April 20th, 2007 - Sturgeon Excursion

[Tyler Holm]

Another hint. Clear the Clutter!

If you solely plan on fishing Sturgeon, you can take the electric trolling motor off your boat. You won't need it (unless you want to use it as a backup motor for emergency). These fish will run circles around your boat and you will get good and running your rod under your front anchor rope. The trolling motor in the bow makes this tougher.

Leave your walleye net at home. If you only have a standard size eye net, it does you no good on even a decent size sturgeon. Your better off grabbing it by the tail and under the belly and lifting it in. A standard size net might allow you to net suckers, pout, and dink sturgeon, but that's it.

Take these tips for what they are worth. Last year we had a walleye net in the boat as our only net and we ended up not even attempting to use it on larger fish. We also had the bow mount trolling motor attached and never got it wet. It was in the way about 100% of the time.

[setterguy]

Thanks for the tips guys, so you think that using a braided leader is fine? I guess the visibility really isn't a factor at 30' in a river huh? Thanks again, we are really looking forward to this trip. Weather only says 30% chance of rain....if they can swim in it, I can fish in it.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Quote:

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Thanks for the tips guys, so you think that using a braided leader is fine?

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I don't think they are line shy in the least. I've caught plenty with strictly 80lb Power Pro.

[wall_eye_assasin]

Has anyone heard the ice condition since it has been so nice this week? Not long now. See you guys soon

[fiskyknut]

Vidas ramp had opened up Sunday. That truck was still sticking up thru the ice out there on 4mile Sunday too!

Gotta be getting closer and closer with this sweeeet weather though?

fiskyknut

[DTro]

I'm pretty sure I am seeing a patch of open water on the North side of Sportsmans webcam.

We might be able to dock at Schusters yet!

[harvey lee]

Thats what I thought also Darren. Two more days of warm weather and things might look pretty good.

[Tim_Anderson]

Hey guys,

Sorry I won't be able to make it this weekend, but I'm going to try my first FM photo upload, and maybe it will get you guys fired up for the big weekend. Caught this one last Saturday....snagged it while walleye fishing. Sturgie was 62 inches long, and though I didn't girth it, guessing it was at least low to mid twenties...fattest one I ever caught. Good luck guys....

[harvey lee]

Very nice fish Tim. I hope I have the chance to wrestle with one that big.

[aanderud]

What's the fastest way to tow a boat from Burnsville to Baudette? I haven't ever made that drive. Yes, I know how to use mapquest and google maps and the like, but I'm wondering from people who have actually made the drive -- sometimes those map sites are on crack. Oh yeah, I'll be leaving burnsville near the mall at about 5:00 pm thursday, if that makes a difference as to which direction to head. Thanks!

[aanderud]

A 40 lb anchor! Holy moly. The biggest they have on cabelas website is like 30 lbs...

Quote:

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"Cast-iron anchors are vinyl-coated for superior durability and added protection for your boat's finish. Styles: Mushroom, River, Navy. Pounds available: 8 lb., 10 lb., 12 lb., 15 lb., 20 lb., 28/30 lb. "

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[eyepatrol]

Quick question:

I think this might have been asked before, but I couldn't find it.....do we only need a valid MN fishing license to fish for sturgeon, or is there a special permit required? If I recall, we only need our fishing license to C&R these fish?

[huntingislife]

I called the DNR office and was told that you needed the $5 tag to C&R the fish. Last weekend up there we were checked by a CO coming off Birchdale and he said that we did not need the tag if you are only C&R the fish. So I dont know who is right, but $5 is cheap insurance.

[iffwalleyes]

You aren't suppose to need it.

[ChuckN]

Here is the last DNR sturgeon notice dated 4/18/2006. I don't know if it applies to 2007 or not, but it explains the permit situation and seasons. You need a permit to harvest/possess one sturgeon during the certain dates allowed for harvest.

Sturgeon season regulations

You don't need any special permit for catch and release.

[Rick]

The River is already open through Baudette. Looks like we'll be some of the first ones out in the Wheelers point area on open water this year.

[Tyler Holm]

Big Thumbs up for that! Thanks Rick

[cjac]

I was planning on going, but I chose to take all the "bad charma" from last year's event and stay at home with my own ruptured disc in my back. Hopefully no dismantling of picnic tables this year.....

I'm resting up, so I ask all of you, Jonny P in particular, to pop a nice sturgeon for me!

Chris

[aanderud]

Wonder if "doc" from ND is "Bach". That's the guy I'm staying with, he's from Fargo. He said he had no idea how big the room he got was, called to ask but the guy wasn't in the lodge and couldn't remember...so Bach (Eric) just said we had only 2 ppl and feel free to add ppl if anyone needed room.

