Sturgeon Fishing and Bait?

[CatManLee]

I'm a fairly successful Sturgeon fisherman. My biggest has only been around 37lb's, but I have caught alot of them. When I chase Sturgeon, I always use the same bait...Crawlers!

I usually try and cram atleast 3 big juicy night crawlers on my hook, toss the slip rig out near a "honey hole" and waste away the day waiting for fish.

Anyways, here's my question.

I hear of people using "scent" or dipping the bait in something for added smell? What are we talking about here?

Is it a Crawfish scent, blood bait, cheese, etc? If you don't want to give away your family secret, that's fine. I just wanted to see what everyone else uses, besides Crawlers.

And I know certain people use minnows, but are these as productive as Crawlers? How about cutbait?

Come on Sturgeon Pro's...let's hear it.

If you don't want to tell everyone here your secrets, feel free to e-mail me. - [email protected]

[Hibbing]

In the past I've dipped my crawlers in )(*&))*&* and also spray them with %$#@#%%$. For cut bait I like to use %$##&!:):)

[LEECH21]

Haha

[RIVER RAPTOR]

I don't know about Sturgeon but on other Species of fish good ole' WD-40 has worked...try that.

RR

[LocalGuide]

"old" is the key word... Its because of the fish oil in it..

Anything is good and couldnt really hurt.

[fiskyknut]

Catmanlee, go back a few pages to a post from last spring titled "Sturgeon out of Baudette", I spill the beans on what most local anglers I know, myself included will use scent-wise.

Think sprimg......fiskyknut

[CatManLee]

Thanks Fisky.

It's amazing how tight lipped some fisherman are. It's like they think everyone else will catch all the fish if they say anything! Oh well, what can you do? I will still share any and all info I can on ANY topic if it means helping other fisherman. , but thats just me.

I'll look back at the older posts, thanks.

WD-40? Really? I've heard that before, but never thought much about it, I always thought it was just an "old Tale".

[deepportage01]

I use a large c hook with a cut up chub you can get them at morres in brainerd on your way up let them thaw befor use. no wd-40 unless your reel needs it.

[CatManLee]

You use circle hooks? I like circle hooks for cat fishing, but have never tried them with Sturgeon. I've always wondered if they would work well with the sturgeons mouth?

Or did I get the "C" Wrong...

I'm heading up to the Rainy this Saturday (4/8) to chase some Sturgeon. I'm probably going to launch at Vidas, just to the East of Clementson. I would try around 4-mile bay, but don't want to deal with all the boat traffic. As long as the river doesn't have too much debris (Huge ice chunks, etc) That's my plan.

If anyone else is going to be up, feel free to stop and say hi. I'll be in a maroon Skeeter set up for cat fishing. I'm sure I'll stay within a couple miles of the Clementson area.

[SM1]

Circle hooks do work great. They are ususally what I use- try one.

[deepportage01]

yes circle hooks are the ticket the biger the better

[CatManLee]

WOW, I could get a bunch of crawlers on a 10/0 Circle hook! Do they usually hook up in the mouth or is it on the lip/suction part?

I'm also curious, do you get alot of Sturgeon that drop the bait before they get hooked? I've always thought they were kind of spooky biters.

[deepportage01]

when they bight they bight. very rarly do i loose any fish once they take the bait i think they just suck it in. usuly they are hooked up in the sucker 3-4 inches[mouth]. i started runing c hooks 3 years ago becuse every time we would get one with any size it would just destroy a normal hook. our catch rate also went up once we switched

[hanson]

CatMan-

I just stumbled across this. I'll be up there in 2 weeks fishing them buggers.

IMO, ditch them darn circles for sturgeon. The sturgeon I have caught in the past tend to be very light biting. You'll either see your line move or your rod tip twitch, which means its time to pick up the rod and feel for the bite. This is no time to have a circle hook tied on.

Circles work best when a fish grabs your bait and swims off with it hard. Your Red River channel cats would be a good example of this. Pike through the ice aren't too bad either. You need to stop the progress of the hook by holding the line and let the fish swim off, which causes the hook to pull out of its mouth, catch on its lip, rotate, and set itself. Easy eh?

Any time a fish moves cross current or upstream, which a sturgeon will do, a circle hook will be at a disadvantage. The fish needs to be pulling away from you good to get an easy circle hook set.

[deepportage01]

catman,clicker reels and c hooks is what i was taught out on a guided trip on the columbia river and those guys out there are pros when it comes to sturgeon fishing.c hook also work very well when you use a lot of weight 6oz or more the fish only has to move the length of your leader 1-2ft some times less befor the hook is in. you are right the fish has to be moving away to get hooked. but when you say works best when swim away hard these fish are always swiming hard there 10-150lbs and it wont take much if a fish over 25lbs swims away with the bait.sorry to disagre with you catman but ditch them darn c hooks for sturgeon come on i would rather ditch the bait.

[Hibbing]

We've tried the circle hooks in several different sizes and were totally disappointed. Many missed hook-ups. The best seems to be the old fashioned Kalee hooks.

