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Trophy size for sturgeon...


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I'm already starting to get fired up for this spring to head up to the Rainy River/Lake of the Woods to do some sturgeon fishing. This last spring was the first time we were up and caught many big fish in three days.

My question, I guess, is...what size do you guys and gals figure is a trophy for stugeon? I have no clue what is average for length and what is pretty darn big. What do you think?

Thanks ahead of time for any replies, LEECH.

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Anything bigger than your"personal best" is our take on it. Our group has taken many big fish over the years and we are always looking for one an inch bigger. My personal best was last April. 65" x 32". Will be back in the spring looking for a 67" or better!

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There were 2 of them caught last spring over 100 pounds.

Where would you hang the darn thing.

I will stick with improving my picture taking

skill by trying to get those vacuum cleaner

mouths to say CCHHEESSEE!

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That's a personal question, I feel that 50" is the mark. Any fish over 50" is a trophy in my book.

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Trophy is in the eyes of the angler for sure. Takes an all the way 5+ footer to turn heads I would say, but I live here and have seen lots of big Sturgeonfish. They can sure vary alot in weight depending on girth. A 50 incher is a nice 'eater' size though!

fiskyknut

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Fisky-

I was finally able to accomplish my goal of catching a sturgeon a month or so ago now.

I didn't get any of the big ones, that was Mr. Dennis Steele's privilege that day landing a couple that were 48". The one Fisher Dave is holding here was very typical of all the sturgeon we landed and the one on the bottom is one of the smaller ones I managed that day. Heck, it was a double!!! I think we boated around 20 sturgeon total.

We were fishing the St. Croix river near the cities. Ya don't have to head to the Rainy to catch big sturgeon. I found out talking to some folks that many 50+ inch are caught and talked to a guy at the dock that had a 58" a couple days earlier.

But as I'm typing this, I hope to make a sturgeon trip up to the Rainy in the spring next year as well!

rszHPIM0295.JPG

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Cute little bugger you have there Chris. They sure are armour plated when they're small eh. I was'nt aware of other populations of Lake Sturgeon in MN that we could legally fish.

I have some old photos of my uncles that commercial fished on lake winnepeg years ago, these are of HUGE fishes well over 200 pounds. Also have a couple books on Roseau/LOTW county history which contain photos from the early 1900's of hundred's of big ones caught on LOTW stacked like cordwood on the beach.

Have you seen the pic of the 350+ pounder caught out of the Roseau river years ago on the mndnr site?

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No doubt they are armor plated! We caught a few that were small like this so natural reproduction as well as survival must be pretty good.

The Regs state that "Lake sturgeon may be harvested September 3 through October 16 on the St. Croix River from Taylors Falls Dam downstream to the mouth at Prescott, Wisconsin. The possession limit is one per season and the minimum size limit is 50". The season is closed on all other waters except those along the Ontario-Minnesota border."

We were out fishing a day before the season closed. What a blast!! I can honestly tell you I've never had anything that pulled as hard as these sturgeon do, even on heavy cat tackle!

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No doubt Hanson. I was using my HEAVY muskie combo and 50 pound PowerPro and I hooked into some that were like trees. We caught so many in three days that my arms ached for a week.

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  • Your Responses - Share & Have Fun :)

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