15oz to stay down.

Those were sad times indeed. Double anchors to hold the boat and downrigger balls with releases to hold the bait down.

[CANOPY SAM]

I've often wondered if the lake sturgeon coincide their run up river along with the walleyes because of the abundance of eggs/food available, as the walleyes are spawning?

Don't get me wrong here. Not bashing sturgeon. They've coexisted for thousands of years and done just fine. I would think though that there are literally bajillions of walleye eggs drifting into the deep holes of the river at this time of year, and the hungry sturgeon are enjoying the bounty.