I recently sent a email to the MN DNR after reading all the people up in arms about Sturgeon being reintroduced into Upper Red Lake. I knew what I have caught fish on, but not what they normally eat, and since there are a lot of people who think Sturgeon feed exclusively on walleye eggs, I specifically asked that question. I have not been able to look up the specific studies he refered to, but hope to get my hands on them in the future. I have Mr. Thompsons email if anyone has any questions for him, PM me as I don’t want to post it without his permission. Here is his response:
Feeding ecology of lake sturgeon has been studied, primarily in Canada. Here is one such study: Beamish, F.W.H., D.L.G. Noakes and A. Rossiter, 1998. Feeding ecology of juvenile lake sturgeon, Acipenser fulvescens, in northern Ontario. Can. Field-Nat. 112(3):459-468.
There is also some discussion of lake sturgeon diet items in Fishes of Wisconsin, by George C. Becker-1983, University of Wisconsin Press; and in Freshwater Fishes of Canada, W.B. Scott and E.J. Crossman, Bulletin 184 – Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Ottawa 1973.
These types of studies are not commonly found in the “gray literature.” To find this type of information, you pretty much have to gain access to a university library, where such peer-reviewed journal articles are available.
To summarize the findings of these studies: lake sturgeon eat a wide variety of food items commonly found inhabiting aquatic substrates, including crustaceans (e.g., crayfish, amphipods), insect larvae (e.g., dragonflies, mayflies, midges), nematodes, leeches, clams, snails, plants, dead fish and other detritus. Fish eggs and fish larvae are consumed occasionally as well when they are available.
In the case of walleye eggs, I would think they would be eaten more as an incidental item since walleye are “broadcast” spawners, and their eggs are small and become widely scattered after spawning. In addition, walleye produce far more eggs than needed for successful reproduction, so some eggs lost to predation are inconsequential.
Sincerely,
Andy Thompson
)
I miss that guy. But I digress.
Here’s to a successful reintroduction. Perhaps our great grandkids will hold a sturgeon excursion to Red lake….man, that’s kind of depressing. 
And being all the locals at Rainy/LOW think they eat eggs, I wanted to get an opinion other then my “bar room biology” degree 
