Jumping Sturgeon!!!

I saw a sight last Friday evening that I have never seen before. We were pulling three ways and cranks around the Prescott no-wake buoys, when a sturgeon, about 5 feet long cleared water by about 3 feet!!! I thought it was a missle launching! It was an amazing site! The fish was absolutely HUGE! The splash was like a human doing a belly flop! I happened to be looking at the spot when the fish made the leap. It made for an easy ID. The fish was very easy to identify. It had to be in the 70 pound range. I have caught some in the 40 pound range, and they had nothing on this dinosaur look-alike.
Tuck

Have seen it at least 5 times this year! I think they are just having fun.

RiverEyes said he saw one jump out of my wake right behind the boat! wow….

J.

I have seen that a few times also, especially with northerns. I was told by an old timer what they are doing is “gilling”. They do that to freshen or clean their gills. They do this a lot in warm temperatures. Since there is more algae and junk in the water they need to “gill” so they can get more oxygen to their bodies through the gills. Or maybe like you said they were just happy and having fun.

Hi…
I’ve been lucky enough to see it as well…on the Wisconsin River in the Dells, and on Winnebago. They are such a cool fish to catch during open line season in the Dells.
During the RCL on Winnebago this spring, a friend of mine had the camera guy in his boat. He said they filmed a sturgeon jumping out of the water, etc. Not sure if it’ll get on the show though.
~Jenn

I used to see a lot of them jumping on the flat in front of the kings plant… and some real dinos there too… in fact there would so many I could not believe I was not catching some… I would often see 10 a day… it was the biggest concetration Ive ever seen……. and yeah when I was sitting in Jons boat as he roared down the croix it would close on fish so fast that it would pass them before they could respond.. then they leaped in terror… one sturgeon.. only about 2 feet long literally launched….. and I bet it was 10 feet in the air and landed at least 20 feet away from the way…. those fish CAN jump… though salmon have them beat….. maybe we should have a little FTR sturgeon tourny/get together on the Croix in the fall when the season is open… just for grins and giggles… might be fun….. any thoughts?

I have never seen any leaping sturgen yet but i will have to keep my eyes open.
Sounds like fun Rivereyes. I have been able to peg them down up here pretty good in the late summer and fall. Its suprising how shallow of water they like to hang in. I usually find them when im bottem fishing out in front of the shallow wing dams. sometimes in as little as 2′ of water. Its really suprising when they will take live bait on the move. Had one chase down a sunnie i was realing in. Im still waiting for the day i have one hit a crank bait.

Quite a thrill isn’t it! We often see Sturgeon do this on the Menominee River while they are spawning. Wait until you hook a big one like that, what a ride! They will pull you up and down the river. Kind of unnerving.

I ran into a bunch of jumping sturgeon on the Flambeau River a few years ago. We thought they were Muskies (could’nt get a good look at them).And we casted our arms off trying to catch one but to no avail. Then a local told us the lowdown. It was really bizarre to see these big fish jump!!

Years ago I watched many of them jumping in the shallow tailwaters of the Prairie Du Sac dam on the Wisconsin River. Quite a sight

We see this a lot on Winnebago. The old rule of thumb is if the sturgeon are jumping the walleyes are biting. Sometimes we see 20 or so a day. It really is a sight to behold. Good fishing and have a safe 4th.