Dream Sturgeon Setup

After this last weekend I had so much fun sturgeon fishing my wife wants to come out and try it. She loves the thought of not casting and catching a big fish. What I was using last weekend was a Thorne Brothers rod build on an St. Croix E glass series catfish rod (blank FM90BK) with 6” cut off the tip for an 8’-6” rod paired with an Shimano Tekota 600LC (18 lb drag). This rod worked great even though it was built for muskies. I am sure I could take my wife out and let her use one of my other musky setups but I rather buy a new set up. I know there are a lot of good cheap rods and set ups out there that would work great. If money was no object what would you build for your dream sturgeon set up? Is 18 lb of drag enough for big sturgeon?

Most people need to catch a larger sturgeon before they believe what gear is designed for fish of that size. Hard to imagine right.

My rule is gear that can land a 50# fish in 5 minutes or less. That’s 50# not 50″, big difference. That is what all my combos can accomplish.

Short version
Rod: rated up to 8oz and 8-9′ long ( I prefer a rod rated 2-8 oz)

Reel: 20# drag + (prefer Revo Toro beast or older models)

The Team Catfish I-cat rods were my go to rods for Sturgeon, Flats and Channels cats…BUT they’ve been discontinued. Seems that people didn’t like the $149.00 price point.

Prior to the I-Cat’s I used St Croix’s Triumph Musky casting rod (TRC70MHF). It’s a light weight rod with awesome tip action for seeing the “nibble”. It’s not going to horse in a 70″ fish but it will bring it in. It could use a longer front grip but besides that it’s going to take care of any fish we’ll be hooking into and it’s a fun rod to boot. Of course there’s the famous lifetime warranty that St Croix is known for too.

I use Garcia 6500’s for sturgeon and channel cat. Switch up to the 7000’s for flat heads.

If you prefer spinning gear, it’s hard to beat the ugly stik tiger rods paired with an okuma avenger abf 65 or 80.

Okuma Battlecat for the rod and okuma Convector 30L or Abu 6500 for reel

rschmidty wrote:

If you prefer spinning gear, it’s hard to beat the ugly stik tiger rods paired with an okuma avenger abf 65 or 80.

You’ve tried multiple spinning combos and narrowed it down to that one?

I have 2 ,r2 war rods ,shimano charter specials lever drags. Those rods were made for big fish. DK.

Tuma wrote:

St. Croix E glass series catfish rod (blank FM90BK)

Named after me I’m sure.

I forgot you ask about a dream set up and not what I use. Big difference there (and you will get twice as many replies!)

I think I would stick with my I-Cats. I haven’t found anything better for the BIG Three fish I’m after.

I would go with the Shimano Tekota 300 for Sturg and the 600 (No line counter as I don’t have a use for them) for flats. FYI the LC and non LC’s are different in the fact that the non LC’s a person has to flip the bail lever manually compared to the LC where the bail closes by turning the handle.

They feel much more solid then the garcia line up. More money too.

Personally, I like the cabelas king cat lineup. I have the 8′ heavy models. Paired with older Penn 310 GTI reels. The rods are $30 or so and I picked the reels off EBay for $35 each. A spool of 80lb PP and I am into the whole setup for a shade under $100.

They may not be expensive top of the line fancy gear, but they are effective at an affordable cost. And they are durable. I can’t justify $300 for a bottom fishing set-up when I need 4 of them.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

I would go with the Shimano Tekota 300 for Sturg and the 600 (No line counter as I don’t have a use for them) for flats

I think the line counter has worked in my favor in many ways. When I drop a rig down I know how deep I am sitting and how much line goes out. With that I can tell you how strong the current is and how much weight I should add or take off. It also tells me where the fish is in the murky water even after multiple runs. Knowing how far you are away from the fish has helped out a lot when I am using my current setup as a quick strike sucker rod for muskies. The other nice thing about a LC is I can set my spool to a free fall and slow it down with my thumb right before I hit the bottom so I don’t get a rat’s nest. Flipping the lever has never bothered me and something I am use to. With the spool set to a free fall I can use the clicker to add just enough tension so the reel works like a bait feeder.

