At hookset I’m thinking YES, this is a good one as we are sitting on a school of walleyes. After the third run I’m thinking great, a northern. After a minute, I’m thinking sturgeon maybe? You got it, not my biggest but my first one on Otter Tail….34″.
Pic is my uncle holding the fish….both kinda pre-historic! 
Come and get ’em BK!
wow thats awesome trev i would have never thought there would be sturgeon there…. have you herd of others being caught?
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wow thats awesome trev i would have never thought there would be sturgeon there…. have you herd of others being caught?
They are restocking that whole system with lakers. I do believe the DNR is asking anglers to report those caught on Ottertail.
They’ve been re-intorducing them to Otter Tail and the entire Otter Tail river system in recent years. They first stocked Otter Tail in the late 90’s with approx. 15,000 and have continued different parts of the river system and the lake since.
I’ve heard of others being caught and saw one that had floated up on a neighbors beach last summer that was 54″. See them jumping a lot in the shallows in August.
Hmmm…a 54″?
20+ year to reach 50″+.
Stocked in the ’90’s?
You sir have the beginnings of a new fishery with new customers! 
Trev, you might want to check with the local DNR to see what they’ve found in the sampling nets.
I know the season is closed to targeting sturgeon in that system now, but MN is working on a all year state wide catch and release Lake Sturgeon fishery.
Get ahead of the game. 
That’s really cool. Thanks for sharing.
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but MN is working on a all year state wide catch and release Lake Sturgeon fishery.
That would be awesome!
Uncle Keith looks cold and pre-historic in that picture!!
Gundy
This thread got me Googlin’ about the Otter Tail river, and now I really want to go fish it for channel cats and whatever else swims in it. Seems like a pretty cool river system!
Cool pic. We had one jump right next to the boat Friday when we were out for a bit between the rain and wind.
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Hmmm…a 54″?
20+ year to reach 50″+.
Stocked in the ’90’s?
You sir have the beginnings of a new fishery with new customers!
Trev, you might want to check with the local DNR to see what they’ve found in the sampling nets.
I know the season is closed to targeting sturgeon in that system now, but MN is working on a all year state wide catch and release Lake Sturgeon fishery.
Get ahead of the game.
What are you trying to say Brian…. don’t all fisherman stretch the fish a little? 
I did see the fish but was not the one doing the measuring. It was MUCH bigger than the 34″ I caught.
FYI – OT fish are on steroids so their growth rate is above the norm…..
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Hmmm…a 54″?
20+ year to reach 50″+.
Stocked in the ’90’s?
No no…I’m saying that the time to grow a sturgi to that length is about right.
In the article I read, they said they don’t think any of them are old enough to start breeding yet. It will be interesting to see if that population becomes self sustaining.
Trev,
Have you had many reports of people catching or actually fishing for them? I am going to be moving to the Staples area next summer and this would be something to try since it would be way closer than going to LOW or the St Croix.
I don’t know that anyone has specifically targeted them yet. I did hear of a few caught the past 2 summers, and I’m sure there were way more caught than what I heard about.
Question for BK…. Given the mass amount of structure in Otter Tail, what type of structure would you look to first to try to hook one of these?
It’s a pretty new fishery Trev. I’m not sure I should guess at fishing locations.
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Question for BK…. Given the mass amount of structure in Otter Tail, what type of structure would you look to first to try to hook one of these?
Scan with the SI till you see fish the size of logs! 
Old post.
I’m going up to Vacationland Resort Sept 21st to see if I can fish one of these fish they call Lake Sturgeon.
Anyone have any updates on locations to try in the fall. Breaching locations in the fall?
I’m guessing crawlers will be the bait of choice. <- That’s a question.
Any help is appreciated!
BK, did you see the recent video that Erik and the Outdoor report posted on Facebook. They were sturgeon fishing this last week somewhere in Ottertail county and got one.
Sure did…but thanks. I talked with a few people up there. Pretty solid on where to catch them in spring.
I’ll try the river and then the mud flats. So far, that’s all I have.
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