Sturgeon Excursion very disappointing this year…

O.K., first off let me say that the bite was way off the mark from years past. Three guys in my boat caught one 48 incher in two days of fishing. Trust me when I say that isn’t the most disappointing part of the trip, nor is it the premise of this post. What I found disappointing was the general attitude of disrepect shown towards the fish, other fellow anglers, and the resources as a whole.

NEVER have I seen such a flagarant display of drunks in my life. I like to drink, don’t get me wrong, but obviously there were many who made that the highlight of the trip. Why grown adult men would drive 5-6 hours, spend $100 on gas, just to hollar and drink so everyone has to listen is beyond me. Profanity, litter, poor boating skills and an overwhelming attitude of disrespect was flowing freely this weekend, so much so that I said screw it and drove home a day early. I witnessed guys slapping and punching sturgeon simply because they were deemed “little f’ers”. C’mon, these are the fish that grow bigger guys! Ya don’t have to slap them and beat them like some kind of punching bag. Another thing, I don’t know why so many of you insist on subjecting everyone else to blaring stereo out on the water, your urine-poor boating skills, or lack thereof (Weaving in and out of boats and high rates of speed, letting your beer cans and garbage fly out of the boat, throwing wakes into everyone. What the hell, were some of you born yesterday?? I don’t get it and I won’t be back. I’d rather stay home and watch re-runs of IDO than ever go back to Sturgeon Excursion again…at least with some of you.

Lastly, to the older gent from Iowa with his two grandsons (You know who you are), I apologize that you had to witness much of the same type of mis-behavior as I. I know you had high hopes of a good time with your grandsons and were probably as ashamed and embarrassed of this circus as I was. I hope you were able to salvage some good times in spite of all that.

wow. i personally know a few of the guys who go the excursion and have conversed on line with more than a few. that behavior certainly sounds out of character. i’d like to hear the other side to this story. i can understand the drinking but the gross mishandling of fish is a real surprise.

I’m thinking the drinking is just a given. However I agree with SteveO. Personally I have a hard time believing that anyone that I know from this site that was there would act in that mannner.

This was the first year that I really wanted to go and things didn’t work out on the money end but the way it sounds I didn’t miss anything but a dissapointing time. I do not have time for the guys that require a beer in one hand and the fowel language coming out of there mouth in order to fish. On another note why do you have to punch or slap any fish SHOW SOME RESPECT they are older than you. I would not have left early I would have made some phone calls and taken some pictures for every one to see that these people were real I am glad that I didn’t waste the remaining $100 in my wallet to come up there and see a bunch of drunks

That sucks, I know how you feel, lets drive 7 hours to get drunk As far as the fish abuse I would have taken some pics

First ou812 I am sorry it was a bad experience for you. The thing that comes to my mind is that it only takes a few to give the group as a whole a bad name. I’d be willing to bet that the majority of the people weren’t behaving the way you discribed but I believe you saw what you discribed. I have seen some crazy things on Pool 4 walleye fishing but I as a whole I know people are basicly good. I hope over time you are able to remember the good parts of the trip and it hasn’t tainted your view.

ou812 sorry you had a bad time. I myself haven’t been up there yet either. I would however recomend coming out on the St. Croix this fall for sturgeon. They aren’t nearly as big but you can get into 50 inch plus fish now and again. It’s a smaller group of guys and I have yet to hear any foul mouth coming from any of the guys when we are out. It’s always the same group of guys out on the St. Croix every year. I’ve made many new friends hee since I moved up to the metro.

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O.K., first off let me say that the bite was way off the mark from years past. Three guys in my boat caught one 48 incher in two days of fishing. Trust me when I say that isn’t the most disappointing part of the trip, nor is it the premise of this post. What I found disappointing was the general attitude of disrepect shown towards the fish, other fellow anglers, and the resources as a whole.

