Sturgeon Fishing!

[tearin' lips]

Sturgeon action has been very good the last few days. Many big sturgeon are being caught at the mouth of the Littlefork and Bigfork rivers. Was out today and had one measure in at 57 with a 22 inch girth. Not out largest fish, but still a nice fish. If you are looking for some giants now is the time!

Remember harvest season closes today, May 7th!

Good Luck Fishing Everyone!

[Random guy]

I heard the Sturgeon where on a pretty good tear in that neck of the woods. I caught a "little 48" (57" WOW) Sturgeon a couple of weeks ago and I'm still in awe of the fight those fish have. They never give you a rest like a big Musky or Lake Trout that will run in spurts. The Sturgeon just keep on trucking never resting for a second.

Definetly worth the trip to hook into one of those monsters.

[tearin' lips]

A forty eight nice fish. Anything that starts to push the low to mid forties is a nice fighter. I also respect the fish for its ability to fight. Maybe a really big lake or muskie would be different, but for no the sturgeon is the

hardest fighting fish that I have caught. Unfortunately it looks like I won't get one to smoke this spring. They are absolutely great smoked!

My personal best is one that hit 60, but we have boated some 61-63 inch fish. Two friends of mine were fishing Tuesday at the mouth of the Littlefork and they hooked into one that they said would have went 7'. Moments after they saw the fish it proceded to strip a couple hundred feet of line off of the spool and there was nothing that they could do about it!

[icefishingdude]

The fishing this past sunday was insane. I bet Me and a buddy saw a dozen fish over 45 caught and released. It's amazing to see people release these monsters, since they are 20 plus years old when you get one that size. The biggest we caught was a 60" 27" girth sturg that pulled my boat around the river before we got him in the boat, heck of a time...estimated her at 68lbs.....a boat beside us all weekend was video taping them and I bet they caught 20 over the weekend. No other fishing compares.

[fiskyknut]

Yepper the bite was pretty good again this past week on the lower river too, and the Birchdale area was as well I heard from a friend. Wish I would've got one in the 'slot' to smoke though, oh well maybe next year!

fiskyknut

[Laker_taker]

Captain me and eric went out today, wednesday i think, for about 2.5 hours and ended up with 5. 2 50's, 46, 43, and a 38. a few suckers and a mooneye in the mix as well. erics rod snapped in half on a big one when it tryed to go under the boat. it was very funny, i almost was rolling on the bottom of the boat for that. the 50 i caught must have been snagged in a gill net from the indians over in canada it had scars all over its body and all the fins had deep cuts in them, fresh too. we are goin again on friday if you are in town, so call me.

[tearin' lips]

Wow, fantastic fishin' der buddy! I would have loved to have been there when the big white Eagle Claw broke. I would have been laughing harder than you were! Hoping to get into town around five, so unfortunately I don't think I will be able to make it. I am looking to hit the river saturday after work, or Black Bay depending on how a couple friends of ours do in there tomorrow. Good Luck and we'll talk to ya later dude!

[berfish]

Even if the season is closed can you still fish for sturgeon? Did it for the first time last year and it was one of the coolest things I have done. Coming back this year sometime.

[tearin' lips]

When the season is closed the season is closed, there can be no intentional catching of sturgeon during the closed time frame. Exceptions are catching one on accident when you are walleye fishing etc... There are two designated catch and release seasons. May 8 - May 15...and October 1 - April 23. Harvest and catching season starts again on July 1 and goes through September 30.

Good Luck Fishing!!!

[berfish]

Thanks for the quick reply. I thought that was how the law was stated. But with all the people talking about catching them I misunderstood. I was up last year in august and got into the smaller ones. It was a blast though!

[tearin' lips]

Not a problem! I like how even the small ones put up quite a fight!

[blackdog]

A few years ago, field and stream put out an article on the top 100 hardest fighting freshwater fish in the world. Sturgeon was the only north american fish to make that list and it went some where in about number 70.

[tearin' lips]

What happened to the lake trout and smallies I wonder?

I read the same article. Pretty interesting stuff.

[berfish]

Coming up late on Friday to sturgeon fish Saturday and Sunday. Fished up by the Boise-Cascade dam last year in early August with good success. Going to try that area again. Can you still get a boat from the International Falls access up to the dam? Also, does anyone have an opinion or info on campsites closest to the river access on the west side of town? Thanks. Cant wait.

[tearin' lips]

Beerfish,

Yeah, you can still get up behind the dam really easy, its not that shallow yet. The best part is, they are catching quite a few sturgeon too up behind the dam.

The only two campgrounds I can think of are Arnolds(which is your closest) and Voyaguer RV park which is on the left hand side of the road just before you get to town. Both are clean and both have reasonable rates and are owned by good people. Both also have full hook up. If you want to be close to the lake so you can fish the lake too, Birch Point Camp is the one for you. The only problem is that it is not full hookup, but they do have really clean facilities.

Hope this helped and have a great time!

