sturgeon... a few questions

[jwmiller33]

Bobby-beanies is the boat launch that is almost right underneath the I 94 bridge that goes over into wisconsin.

Dtro-we have been staying out past dark, but not that late. We have been getting to the river around 5ish. The first night I went out, I got off the water at 10. Last night, we were off at 945. Sounds like next time I go out, I will have to stay much later.

There is plenty of deeper water around the area we have been fishing. There are several spots in the Lake Croix area that get up to 50, 60 and even 70 fow, so I'm not exactly sure how deep is too deep. I thought we would get some fish biting during the light hours too, but maybe the water is still a little too warm for that.

Dtro-have you been fishing further down river? like by the hastings area? i am just wondering if the sturgeon arent concentrated further up river yet because of the warmer water temps

[blakeb]

jake, first, dont look at it as south may be better than north or vise versa, these fish are constantly swimming around, like to the point that they dont stop, so they can move a mile or ten in no time at all.

second dont give up one just has not intersected with you yet, it will happen, there are a bunch of them and the year is young, i got a fairly good spot i will give you if you email. [email protected]

[anordqu42]

I'm only in my 3rd year of sturg fishing but I'm learning a lot...mainly that you can't predict those dinosaurs!

I fished Thursday night 7pm to midnight and we had good action, many fish over 40" with the biggest at 51". I think the fish were really on the move and in pods. We had a fair number of short spurts of 3-4 fish, and I alone had 3 doubles. I know SteveD said they tend to school up later in the year, and it seems to me they already have. Last week we had the same...rarely got one fish without getting another 1 or 2 in less than a few minutes.

Last night we never moved, but also never went more than 30 minutes without action.

Shad/crawler, fathead/crawlers were equal producers.

As stated above...it is a matter of time to find some. My very first time out sturgeon fishing we got 20+ fish. Exactly one week later we went out again, over confident, and got blanked. I learned quickly that you just never know.

[fishuhalik]

got out last night, didnt find em till 1200 and tied into one literally 2 minutes before takeoff, nice little 36" that wrapped around the anchor rope. didnt see much on the sonar till the last spot we tried, in 64 fow.

[jwmiller33]

anordqu-anyway i could email you to ask you a couple more questions? or you can send me a email if you dont want to post yours on here. mine is [email protected]. thanks much

[wildsmallie]

Made it out today, we boated 4 in a few hours--biggest around 40".. Fished in 35'. The larger fish ate a nice strip of delicious sheephead fillet. There were a LOT of fish rolling around us early. Our first spot produced only the sacrificial sheepie, we moved to an area where we graphed more fish on the bottom and started getting bit.

[bobbymalone]

put 25 in the boat last night. fish were biting from about 7pm until well after midnight. lots of smaller fish and couple over 40". 35-40 fow.

[DTro]

Nice Bobby!

It was for sure a great weekend of Sturgie fishing. My biggest was 56, but also got a 50 and 49, and several over 40.

I challenge anyone to beat this 16"er though. I'm pretty proud of it.

[Aaron Carrell]

Anyone interested in taking out a complete sturgeon newbie sometime this fall? I've got my own boat and all, but I don't think I have any of the gear currently (or know-how) to do sturgeon fishing. I'd love to jump in the boat with someone and learn a little, not to mention catch my 1st sturgeon. If anyone's ever looking for someone to come along or just willing to haul me with anyways, shoot me an email and we can talk. acarrell at gmail dot com. Thanks! All this talk and now pictures just sounds too cool.

[Nick Kuhn]

My guess is he hasn't seen the picture of the 74"er from Yellow Lake then...

I'd like to try it, just don't know when I could. I'm pretty sure my musky gear would handle it (though the rod action is probably not slow enough). Do you guys net everything or beyond a certain size do you hand land? My net would be good through 50" but a 60" fish would be pushing it for sure.

[DonBo]

My guess is he hasn't seen the picture of the 74"er from Yellow Lake then...

Or this one caught near Yellow Lake last year...

[jwmiller33]

wow! now that is a hog of a fish! caught from a pontoon too. gotta love that

[jwmiller33]

im heading to the big C store in the morning to get some more tackle for sturgeon... i am going to pick of some gamagatsu circle hooks.. my question is how big should i go? what size do you guys use out there?

also, do you guys prefer to use the no roll style weights or the pyramid style? i have been using 3 and 4 oz no roll weights, but have been having problems with my bait/hook getting tangled/twisted into a mess with the sinker. i have been using my normal line (15lb fireline) as my leader, but after some friendly advice from andy, i am going to pick up some 20lb flurocarbon to use that as my leader. what type of line do you guys typically use as your leader?

[croixflats]

#5 hook. I like a bank sinker 2 to 3 oz, Heck Ive done well with just a 1 oz barrel sinker.

Leader material has never really affected how many fish get in the boat. Last 2 years I used my primary line for the leader witch was #40 power pro and still was successful. If you feel more comfortable with a different leader material nothing wrong with that.

Have not been out this year yet, soon I'm hoping. Looks like the bite is better than last year.

[Solocam Hunter]

The action should pick up, I was in Hudson fishing around 5pm-7pm today in about 16ft of water (according to the St. Croix maps) for catfish and accidentally caught a 4-5 foot sturgeon on a shad. The line snapped about 4 foot from shore. It was clearly a monster to me since I have caught a 4 foot sturgeon before in Eau Claire, WI and this one had to be way bigger. That's want happens when you have a 10 pound setup fishing for big fish. Didn't know they like the stinky fish, but I guess it works...my advice to you is fish somewhere with at least 10ft deep water and has a little current to it.

