Anyone Sturgeon Fishing?

Pike, all I can say is to emphasize that they hit like a sunny. If you have heavy gear then watch your line. If it starts to dance then let some out grab the rod, reel until you feel something and set the hook. Otherwise fish with rod in hand and a open bail. If you feel a slight rat-a-tat, give line then reel until you feel. FBRM swears by circle hooks in a rod holder, and they work very well too, but you need to know how a circle hook works. Double action hooks (aka Khale hooks) work great because they will hook themselves or you can set the hook. They can be found all up and down the croix but detecting and connecting is the real challenge. good luck

Pike1401 wrote:

Thanks for the tips. We have heavy flathead/musky gear so I think I’ll be okay in that department. Is the Lake St. Croix section south of 94 any better/worse for sturgeon in your experience than the narrower sections of the river to the north of Hudson?

Between Hudson and Bayport seems to have a lot of fish. The community hole is in front of the King Power Plant discharge.
There are certainly other places to fish, but if you’re new to the sport fishing in a loose group has it’s (safety) benefits.

Flathead/Musky rods…I’m not sure what you have but I would recommend holding the rod with a tight line. They are such light biters many folks don’t know they had a hit and think the fish are just not biting.

Circle or Double Action hooks are the only way to go in my experience. Just tighten up the line and start reeling. Those hooks catch the bite ol’ lips every time.

1.5″ long sucker fillets work well too.

Like flathead fishing, there is more then one way to skin a cat…so to speak.

If you go out at night, I can’t stress enough how important it is for everyone in the boat to watch for other boaters. I’ve personally had some near misses with some very large boats. Keep your spotlight ready to go and handy and don’t be afraid to light up a boat next to you if a passing boat is heading their way.

I swear the old adage “One hand on the steering wheel and the other holding a drink” was created on the St Croix River. It’s a holiday weekend and I will consider every boat heading my way to have a drunk captain until proven otherwise.

Good Luck and let us know how you’re doing!

That is a huge sturgeon. Wow!!!! (The one the girl is holding and kissing that Brian posted on page one)

Thanks for the tips, I was finally able to get out there yesterday but didn’t boat any sturgeon. Started by the hole in 30 FOW Brian K mentioned but wasn’t marking much while fishing vertical. Tried a few other spots but overall theme for the night was that we couldn’t find them. We will try some different spots next time.

Brian, what size Circle or Double Action hooks are you using?

We always use #5 Circle hooks never had a problem. Here is a pic of my niece holding one of each (Shovelnose & Lake). The big sturgeon being kissed by Kid Rock is a White Sturgeon on Columbia River, The Columbia might be a tributary of the St Croix but I don’t think so.

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Since WI allows two lines per person during open water fishing, can I use two lines fishing the border waters?

Tuma wrote:

Since WI allows two lines per person during open water fishing, can I use two lines fishing the border waters?

If on MN/wi border waters you can use two hooks in MN territory and 3 in Wisconsin.

Personally, 6/0 or 8/0 circle hooks for me.

I thought that was the case, but I wanted to double check. Thank you.

Tuma wrote:

Brian, what size Circle or Double Action hooks are you using?

Tuma, sturg don’t seem to be hook shy. I’ve used 3/0 and 5/0 Team Catfish Double Action hooks with a preference of the 5/0’s because they hold more crawlers.

I use the Double Action hooks because I never know who’s going to be in the boat with me. Might be a first time fishing person or a seasoned angler. The Double Actions can be “set” or just reeled in like a circle hook.

One thing I like to do for channels and sturg is to bend down the barb to make it barbless unless it’s a new to fishing angler. It’s just so much easier to take out the hook with out that barb catching on the cartilage. Keeping the line tight ensures the circle style hook doesn’t come out.

I try to use the smallest hook I can without having to worry about the hook bending or breaking.

I am headed to the store this weekend to get set up with the tackle I need. I have a group of 4 (all first time sturgeon fishermen) going out in a couple of weeks. The threads on this site have been very helpful. Thank you everyone for sharing.

Friday I caught a 36″ sturgeon on a 10/0 circle and an appropriate sized chunk of cut for a 10/0.

I catch little ones on 8/0 frequently.

I like to up bait size.

Why do so many choose 2/0-4/0 hooks? Sturgeon can cram a big bait in their mouthes.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Friday I caught a 36″ sturgeon on a 10/0 circle and an appropriate sized chunk of cut for a 10/0.

I catch little ones on 8/0 frequently.

I like to up bait size.

Why do so many choose 2/0-4/0 hooks? Sturgeon can cram a big bait in their mouthes.

You already nailed it. Bait size. It’s really hard to hook a crawler or fathead with a hook that has a 1/8″ wire diameter and it’s even harder to keep them on.

My standard size is 4/0-5/0. I use crawlers and fatheads due to cost and availability. I also pinch the barbs off for easy removal.

Ah Roger that. Forgot about using those fatheads and crawlers for bait.
Certainly a smaller hook necessary there.

A general question for everyone, how often do you have a sturgeon come unbuttoned while fighting and what type of hook is used?

I still use the gama 4/0-5/0 octopus circle hooks with the barb pinched down and can honestly say I loose 1 or 2 in every 100 fish with this setup.

