Pool 4 Sturgeon Bite…

The daylight photos are from River Sturgeon Randy’s boat on Friday and the shot that were taken in the dark were from my boat on Friday night.

The young lady holding the larger sturgeon was Meg Schmalz of Brownton, MN. Seated beside her was her husband of 35 years Mike.
That was Meg’s first sturgeon coming into the boat just 15 minutes after setting the anchor. Taped at 59 inches and scaling at 45 pounds. Randy’s fish was 57 inches.

All fish were caught on night crawlers.

Any questions on how the bite is?

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Andrew Cronin, a guest of Everts sent these photos in this morning.

Launching and current info is FREE at Everts until further notice.

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Looks like it’ll be a banner year!

Very nice. I haven’t been out for sturgeon in about a month. Does the bite seem to be turning on to you or has your success rate been pretty steady on sturgeon this whole year?

A camper at the resort, Danny has picked up a few during the summer but really now one has been out for them that I know of.

My first two trips were very slow….like 0 sturgeon until I switched over to crawlers. I guess I really can’t answer that question. Flatheads have been the target until now.

I’m assuming fun was had by all!!

Very nice. Hooked into a nice one on the upper croix today. Took me around the boat a few times before pulling the hook out. Might need to beef up the tackle next time. Fun fight on walleye gear.

Nice looking Sturgeon Brian.
Jack

Just a couple comments for the new person that wants to hook into one of these little guys.

* Never hold a Sturgeon by the Gill Plates.
These fish can be caught over and over again for literally a hundred years, but if their gill plate is torn they will be turtle food in a few days. Supporting it’s under belly with two hands or if it’s a large girl, lay her in your lap.

* Please do not try to target them with too light of gear. You’re not doing the fish or yourself a favor by using anything less then a heavy bass rod. Landing a large sturgeon on 6 pound test should not impress anyone.

A 50″ sturgeon generally is 25 years old and will be spawning for the first time. Males are normally a little smaller and will be sexually mature about 14 years old. They spawn every 3 to 4 years.

The catch and release season is a fantastic opportunity to tie into one of these gentle giants, but it’s up to us to ensure their continued come back from near extinction.

I hope everyone gets to experience the power of landing one at least once in their life time. It’s unforgettable!

/end of sermon

Brian Klawitter wrote:

* Please do not try to target them with too light of gear. You’re not doing the fish or yourself a favor by using anything less then a heavy bass rod. Landing a large sturgeon on 6 pound test should not impress anyone.

I’d suggest a reel with a drag from 15-25#.
Musky rods: Heavy or Extra Heavy. Soft tip.

Treat them right. You wouldn’t play out a walleye for an hour. DOn’t play out a sturgeon either. Walleye are young…and they’re stocked. Sturgeon are Old as BK and spawn once every 4 years.
If you find yourself fighting a fish for over 5 minutes, and that fish isn’t over 5 feet long. You need heavier gear.

This has been the gospel. /

There are some low cost rods/reels that fit the bill.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

This has been the gospel. /

Lettuce pray

Plus,
It’s just an absolute blast when you put 15-25# of pressure on a sturgeon using a graphite rod. Every head shake transfers into your body. You PULL and them buggers YANK line out and you get a grin on your face like you’ve never seen.

Ya see, you can’t know the power of the sturgeon until you challenge it with strong gear. Putting 5# of pressure on a 50# fish is F******* boring. Putting 20# of pressure on a 50# fish is an absolute blast; not to mention better for the fish. They can’t wrap up as much if you have a lot of pressure on them. When you let a fish wrap up, not only can it cut their gills, but it usually dampers the fight of the fish…Tying its feet so to speak.

Trust me. Big gear, shorter fight but a much bigger fight. One that might tire you a little.

When you tighten the drag down to 20# and the sturgeon keeps peeling out line. Then you double thumb the spool to stop him…That’s entertainment.

I think that lots of folks don’t realize how much pressure you can put on a fish without anything bad happening. PULL on that thing! I always yell “HORSE IT!” and do some name calling.:)

What I always find amazing is that I will tighten the drags on my 6500’s and 7000’s as much as I can and the mid 50 inch fish will still pull drag from the reel.

These fish are not walleyes! LOL!

Dandy fish BTW!!

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On the rainy when a fish was in the current and straight below the boat, sometimes the best I could do was keep pressure on them and wait for them to turn.

mplspug wrote:

On the rainy when a fish was in the current and straight below the boat, sometimes the best I could do was keep pressure on them and wait for them to turn.

Yep!

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Pull till the handle bends

9′ Rods bent into U shapes are Fun.

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man ole man seeing these pix, cant wait to get bak out after dem sturggies.

i agree heavy bass is the lightest u can go and if its anything over 50″ that might not be up to par.
ive ruined a few nice bass setups, stripped gears, burnt drags, broken rods… i have now learned from my mistakes. lol
last yr had a bud snap is Abu Vera sumsum 7’11” H in 3 peices on a 49″. in his minor defense “cz i warned him about using bass gear” that was one of the feistiest sturggies ive ever seen.
side note Big-C store did replace it tho
9′ salmon rod

Awesome photo…one of my all time favs!

Thursday and Friday seemed a little slower.

We lost a good one that cleared the water on Friday, along with a double flathead. Some channels and that ol carp.

Saturday evening was a little slow for sturgeon in our boat. We move to our second position and had a jumper at 57 inches.
That was the only sturgeon of the night. The other time was filled in with channel cats and flatheads. Nothing of real size but a good tug.

We had 8-9 boats fishing… the most I’ve ever seen fishing the darkness of the dam area. (well with the exception of the walleye bite in the fall) It’s great to see more and more people taking advantage of the awesome fishery of Pool 4!

In talking to the guys that came in just before dark today (Sunday), the sturgeon seemed to be on the chew better today then the previous days.

Some good size flathead were caught using live suckers and crawlers as well.

When does this “window” of sturgeon goodness end down there for you guys Brian?

I put my boat away for guiding November 1st each year, but the walleye guys have caught them all winter.

We gave it a go Saturday. Didn’t find any sturgeon, a couple flat heads and a giagantic carp.

A first was my daughter NOT holding a fish for a picture.

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Must be an off year for the ladies Francis. My daughter wants nothing with holding anything either. Last year 5# bass no problem, won’t look at a 10″ smallies nowadays.