"one week to go"

[pike69]

Thanks for all the help guy's, Heres my plan..My wife and I will leave next sun. nite or monday morning for our three day trip..we will stay in drayton(i don't think pembina has a motel?)I'm going to use shrimp,frogs,crawlers and suckers, Does anyone know what kind of bait you can find in drayton?? We are going to try the 175 bridge north a few miles and pembina. I always seem to catch much bigger cats at nite so i think we will fish in the afternoon,nite and morning(sleep during the day)Someone from work told me there is big,big pike in the red? anyone know if this is true and if so anyone ever fish them? Heres a little story for you guys-About 6 years ago i went 4-5 miles north of drayton in late june or early july. the river was about 30 feet deep and i anchored in 14 feet on the dakota side. caught a few cats,one was 15 and one was 24 but action was slow....Then it happened...I hooked a fish that felt like a big cat mabey 15-20 or so and got it to the boat only it stayed on the bottom. I was fishing with my 7' ugly stick with 40 pound braided line(now i just use 20-30 pound spider wire)anyway i tried for about 20 min. to move this fish and it would not move off the bottom, It just kept swimming around never getting more than 50 feet away from the boat. After 20 min i cranked my drag all the way and pulled up like crazy, It came up like dead weight about mabey 5 feet off the bottom then it went back down fast,I tried to hold it then all the sudden i was floating down the river.the fish got tangled in the anchor rope after that and after a short fight with the anchor rope the line broke off. At that time i did not know that there are no flatheads or blue's in the red so i thought it was a giant cat.now i know different..I met another boat on the way back that morning(hooked fish around 2 am)and one of the guy's told me that it was a sturgeon and if i wasnt able to move it,I didnt want to see it? so thats what i thought i hooked, Untill last year i had someone tell me there are no sturgeon in the red(mabey ill never know but i think a sturgeon is the only answer).....Catmanlee....22nd or 29th sounds [email protected]

[hanson]

Great story!

More than likely a Sturgeonfish!

[Scoot]

Yep, I'd go with the hansonator on this one. Sounds just like a sturgy. Did it ever roll on you? When they roll your rod tip will "jump", almost as if someone is plucking your line really hard about five feet down from the surface. They don't always do that, but it's pretty common. Whether it rolled or not, it sure sounds like a sturgeon. Bet that was a fun ride...

[iffwalleyes]

There is one tiny hotel in Pembina I think they have 4 units but typically it is tough to get a room there. Hallock has a nice super 8 that is about a 1/2 drive to Pembina from there.

[pike69]

Het scoot, I dont know if this fish rolled or not but i can tell you this it's head shakes when i would try to lift it were very powerfull and seemed to pull down rather than side to side....I seen a guy on kabetogama land a 54" sturgeon while fishing eye's...the fight was not too much different than an average musky or large pike..the fish i hooked was very big, when I cranked my drag and lifted it I had to put my knees on the side of the boat to keep balance and when it went back down it was fast and pulled eveything straight,my arms and rod, then it had no trouble freeing my anchor(dont know if it tangled before it pulled free or not)There is no doubt in my mind the fish was big, My thought is 100++ or even 150++,,Is that possible in the red.....The other fisherman i spoke to on the way back told me that if i couldnt lift it I didnt want to see it, almost like he knew what he was talking about....The fish bit on shrimp(fresh shrimp)Anyway i have heard catman speak of some nice pike at the dam in TRF..Going to fish 175 bridge north to where that river hit's the red, Do you think it would be worth while to try some in the red? Later

[hanson]

I've caught quite a few sturgeon (intentionally) in my life and it sure sounds like thats what you were up against. For the most part, you cannot lift a sturgeon off the bottom until they are ready to come. Even with my heavy cat rods, Garcia 7000s, 80lb superline, I have to sit and wait while applying the pressure to them. A sturgeon in the 30-40 pound range will give you a solid 10 minute, backaching fight. They like to slowly circle around the boat while constantly hugging the bottom. A 50-70lb fish will give you a half hour battle on the heaviest of cat gear.