Sturgeon set-up

What do you guys think is most important – rod, reel or line? I have one rod that has easily caught 75% of the sturgeon we have boated this year. All of my poles have the same hook/leader/weight setup. The “lucky” rod is a smaller M/MF bait caster rod with a reel that doesnt have a clicker. and it has 30lb Power pro. The others are all musky setups with Garcia reels(with clickers) and 80lb Power Pro. BUT, one has a tip similar to the “lucky” rod so I thought it would be good but I also have 80lb Cortland(white) line on that and I cant even buy a bite with that rod??
Does the color and # of the line make that big a difference?
I do think the lighter pole helps but how much?
Does the clicker hurt? ….Im sure they can feel it, but will they still take it…?
Common sense tells me to just go buy another identical setup(but my wife hates common sense ).

Mark,

I think that one is just lucky. You are pushing it with line that light.

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You are pushing it with line that light.

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What lb line and what lb leader do you use?

I don’t think the reel makes a difference at all until you hook a fish. Of course, I don’t use my clickers (tightline) and I don’t know anyone that uses clickers for sturgeon. 90% of the time they don’t run with the bait, so it is pretty pointless.

As for line, I have always not even thought about it. I have some rods with 20lb Big Game and some with 80lb Power Pro. When I think about it, I have caught fish on both, but I think I have caught more with the mono. I really don’t think it matters much, though.

I think the big factor is rods. It makes a difference in how you fish. If I am holding the rod, I want something with a stiffer tip. I’ve been trying out one of my bass flippin’ stick because it has good sensitivity. For a rod in a holder, I like a lot softer tip to be able to see the bites. A stiff tip doesn’t work well for visual bite detection.

I guess I really have no clue, but those are my thoughts. It really comes down to how you use your equipment.

Mark,
I have a couple of ugly sticks with Mitchell 300s on them that I would be willing to trade you for your heavier muskie rods. Do they have Calcutta’s on them?

BTW, I prefer 20lb Big Game for sturgeon. I just have PP spooled on some rods for flatheads and don’t want to swap them out. 20lb mono is plenty heavy (it’s a lot stronger than the drag, at least). 30lb PP might be a little light, but the areas I fish are obstruction free, so I don’t really see a problem.

The reasons I like mono:

1) cost

2) you get a better hookset with circle hooks

3) shock absorber

4) abrasion resistance

5) less likely to pull out if you hook a fish lightly

I haven’t done much sturgeon fishing but with large fish I try to use line that rates to the biggest one I might find. I use 65-80 lb PP for flatheads and 20lb hi vis PP for big channels. I think like musky fishing you can go lighter but the penalty is wearing the fish down or straight up losing a giant.

what lb. and type leader do you guys use for sturgeon?

I bought some thick cable, I mean mono because I didn’t want to shell out money for PP on my second reel and have it sit all winter. I believe I had 40# or 60#. Pretty green color too. I matched my King Cat rod with that reel, heavy action with a capital H. I used 80# PP then for the leader. The result is I caught about as many as the reel with PP on it. The mono is nice when paired with a circle hook, but you also loose a lot of sensitivity, which is an issue with how they bite.

I did utilize the clicker later on, resulting in catching more fish. It wasn’t so much for bite detection as it was to allow line to come off when a wake would hit the boat. Thus keeping my bait more stationary than it would otherwise. I did have 2 sturgeon bites detected with the clicker. One was a real short burst and the other was a fairly steady pull.

I use whatever my main line is for a leader and use 12″-18″.

More reasons I like mono:

-Makes cool “guitar” noises when you fight big fish (twaaaang!!!)
-Tends to twist less when dropping in the water because it is stiffer.

My main setup for sturgeon is 80 lb power pro for the main line with a sliding rig for weight to be clipped on with a bead and swivel. Attached to that 80 lb mono about 7-12 inches and 3/0-7/0 hook snell tied on. I have tried longer leaders but I seem to do well with the shorter leaders.

7/0 is on the large side but sometimes I try it out. I have caught large sturgeon on as small as 1/0 hooks but prefer3/0 or 4/0 most of the time.

Having our drag set with sufficient line on the spool is the most important piece. Personally I use 14 lb fireline with a 10 inch 20 lb mono leader. I prefer rods with a soft tip. I have caught several sturgeon over 50 lbs and haven’t had any trouble. I have a St. Croix cat rod that I use once in awhile but I found it is too stiff and I miss alot of bites with it. My two best sturgeon rigs consist of $30 rods with $30-$40 spincast reels. Go with what works for you. Good luck!

I use KingCat 8′ rod and reel combo for my rod holder setup.60lb pp line with 80lb titanium coated 8″ leader with 6/0 circle hook. It allows for a soft tip for bite detection and alot of bend/fun when its fish-on!!
In hand setup is a shorter 7′ graphite musky rod with a levelwind. 60lb pp line with 80lb titanium coated 18″ leader with 6/0 circle hook. The shorter stiffer rod gives you more feel for the in hand setup.
After 2 days of fishing last weekend and 33 fish caught we only lost 1 fish.
I am sort of a novice at this since it was the first 2 times out for me but it won’t be the last.

What’s your plan this weekend Crazy Legs?

You dont need a clicker for sturgeon.. period. Leave the reel engaged when you are fishing. If the fish is pulling clicker, it would have just set the hook on itself anyhow by loading up the rod in the holder.

I have used 30# power pro some.. it works ok, but you really have to watch for your line getting scraped up by the fish. I have lost a few nice fish because of prevous wear I didnt see. 40# works better, and 50lb+ is best for avoiding abbraision with sturgeon on power pro.

Mono lines are a good choice for sturgeon if it is not hindering bite detection. Big Game is by far one of the toughest lines on the market for resisting abbrasion, and staying strong with abbrasion during the fight. I used to use 15# big game and it did extremely well, I changed over to 20# big game and it works as well, and you could lift the anchor with the stuff while running it across a chesse grater.

For rods, I strongly prefer rods with a softer tip for detecting bites. I havent found a rod so soft that is heavy enough for sturgeon that you couldnt feel a bite. The only rods I have a hard time feeling a bite with are rods exceptionally heavy in weight(some E glass rods).

Its more important in bite detection not to use too much weight. If its not crazy windy, and you can keep your bait in place.. using a 1 oz, or 1.5 oz weight can greatly increase bite detection. 2 oz are not too bad, 3 oz you better hope the fish just bends the rod over unless thats what you absolutely need in current or wind situations.

I didn’t have my NASA suit on the last time I was out and I paid dearly.
30#PP didn’t stand up to the abuse, and I broke off (way above the swivel) on what feeled like a good fish.
If you use it, check often for wear/abrasion.

The other day I had the pleasure of watching the Sturgeon and the Big Blue at Cabelas tearing apart a big ol sucker.

I learned a few things that day
Next time I put on my NASA suit I’ll have to put those things to good use.