JP

[gorrilla]

You guys probably already know this, but for those who don't the trick to good hook-ups on circle hooks is NOT to set the hook. Just reel up tension and keep reeling. If you jerk it before the hook point grabs mouth you'll just pop it out. The greatness of a circle hook is that it needs a corner or edge to hook up, so even if you let them accidentally eat too long it should still slide out the mouth until it contacts the corner or in this case the cartilage-like sucker... and then GAME-ON!!!!

[CatManLee]

Hanson, That is the same thing I was thinking. When I'm cattin, I don't touch the rod till the tip has been touching the water for an hour !

I think the best way to use a circle hook with sturgeon would be to slowly pull tight as your getting bit, thats the only way I can see Circle hooks working with Sturgeon. I could be wrong, it's happened before! I'm not saying the guys on the Columbia don't know anything, but maybe the fish there bite different? As I said in a previuos post "Most" of my Sturgeon from the Rainy have bit light.

Hanson are you going to be up for the "Sturgeon Excursion"? I'm going to be up then too, but wanted to get out before then once.

Has anyone said what Marine Band Channel we are going to be on that weekend? I usually miss the "Get-Together" Parts of these, but I'll be on the water someplace.

I just picked up 6-Dozen Crawlers today. I hope the fish are hungry!

[hanson]

CatMan-

Yes I will. We're coming up Friday morning, fishing Friday afternoon, Saturday, and maybe some Sunday morning. Staying at Schuster's of course.

I'm going to be with Papa Grump & dtro from the forums here. We'll be in Papa Grump's RiverPro which is the In-Fish crew's old boat. Its a little smaller than Rusty's and has the console moved up front. It should be pretty easy to find.

I think I gave you my cell # earlier this winter. E-mail me if you want it again.

[wareagle]

Hanson - I wouldn't give up on the ol' circle hooks just yet. I started using them when I was living in FL and fished off-shore and from the beach. Believe me, the first time I used circle hooks I was setting up a storm and the boat captain was getting pretty pissed with all the missed bites. Once I retrained my brain to reel and sweep my rod I seldom missed a fish after that. I've used 4/0 circle hooks for sturgeon the last 3 years and have had about a 90 - 95% hook-up rate. Also, you never have to worry about gut hooking these awesome fish!!

I'll actually be up there fishing the weekend of the "Sturgeon Excursion" and may swing by Schuster's for a brew or two. A friend of mine is fishing the "excursion" and staying at Schuster's as well.

Joe

[hanson]

I haven't given up on circle hooks, in fact I love them but it has to be the right situation to use them. All of my channel cat fishing this spring so far has been with circle hooks with a very, very good hook-up ratio. Corner of the mouth every time as well.

My sturgeon fishing experience is still pretty limited. However, my experience was with very, very light biting fish. We had very good luck with regular Gamakatsu Octopus hooks. I'm not doubting that the circles won't work, I just don't have confidence in them yet for sturgeon fishing.

[pelicanlanding]

Major ice flows all night big fork must of let loose

hopefully river will clear uo in a week

[tearin' lips]

I've used circle hooks all my life for sturgeon. Growing up in the falls sturgeon fishing has been a tradition for me in the spring. In the years fishing with circle hooks I have had 95-98% hook up on sturgeon with them. I have caught sturgeon as small as twenty inches and as large as 68 on circle hooks. Just my experience. I also know of people who swear by regular hooks. Maybe its just a matter of preference and what we have been brought up using.

[Sandee]

And the levels are also receding, even at the Manitou. Possible that anglers can get in some spring fishing yet on the Rainy River, it's open through next Friday. Depending on the clarity now, it could be mid-week for clearer water. I have seen reports of 4-6" of clarity this last week. Walleyes are going to be really hungry too!

[Wiskers]

Hint, try some of that TOP SECRET dip powder bait. When you get it wet it turns to gell and stays on pretty darn good.. I get worm flavor, maggot flavor and shad flavor among many others. This seems to get the fish on the crawlers a bit faster.

Happ y fishing

[LEECH21]

Wiskers, were you out on Four-Mile Bay on Sunday? If so we saw you reeling them in one after another. What's the secret? Were you using scent on your bait? If you don't want to give up any secrets I understand.

[uffdapete]

I talked to a guy yesterday who lives in Loman on the Black river and he said the ice just cleared out of that.

[pelicanlanding]

Leech how did you do sturgeon fishing any walleyes did you just fish four mile or did you fish up the river as well. I plan to try the river towards end of week.

Thanks Ken

[Bruce Mosher]

My son Max and I were fishing with Rusty (Wiskers) on Sunday in the Bay and we caught 18 Sturgeon. The Biggest caught by Max (age 11) was 53". It was a blast. We were using Night Crawlers and would even put an extra shiner minnow on with the Crawlers. Rusty and Max were also using the Dip bait. Seemed to work well too. Bruce Mosher

[Tyler Holm]

I'm new to Sturgeon Fishing and have a few questions for anybody who cares to help. I have read several articles and still haven't found the answers to the questions at the link below. Thanks for your help.

Sturgeon Questions