St. Croix River

After watching the latest episode on Sturgeon, I’m hooked. If some guys were trying to go and catch those monsters what are you looking for? I heard them say fishing the bottom of a break but any ideas of where to even begin?

I’m definitely not a pro on sturgeon, but after picking Jakobs brain a little bit he said that you want to fish the bottom edge of the break line. So basically if you look at the main channel you want to be right on the edge of where it starts to get shallower. Ex. If the main channel is say 38′ try setting up in 30-35′ on either side of the river channel.

That’s what I got out of it also the one time I’ve been out on the Croix for Sturgeon. The guys I was with said they always fish the bottom of the break. I’m guessing sturgeon are big lazy vacuums that just like to run along the bottom edge of the incline and suck up all the food that rolls down it from the current? He said rarely will they ever catch fish when they try fishing up the break further. I was lucky enough to score a trophy fish the first 30min ever trying it! It was an unbelievable experience trying to fight a fish that size.

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I worry a lot of people will try hooking them now with substandard gear or a small ice hole with no chance of actually landing something that big. The population appears to be very healthy which is great.

If you’re going for sturgeon does it matter what part of the St. Croix you’re on, and is the ice safe everywhere? I’ve never fished a river hardwater before.

Nathan Lindall wrote:

If you’re going for sturgeon does it matter what part of the St. Croix you’re on, and is the ice safe everywhere? I’ve never fished a river hardwater before.

Yes Yes it matters, if you can find a friend or an friend on IDO to show you the ropes of certain section of river do it. The Croix can be a dangerous river to ice fish.

I barely trust a lake, but never trust a river.

Nathan Lindall wrote:

If you’re going for sturgeon does it matter what part of the St. Croix you’re on, and is the ice safe everywhere? I’ve never fished a river hardwater before.

I live about 1/4 mile from the St. Croix and we just got 14″ of snow. Travel on the ice is not going to be very easy for a while and knowing where the thin ice isn’t going to be easy. Use extra caution of you are going out there and be prepared for deep snow.

Evan Pheneger wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Nathan Lindall wrote:</div>
If you’re going for sturgeon does it matter what part of the St. Croix you’re on, and is the ice safe everywhere? I’ve never fished a river hardwater before.

Yes Yes it matters, if you can find a friend or an friend on IDO to show you the ropes of certain section of river do it. The Croix can be a dangerous river to ice fish.

I barely trust a lake, but never trust a river.

Evan, best advise I’ve seen on IDO in a long while.

My advice was to get advice from IDO…its like an IDO advice inception! lol

I plan on heading out there again Friday evening. The deep snow has me a little concerned about travel, but I am hoping the road up to shanty town from the marina is decent and will get me close enough to where I want to setup…

If not, I plan on walking as far out as I can…

Thanks Evan, I agree safety comes first. I’m pretty new to IDO and don’t have any buddies that live in the area so it might be time to make some new friends at the launch

Pat,

Great show !

Was the bait laying on the bottom with just enough tension to keep a taunt line?

Does the Northwoods Angling crew guide or do they just film? Ive been dabbling a little bit in the summer sturgeon but Im yet to bring a dinosaur to the boat.. It would be fun to try it out thru the ice..