[berfish]

Thanks for the info. I think we stayed at Camp Idelwood or something like that last year. It really doesn't matter what the campsite looks like because we are there for sleeping only. I just want to contact them to see if I can reserve a spot because we won't get up there until midnight on Friday since we have to drive from the cities and our boat owner doesn't get off until 6pm . Good to hear they are gettin em. Does anyone ever get any huge ones up by the dam. Last year we got over 50 fish but the biggest was 48" and the average was 34", don't get me wrong that was the best fishing I have had for big game fish, but was wondering if they ever do get any hogs.

[JKing]

We were up Sturgeon fishing for the 1st time out of the public access at Pelland. My cousin wound up catching 4 between 36" & 38". It was pretty cool to see them surfacing & jumping out of the water. One jumped straight out of the water with its whole body about 6" off of the surface. What are they going after when they surface? I've always thought of them as a bottom feeder & am curious what they are going after at the surface.

I am also curious as to what times of day they bite best? We mainly fished between 10:00a.m. & 3:30p.m. Do they bite better toward evening or in the morning?

This was our 1st time Sturgeon fishing & were kind of surprised that we caught some. Looking for a little advise so we can give it another try.

John

[Sandee]

I have read that is part of the "mating" ritual. Researching the internet on sturgeon, some sites state the male circles the female and does the "jump" out of the water. Nice display for the little lady huh?

[tearin' lips]

Beerfish,

I know there are hogs behind the dam I have seen a few roll in the summertime, but I have been able to catch is smaller sturgeon, much like you have caught in that deep hole. a little further downstream I have caught larger fish on the sandbar north of the mill, between the islands, and in front of the dock. All of these have been caught accidentally fishing 'eyes. The largest went 56".

Jking,

From what I have heard they just play when they surface. They don't feed due to the position of their mouth. But sturgeon have been found to be alot like dolphins. They like the touch and feel of something petting them. Another thing that they do is try to get lampreys and such off of them. There is a good bite in the morning and evening, they do bite all day though. I have even caught them at midnight to three o'clock in the morning! I look towards channels and deeper holes in the river. Sturgeons favorite forage during the summer months are crawfish. When you can find areas where crawfish will be you will find sturgeon. I like to use canned crawfish, but crawlers and/or chunks of shiners and ciscos do just as well.

Hope this helps, if you have anymore specific questions I will be happy to try and answer them for you!

[JKing]

Thanks for the info. I gues my cousin made it out again last weekend & was able to get into 5 more sturgeon around 30" or less. He said they changed to a little smaller hook & were able to get into some walleye and small mouths also.

We were using a 4/0 hook on a 20" leader & then a 3 oz. chain sinker. Is that about right if just targetting sturgeon? I realize the smaller hooks would help get into some other fish but how small is too small where it wouldn't hold a bigger sturgeon?

Thanks again for the info.

[tearin' lips]

Sounds about good. The only thing that I do differently is shorten the leader if there is a lot of current. I also use triangle weights that can be found at the outdoorsmans headquarters in town.

[big musk411]

How does the sturgeon fishing compare now or in the next month or so to during April? I had a great time in April and don't know if I can hold out untill next year . What about fall sturgeons? Do the fish still go for crawlers all year long, do you have to switch it up? Just looking to do some catch and release fishing.

[berfish]

Fished saturday all day long up by the dam. Got about 30 sturgeon. Mostly small. 5 were over 32". Biggest was half inch under 40". It was nice out and we had a blast. I was with three guys who had never seen a sturgeon. Fished where the Little Fork dumps in on sunday. Got no sturgeon but got some nice eyes. Only fished for about an hour and a half.

Arnolds Campground was nice and easy to find. Thanks again Tearin' Lips

[tearin' lips]

Beerfish, Good to hear that you had a great time.

Big Musk411,

The sturgeon fishing in April is always going to be better than the sturgeon fishing in the summer and into fall. The fish in the spring are concentrating at the mouths of the rivers and creeks and, as a general rule, are bigger. That is not to say that you cannot catch the sturgeon in the summertime.

As for bait crawlers work well year round, but in July and into August I really like to use canned crawfish if I can find them. Crawfish become plentiful as the summer rolls on and become the primary forage for sturgeon. Places where crawfish will congregate will also draw sturgeon.

As far as the fall fishing. They still bite well, as with other fish they put on the feedbag, but not to the extent that walleyes, smallies, northerns, etc do.

[Sandee]

We use to record many sturgeons caught in October on the Rainy River, near the Clementson area. Walleye anglers would get quite frustrated with them and they would move their location, if anchored. We use to find that once you pulled a sturgeon or two from the area, you could get back to walleye. If water levels are low and the current is slow, northern will also pester your hook.

We did have an angler hook a huge sturgeon from the dock using an 8" jointed rapala, so sturgeon are not strickly bottom feeders, especially when the water is thick with shiners!

[big musk411]

Thanks for the resopnses guys. I think I'll stick to the spring sturgeon fishing.