[DTro]

I like 6/0 circles with a bank sinker (1-2oz) and a little longer leader than I do for catfish (18").

Here's what happens with no rolls in deep water. If you cast out and let it sink with a slack line it helicopters all the way down and you end up with a big ol mess. No matter your sinker style, keep a tight line and let it sink slowly, it will reduce the twisting.

The area we fish is the finest silt you could imagine and if you use too heavy a sinker, or too short a leader, you will actually pull your bait into that silt and bury it.

The single biggest tip I can suggest is use a rod with a very senstive tip, and watch that tip like a hawk, either that or hold your rod. The biggest of fish will be the tiniest of bites. This is especially important if your boat is swinging at all, or bouncing from boat wakes or waves from the wind. The ideal condition for detecting bites is flat calm and a tight line. You do not want that bait moving at all. Every time your sinker is dragged a little bit or picked up, that fine silt is making a big cloudy mess.

When you see that "peck peck", quickly pick up your rod and then slowly start to put tension on the line and allow the circle hook to do it's job. This is where a slow action rod and mono (or mono leader) helps out as well.

[bobbymalone]

i use the exact same set up as dtro... except sometimes i use 5/0 gamakatsu circles rather than 6/0. behind the hook is about a 12-18" of leader (i use 40lb PP) and a 120lb test spro swivel. I use a 1.5 oz bank sinker on a sinker slide.

cast one pole a ways out and fish the other one right under the boat. i put the one that ways out in a rod holder and i hold the one under the boat. almost all my fish were caught on the hand held rod, it is a lot easier to detect bites.

just like catfishin', don't use more weight than you need to stick it to the bottom. i am thinking that 3-4 oz weights are overkill even on hard bottoms where they won't pull the bait into the silt.

[fishuhalik]

anyone got a couple open seats for me and my sister friday night? got all the gear just lacking a boat. shes single if that helps

[maj330]

pimpin for sturg.

[blakeb]

lol shes single, i went out today jake, tried your spot and four others didnt mark fish one breach the water deff. missed a good one leader broke, tip of the day CHECK YOUR GEAR for damage it is the difference between getting one and losing one,

i learn that the hard way from time to time,

caught a couple of sheephead which i assume were the culprit of a couple worm thefts.

tip of the day number two fillet a small sheepie and add a small strip of flesh to your rig the sheephead dont like to eat themselves it seams,

[bobbymalone]

Put 40 or so in the boat last night! Doubles, triples, back to back to back to back to backs, etc. Is it supposed to be easy or am I getting lucky or did I find a couple hot spots?

Also, if your big fish are mid 40s or so should you move to find bigger fish or stay where they are obviously piling up and wait for the big one? I guess I am asking if the really big girls school with the average kinda fish.

The spots I am fishing now are consistently producing 30-40" fish with a handful of outliers on both sides and they produce from about 7pm until early in the morning.

Back at 'em tonight!

[maxpower17]

What general area (city) are you fishing? I'm having similar luck in one spot. The only problem I'm having us getting enough bait.

[bobbymalone]

What general area (city) are you fishing? I'm having similar luck in one spot. The only problem I'm having us getting enough bait.

north of hudson.

crawlers and minnows are the way for me.

[Rick Reisewitz]

How is the boat traffic out there latley? I'd like to get out down there this week but i have a shallow 16 ft jon with a jet and it doesn't like the waves much. Ive been out twice up around copas but it sounds like i have a better chance of getting into numbers then what i have been seeing up there.

[DTro]

Nice Bobby!

We had a good weekend too. Probably got 40-45. I think the biggest was 50 or 51. Several over 45. I would say the average was 35.

What I've found is that if you are getting fish over 40 with a 50+ on occasion you are doing really well on the St Croix.

Those "big" fish are pretty rare, in fact you only hear of a handful of 60's each year. The 56 I caught last weekend was the biggest I've ever caught on the Croix and I've been doing that for about 5 or 6 years now. The big fish just aren't as concentrated as they are in other places like up on the Rainy River. I do believe that the Croix holds just as big as fish, but they are spread out a lot more.

Also, I know lots of big fish are caught on crawlers each year, but I really believe that the bigger ones prefer the shad (or some other sort of minnow).

[bobbymalone]

That's kinda what I was thinking.

Last night was about the same as Saturday... it's gonna be a long day in the office today.

Got a 48 last night which was my biggest yet.

Soooo glad I got a boat this year

[MuskieJunkie]

Good to hear Bobby, I'll be out there Friday and hope that bite is still going.

[muddpuppy]

How do you handle boating these fish? I have never cuaght one or fished for them. I am mainly a Walleye and Panfish kinda guy. My son always talks about catching big Muskie or Northern but I have not been able to put him on them yet. It sounds like the Stugeons are biting pretty good. I was thinking of giving it a shot with the son. But I want to be prepaired as well.

thanks

[DTro]

A large net (musky size) works well. You can hand grab them by the tail, but I prefer to net them, especially those over 50"

[Alagnak]

Yeah if you don't have a huge net I wouldn't go buy one though. They are easy to tail grab and support the belly underneath. It's not like you're gonna get sliced open by teeth (like an esox) but they scrape you a little with the side armor. Yeah you might lose one here or there doing it but its not like you're keeping them or something so who cares.