The reason I bring this up is to prove that pinching the barb off the circle hook has no adverse affect. It only helps in unhooking the fish which can be a real bear when I forget to remove the barb.

I don’t pinch the barb because it helps keep bait on hook, and I’m an expert at removing circles from sturgeon mouthes without any pliers. Usually laugh when someone in my boat asks for the pliers. I just reach over and pop out the hook. Gotta pull the hook out the same way it went in. With my Johnsonville fingers, bigger hooks help me. A 4/0 I might need a pliers.

As far as I know, I lose very little after hook up. It can be kind of hard to tell what you have on at times though, and I do lose fish on circles.

I bet I have lost nearly 10 fish on circles in the last week. Mostly cats though, I think.

A hare over 200 fish last fall, and I lost some without a doubt. Could be any number of reasons

I definitely lose bait because of the missing barb but not enough to reconsider.

I’ll admit that I lose more than 1-2%, but I’m pretty confident that most lost fish weren’t sturgeon.

The only thing that bothers me is the missed bites. When I have a lot of missed bites without catching a sturgeon, I’ll move without giving it a second thought.

I typically use the team catfish double action 5/0 circle hooks. I feel like I haven’t lost too many that felt like a sturgeon. Usually smaller fish, could be small sturgeon but there will always be one once in awhile that feels real good that comes off but that’s fishing. Keeps me coming back for more.

Thanks for bringing up LOSING fish yesterday afternoon… Lol. Although I was cat fishing, I must have lost 6 half way or closer to the boat yesterday. Good grief. Good thing there was another dozen that made it to the boat.. but it did make me laugh considering the topic before hitting the water. Argh lol

One thing that has help me on hook ups is to switch to a light wire circle. I used to use Eagle Claw heavy wire 5/0 circles and two years ago switched to the Eagle Claw L2004ELF 9/0 circle, the thin wire gets excellent penetration. As far as being too big a hook, last year I caught an eight inch walleye right through the corner of the mouth.

I’m not poo pooing your light wire thoughts reef but the only fish I remember losing that hurt was a heavy fish that was ripping out my line like I was in free spool. Bent the hook close enough to be called straight. I switched hooks and never looked back.

I will never forget that fish (that got away).

(My personal experience, your mileage may vary)

As a BTW, Friday and Saturday night on the Croix were slow with 3 and 2 fish caught respectively. Last night we had a better night with 6 sturg caught and a 7 pound channel cat. Crawlers seem to be what dinner of the day was.

Brian, you are definitely the man, way more experience than me. “light wire” is kind of a misnomer at least in the larger size circles, still pretty heavy.

Anyways, thanks for the fishing report, I couldn’t find a ramp that was open this weekend.

We were out from 3pm-9pm yesterday and it was pretty slow for us.

reefhawgwi wrote:

Anyways, thanks for the fishing report, I couldn’t find a ramp that was open this weekend.

Where were you fishing?

Yes lighter is better for the “suck up”

Andy, I’m not sure I understand how crimping the barb down on a circle hook will make a difference in losing bait. Basically the circle is the barb.

Now I’m not saying I don’t lose a shad now and then on casting but I think it’s more of the soft bait tearing then missing the barb. Crawlers and sucker slices stay on well.

RS we didn’t have a bite until after dark on Sunday. Left the ramp at 6 pm.

Brian, what dose you boat look like. My group will be heading out there around 7 am Saturday. We plan on using crawlers. Where can I pick up some shad for bait?

I won’t be out until 6 pm, but you can’t miss my Green Lund. It has a Lowrance 3G radar antenna on the front. Basically looks like a gps antenna puck on steroids.

For shad >IN MN< you will need a permit from the DNR and a cast net.
It’s free. Google “cast nets MN DNR”

I don’t think I could give you any because the way the law reads it’s “for personal use”. I’ll have to check though for sure.

Sucker strip about 1″ long and 1/2″ wide have been working just as well this year…at least for me.

Thank you for the tip. But I don’t think I will have time to get one this year.
http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/rlp/permits/fishery/gizzard-shad.pdf

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Andy, I’m not sure I understand how crimping the barb down on a circle hook will make a difference in losing bait. Basically the circle is the barb.

It’s all good in the neighborhood until you have a bunch of dink channel cats, sheephead, walleye, and other junk fish (I.e. unintended species) pecking and pulling on your bait… Then baits tend to get lost. I’m also generally fishing big cut baits. More weight to wear a hook hole, you know this from flathead fishing. Average size 2×3″ and I go up or down from there. Ain’t afraid of big baits and it’s a big scent trail to boot.
Bait aside…

Hook removal:
I slip a finger in the gap of the circle hook and put my thumb on the backside of the eyelet and press down with thumb and pull with finger. Pop goes the circle hook. If it doesn’t pop out, take a closer look at the hook, your likely not pulling the hook out the same way it went in.

It’s literally a thumb and finger easy.

So, no need for me, and 8/0 – 10/0 hooks, to pinch a barb. My big fingers fit the thumb and finger removal method and the bigger sturgeon don’t seem to mind the bigger bait presentation on an appropriate sized hook either. Let alone the smaller fish.

But hey, I do not mind what others do with their Barbs.

Good luck Brian and others. May you catch a hundred pounder!