NEVER have I seen such a flagarant display of drunks in my life. I like to drink, don’t get me wrong, but obviously there were many who made that the highlight of the trip. Why grown adult men would drive 5-6 hours, spend $100 on gas, just to hollar and drink so everyone has to listen is beyond me. Profanity, litter, poor boating skills and an overwhelming attitude of disrespect was flowing freely this weekend, so much so that I said screw it and drove home a day early. I witnessed guys slapping and punching sturgeon simply because they were deemed “little f’ers”. C’mon, these are the fish that grow bigger guys! Ya don’t have to slap them and beat them like some kind of punching bag. Another thing, I don’t know why so many of you insist on subjecting everyone else to blaring stereo out on the water, your urine-poor boating skills, or lack thereof (Weaving in and out of boats and high rates of speed, letting your beer cans and garbage fly out of the boat, throwing wakes into everyone. What the hell, were some of you born yesterday?? I don’t get it and I won’t be back. I’d rather stay home and watch re-runs of IDO than ever go back to Sturgeon Excursion again…at least with some of you.

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That doesn’t sound like a good time at all. I think I would have found myself WAY-WAY upstream in a hurry if that was going on. As for the drunks on the water… sounds like the sheriff needs to show up next year and clean the place up a bit to get things back on track.

As for disrespecting the fish… I doubt that was any of the cat / sturgeon guys from this site. Those guys are always trying to educate people on how to hold fish safely and have the highest respect for the sturgeon, large or small.

Again, I’m sorry to hear your trip was a bust.

ou812 Although you had a bad trip that will probably leave a bad taste in your mouth for quite a while, be glad you don’t live here like the locals. Every year we put up with the very idiots that you described. Most of the people that I, know who fish sturgeon do not go out on that weekend for the very same reason that made you leave. I was out on Saturday and was treated to the same loud mouthed I’m a tourist and don’t give a s**t attitude that you were. I was particularly impressed with the guys pissing over the side of the boats in front of my kids,and the guys who have to fish on top of your anchor. Well there’s a lot more to urine and moan about but I’m tired of thinking about it. Hopefully the bad eggs will read this and maybe think about it and change their style for the better because a lot of them can’t get any worse.

Wow that is really disturbing to hear. I am surprised and shocked to hear from what I have heard previously about this trip. It always sounded like a great fun time. Sorry you were subject to that and hope it was not the regular’s on here!

While the bite wasn’t what some expected, our 2 boats got 45 fish. We fished amongst the masses and found the crowds like you did and stll managed 22 fish. Saturday we opted to stay away from the crowds and ventured up river to contact 15 nice fish. We only encountered 1 other boat and a warden. My only point is you trip is what you want to make of it. We chose not to fish with the crowds, and didn’t. It is also safe to say there were a lot of people from elsewhere present. Anytime you get THAT many people in one area, you are going to have some bad apples. If the night life was overpowering, I would suggest looking into one of the many other resorts up there that are more reclusive. Sorry you had a bad time. We made our own fun and have no regrets. Except that the Wigwam ran out of ketchup!!!! That was inexcusable!! We are just coming into Grand Rapids at this time and will post some really nice pictures that will include BurBob’s 60″ fish without another boat for miles.

I agree with ou812. The fishing part of the excursion this year was slow!Nothing like last year. As far as the rest of it….. I did’nt see any of the shinnanigans he discribed. Not saying they did’nt happen, Just not around my boat.I was out in the bay all 3 days as well as in the river in front of Sportsmans lodge. I did’nt see any disrespect towards the fish or other boats. There is always bad apples, And I think there were lots more boats there this year than in years past. And as far as sitting on someones anchor to fish…. Well… Ya get that many boats in a confined area,that’s gonna happen. Myself, I tried to put a little distance between me and the guy below me because you needed it with how strong the current was.Hope it dos’nt ruin ya for a return.

Dont let this stop you from fishing one of the finest fighting trophy fish in North America!The Rainy River has many places to fish Sturgeon, from I falls to Baudette,there are some really good spots, that nobody and I mean nobody will bother you.With all the accesses spread out between here and there , with the help of the Lakemasters river chip this river is very user friendly.
BB1

Let me clear up one thing, whether or not the goof-offs up there were actual IDO members or not, I can not say for sure? I did not mean to insinuate that they were and I’m sorry if it came across as sounding like that.

James, you mentioned going way up stream and that is something I considered. In fact I mentioned it to a friendly Conservation Officer at the boat landing, among other things, and he suggested that areas further up stream were even poorer fishing right now due to the run-off from the smaller rivers up-stream. But, don’t think I didn’t consider it to escape some of the idiots further down river.