My clients couldn’t remember to flip the lever…hence I sold all four Shimano Tekota.

I’m a little confused Tuma, but that’s normal for me.

The only difference between the Shimano Tekota’s with or without a LC is, with a LC, a person can turn the handle and it locks up the bail. Without the LC the handle just spins until the lever is flipped.

I just use 4 oz no rolls all the time. It’s a slip sinker and doesn’t matter if it’s too heavy. I feather those sinkers down not only to ensure a birdnest free cast but also feathering them all the way to the bottom keeps the hook from wrapping around the sinker that would normally spin on the way down.

As I mentioned earlier, there are more than one way to skin a sturgeon…so to speak.

Brian Klawitter wrote:

As I mentioned earlier, there are more than one way to skin a sturgeon…so to speak

and CAT fish
I don’t remember. I have a Tekota 300lc, 400lc, and 600lc and can check them tonight. Since I use them for trolling I always flipped the lever back and forth.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

You’ve tried multiple spinning combos and narrowed it down to that one?

I haven’t tried a lot of combos, but the first couple of combos were fairly cheap and I quickly found out weren’t strong enough to handle sturgeon effectively.

My late cousin AquaJoe, who was one of the early chasers of sturgeon before it became popular like it is starting to become, had those rods, so I gavem a try.

You’ll have a hard time finding a pole that has a more sensitive tip and they have a sturdy backbone which allows you to bring in big fish without an issue.

As for the reel, it holds a lot of line and has 33lbs of drag and so far I’ve been really pleased with the reel.

I’m sure there are better options for both out there, but the combination of quality, ability to fight big fish effectively and a price point that shouldn’t break the bank ($70 for the rod and $70 for the reel) make it a good choice in my book.

What are some spinning combos that you’ve really liked?

rschmidty wrote:

What are some spinning combos that you’ve really liked?

None. Not a fan at all.

Watch a few episodes of river monsters, whatever he is using would be just fine with me. You could land a Buick with most of his reels lol!

The Tekota LC will engage the reel with the handle. But you need to make two full turns of the handle to do so. Sorry it took me so long to check the ones I have and respond back.

Over the years I’ve owned and used a lot of different rods for sturgeon, and I’ll tell ya a lot of them work just fine.
Through that time I have selected the ONE, and yesterday bought 4 more… And I’m glad I don’t live close to Thorne!! Musky heaven!

Okuma evx musky 8’6″ telescoping Heavy action.

1) It is light weight, can be held in hand without fatigue.
2) Will fish 1oz up to 8oz perfectly and it is meant for it!
3) full body bend in the rod, it doesn’t turn from soft to rock in a short section, this takes fatigue off the fisherman when putting the full load into the rod/fish.. think smoother fight.
4) any Sturgeon 50# is landed in 5 minutes.
5) that slower action prevents secondary catches like catfish, from ripping the hook out of their mouthes because the rod absorbs better than most I’ve ran.
6) long butt section for fighting.
7) good foregrip too

Overall it stood out from the rest because of the action and weight.

Just my 2c guys. I’ve got a dozen other rods that can do the job, but there’s only one rod that’ll be doing that job from here on out.

Enjoy the fall fishing.

I should add that even though it is my favorite rod, they now only offer split grip. So my 4 new ones I’ll cork wrap the bare section and then shrink wrap the whole butt. A mod I’ve already tried on a compre of mine. If split grip is a turn off, I guess there’s ways around it.

Thank you for the insight on fixing the split grip issue FishBlood. I have heard many good things about the Okuma EVX rods. But I didn’t like the split grip so I kept away.

4 split converted

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Wow that looks great! Where did you find the shrink wrap?

Mudhole.

They have the cork tape and shrink wrap.

And, if you ask them to draw a dinosaur on the box, they will

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LOL that was my guess and I am already on their website.
http://www.mudhole.com/supplies-rod-building/accessories-supplies/Fix-Fishing-Rod-Handle-Repairs