Well, hopefully some of y'all will still be putting back beers in the lounge at midnight or so when I roll in tomorrow night. Will be fun to put some faces to the names on here.

[setterguy]

I guess thats who me and my buddy are staying with too....walking out the door right now. See you up there.

[Scott M]

I'm loading the car and leaving. Just got off the phone with basscatcher and they've picked up a few today. 30-40" range, but saw a guy wrangle up a 63". Nice fish.

See ya up there.

[fisherking01]

What a great trip, we had a lot of first time sturgeon catchers aboard! Here are a few most memorable firsts!!!

The fishing was tremendous to say the least. Awesome time with family and friends. Thanks to FM for bringing us together and to our hosts, because of this, I have great memories, and a son and nephew that will remember this weekend for the rest of their life!

My son, Taylor's first sturgeon 61"

My nephew, Clayton's first, 41"

My brother Brad's 1st 59"

[image]]

[marine_man]

Great pictures Brent!

Thanks to everyone that made this happen... and a big thanks to Schusters and their operation! The facility and people were great! This being my first attempt at this I had a great time. It was nice putting some names with faces too. This will definately be on the list for next year!

marine_man

[Keith_MN]

The biggest fish I withessed - 60 1/2 inches. These two guys had never been fishing sturgeon before. The older gentleman is a retired fireman. The boat was his retirement gift to himself and this was its maiden voyage.........

And here I am with a 48"er that was the last fish caught before we had to head for home early Sunday afternoon....

Not quite the 50 inch mark I was hoping to break, but not bad for a first time sturgeon fishing either.

[Mike Walerak]

What a great time again! It seemed like this year the fish are really on the rampage. Definalty more and bigger fish than were caught last year.

I was on the phone with a friend from the area and he said it will get even better in the next week or two. If you missed the Excursion don't hesitate to run up there on your own. You will not regret it.

A big thank to Schuster's Resort for hosting us again.

mw

[eyepatrol]

I've said it a hundred times already so here goes 101....what a great time that was! Just a fun bunch of guys to be around along with some great weather and fishing to boot!

I really need to get my dad up there to experience this. It is something every fisher person should do at least once in their lifetime!

[ec30_06]

It was one of the most memoarable fishinhg trips I have ever taken. My biggest was a 51" and it fought harder than anthing I have ever experienced. Thanks to Brian and Darren for letting me tag along with you guys.

[iffwalleyes]

Well my excursion trip this year was a awesome one to say the least. I had two of my best friends with me for the trip. Mitch and Rob aka Marine_Man. For the two of them it was their first sturgeon fishing experience ever. After hearing me talk about it for a year they decided it was time for them to find out. Well it didn't take to long into the trip for Mitch to hook up with some thing decent which also would turn out to be our biggest of the trip. I think the funniest part of landing this fish came when Rob had the fish's tail and I had it under the head. Rob said ok we'll lift on 3 1,2, to which I said there isn't no 3 on this pig . One other comment that made me laugh was Mitch earlier in the day had commented that his back was stiff. So, after landing this brutte I asked how his back was doing he said he was much more limber now .

60" Sturgeon

Well day number two for us found us fishing on 4 mile bay the ice had went off from Fri night to Sat. morning. Well again we were on our spot for a hour when Mitch's bait clicker took off. Another battle was under way. The fish came to the boat pretty quickly but that was about where it ended after it saw the boat the real battle began. We finally got it into the boat.

54" Sturgeon

So ok lets see your GLOOMIS do this

Well it finally became my turn. My bait clicker took off and I set the hook. I didn't think it was that big at first. Rob was moving stuff around in the boat I told to leave it alone because it wasn't that good of a fish. Well then it took off and I realized it was a better fish. Once he was landed and measured out 49.5" long and 21.5" girth. This beat my previously personal best so I was pretty happy.

49.5" Sturgeon

Well it was finally Rob's turn to get in on some of the big fish action. He set the hook and said well this is bigger than anything else I have had on. After the normal fight the fish came up and indead it was a decent fish.

48" Sturgeon

There are now two more hooked Strugeon fisherman in my camp. When I asked if they were coming back next year they said you bet. A great weekend on the water forsure. I am already looking forward to next year trip.

[eyepatrol]

Sweet! Nice fish guys! I miss it already. It's a bit of a downer to think that right now, all I have to look forward to, is catching 9" - 12" crappies. Just seems to lack the luster.

I think I got one of those circle hooks in my mouth too, because I'm hooked! What a great time and what memories!

[harvey lee]

Congrats to all who fought with these giants. It seems that there were many very nice fish caught this year. Nice part is, they are all there for the next event.