Seems no matter when, where or what your fishing when in LARGE CROWDS you WILL run into idiots. Mishandling fish is very disturbing. What were all the other boats doing when this was taking place?? Suprised this didn’t start a border battle!! Boys up here typically aren’t very tolerant of such behaviors. Hopefully with your visit with our local CO’s you mentioned to them what you’ve witnessed, and they were able to take proper actions, and put the smack down on these boys. Our CO’s are very good guys up here, and very protective of the resource. With that being said as anglers we also need to take necessary actions when possible to deter such behaviors. Punching fish?? WOW!! I would no doubt have gone up and got boat numbers and made some calls. Maybe we all can use this incident to be sure we’re all ready to call local wardens if witnessing gross misuse of a resource. Lots of locals and visitors fishing the River for Sturgeon, so really hard to say who these boys were. I wasn’t fishing the excursion as I’ve been here chasing pike ALONE on the Rainy Lake!! LOL!! I have no interest in fishing boat to boat or shoulder to shoulder here in borderland. I’m with some of the others as I’m sure you will also in moving away from morons ALWAYS!! LOL!! Sorry Buddy!! Don’t let it ruin a great event or great fishing experience. As to the fishing being slow?? Can’t comment on the action as I haven’t been in the loop for those big Sturgeon this year although Fishing remains Fishing. The Rainy River boasts one of the healthiest populations of Sturgeon in the state. They can make subtle moves to leave you high and dry sometimes!!

Tight Lines Team!! Lets keep teaming up to eliminate bad apples from spoiling the fun for all of us!!

Very good point Chris. We met a number of wardens this weekend, and I agree, they were very nice guys! Very courteous and concerned about the resource. With the limited number of landings, I would bet these guys would have been found out in no time.

Just back in from the drive back home.

I think I talked with most folks from Ido that were up there at some point. One common theme was the folks that were up there over the last few years, or even just last year felt the bite was very slow.

Now on the other hand, the newbies that I talked with generally were thrilled with the fishing even though they “only” caught 5 to 10 fish.

Mike W figured it out on Saturday evening. He fished pretty much in the lake past the Gap. I don’t recall the exact numbers of fish he had in the few hours he fished there, but to quote Mike…”It made our weekend”.

The Favorite Family and I were in the same area and out of the 25 to 30 boats out there we didn’t see any of the things you experienced and although we didn’t hook into an fish over 48 inches, the FW and FD had a fantastic time in their words. I have to admit the FD did complain about my boat being dry, but I’m the Captain in my boat.

Fish handling. I would have loved to see someone mishandling fish as was described. I would have taken as deep breath…to settle down and asked them politely if they knew what they were doing….then I would have called the TIP line. Handling fish as described is against everything Ido stands for AND is against the law. I would have been very disappointed if it was said these guys were Ido members. VERY!

I’m not sure who the two fellas were that hooked into a fish just up stream of us. Well, I’m not sure if they were two fellas…once the 59 incher cleared the water next to their boat their voices changed to the sound of little girls. When I saw them cradle the fish, bring it in the boat, measure it, photo it and carefully release it, I commented to my family at how well they took care of that fish. I wanted to thank them for taking care of OUR fish.

That’s what it is, “our” fish and when someone purposely mishandles our fish, they need to be corrected. Whether a CO does it or we do it needs to happen. There is a big difference between not knowing and mishandling.

My daughter counted 114 boats in Four Mile Day on Thursday. I know there was at least triple and maybe even quadruple that on Saturday. From what I saw, I was impress with the way everyone handled themselves. I wasn’t everyplace all the time and I’m sure sorry about your experience ou812.

Before you left, I wish you would have talked with me. I would have pointed out some spots that were just as good as other more populated spots.

I’ll have to agree with the earlier comment about large events drawing in more jerks. I think this theory has been proven time and time again.

It’s a double edged sword… on the one hand greater participation is a good thing. More people get to enjoy a good thing. But, as the size of any type of events increase and reach critical mass, you end up with guys just along for the ride, and other hangers on.

Music events are the same way…some of the music festivals were great until they got a little too popular. Then it’s too many drunks, jerks, and idiots coming along to become part of the show.

Shawn

Sorry to hear you had a bad time

This is the first year we fished in the crowd. In past years we have fished upriver a ways and done really well while avoiding crowds. We spent a day upriver, and while we were alone, the fishe weren’t cooperating, so we spent the other two days in the crowds.

I didn’t witness any mistreatment of fish that you described, other than some folks using terribly undersized equipment. I would have found it apalling, and I have to believe that with the large number of boats up there, the IDO group was not in the majority. The IDOers that I have met at the Wigwam the past few years are very respectful of the sturgeon.

As for the drinking, radios, pissing, etc, it’s a fact of life when you’ve got a bunch of guy out for the weekend away from the wives and kids. Some guys really like to let loose. I personally have chosen not to drink in the boat–with that many boats around combined with a very dangerous current, I had safety as my number one priority.

Again, sorry for the bad experience. Just know that we’re not all jerks out there. I hope I can get back next year and get some quieter time upriver, too. The crowds aren’t my thing, either.

Without being at the event this year I didn’t witness the wrong doings. I do however think is is appropriate to point out that it is presumptious to theorize that these were Ido members. 99% of the anglers are good guys/gals. A select few have wires crossed in their brains. Likely a little “Liquid Courage” or “Dumb Juice” is the culprit. The Rainy River and LOTW Sturgeon fishing is highly touted, and gets lots of press. Many anglers locally and from all over the midwest like to come partake in the action. I also would like to point out that it is essential in huge systems of water to make moves if fishing is slower than anticipated. Sturgeon are just like any other fish that will make big and small moves. Those Sturgeon will travel all the way up the Rainy River. That is close to a 70 mile stretch. Lots of ground to cover, and it is very easy to get caught up in Last years hot spots. I’ve talked to locals putting the hammer down on the fish as of late, but the great thing about huge fisheries as they will relate to different structure or HOLES at different times. If there is a large group doing poorly than evidently the fish have made a move. Many variables can effect the movement of the fish, and this is a great time to pull out the Lakemaster chip and find your OWN honey holes. Something very rewarding about pulling into a new spot with nobody around, and putting the beans to some big fish!! As to the boys not able to handle the liquor please stay at the bar….Surely nobody is ever impressed. I truly hope that many of us as anglers will continue to report drunk behavior out on the river or lake. Not impressive or safe.

I don’t have much to say that has not been said already. Sorry for the bad experience. I have to say in years past,when we could go upstream, and get away from the “crazy” people, I have liked it much more. I don’t like to travel 500 miles to sit within spitting distance of anyone, but this year seemed to be the exception to the rule.

I did see a few “gill locks” on fish, but thought it was inexperience and excitement that took over, not stupidity and lack of respect that you saw.

Yes, there was some drunks, loud talk, and more then a few “f” bombs from a few boats. My Dad even commented if they knew any other words

Again, sorry for the bad experience, but I think you may have stumbled on the poorest year in recent memory, and that in turn changed people from fishing hard, to doing other things

Ohh, I also choose to not drink in the boat. to me, my fishing time is too valuable to waste it drunk. Heck, I can stay home and drink, but I can’t fish Sturgeon out my back door

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Heck, I can stay home and drink, but I can’t fish Sturgeon out my back door

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If you would have fished out your back door, you would have matched your performance from Saturday

Was the bite really that bad for you guys?

I thought the conditions we had the previous week were bad enough but the fish were surprisingly cooperative.

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Was the bite really that bad for you guys?

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For the majority, yes. Personally, we did a lot of moving and covered a lot of area, from Clementson to the lake. Just couldn’t get on a consistent bite.

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Was the bite really that bad for you guys?

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I think we got about 20 fish in 3 days. The majority on Friday. It’s not like there weren’t fish all around us being caught. So I didn’t feel we were in the wrong spots or doing anything that different than most. Just they way it goes.

Seeing our friends battle fish along with our bites was more than enough action to keep me in the game all day.

How much weight did ya guys need? I’ll be heading up thursday.

I ran 4 ounce no-rolls with no problems in the River.

If your fishing up in the river…I heard 8 ozers were floating in the river. Four and five ozers were working well in the bay.

We were told that too, but found 4 oz to be fine. We started with 6, but quickly downsized. Not saying other spots didn’t have more current. Bring it all, and back off as you think you need. If you are using a BK Special Sturgeon No-Roll, I think you only need 3 oz.