Any of you guys on here now of any good spinning rods for sturgeon. I’m only saying spinning because i usually fish from shore. All the rod needs to be is very strong,have a sensitive tip,8-9 feet and able to throw a 6 oz weight as far as possible. The reel I’d put on it would likely be the Fin-Nor offshore reel I have,the Okuma avenger or maybe the salt striker.
Don’t discredit bait casters when fishing from shore. One of my sturgeon rods is a 10 foot medium heavy ugly stick with an Abu 7000 and I can cast just as far as guys with spinning gear. If your more comfortable with a spinning reel, ugly stick has some great spinning rods that work awesome for sturgeon and I know guys that like the Berkley glowsticks and both you can’t beat the price
. Also there is no need to cast to the middle of the river when targeting sturgeon from shore, find the right locations and they can be caught with only a 20-30 yard cast. Hope this helps!
tight lines!
Kevin
If you’re on a budget, try a Shakespeare Alpha spinning rod. I have a 9′ version, and it is both strong and sensitive (like BK).
Thank you Kevin. It does help to really get it out their at my two favorite sturgeon spots.
Charlie try looking at Fleet Farm in Hudson or other stores for the Zebco Cat Fighter rod. I have the 9ft 2 piece MH one with an Offshore Angler Sea Lion 70 size spinning reel and 65lb power pro on it. I can toss a 5oz sinker and a bullhead about 70 yards when I have enough room to get a good swing and it fits in the trunk of my car. It was a $20 rod and I love it for shore fishing. the black and yellow color scheme makes it easy to see at night too.
I think there’s a catfish guide that might know more. I know he knows a lot about spam.
Everyone’s opinion varies with rods, sinkers and hooks many times because of personal preferences and budget obviously.
I guide for Channels, Flatheads, Shovelnose Sturgeon and Lake Sturgeon here in MN/WI. When Team Catfish came out with the I-Cat, I was skeptical. Over the years I’ve tried many rods and finally chose two. One set for Flatheads and a second set for channel cats and sturgeon.
I was surprised that the I-Cat worked well for flathead up to the 50 pound range. They had the backbone to fight a flathead out of the wood and to the boat. Brute strength. What I was surprised to find was the tip sensitivity for detecting the subtle sunfish like tap of a lake sturgeon. These fish have one of the lightest bites whether it a 50″ 45 pound fish or a 10 pound fish.
I’ve now eliminated my two “sets” of rods and run exclusively I-Cats. I just switch from a Garcia 7000 to their 6500 when I target sturgeon.
The other piece I like is the catfish hook size hook keeper. It will actually hold a 10/0 Super J without having to wiggle it into the keeper.
I use Tug O War braid in 80 lbs. Between the braid and the sensitivity of the carbon fiber, it’s pretty easy to tell the composition of the bottom of the river by dragging your sinker as well as if there’s a leaf or weeds on your line. Keeping your line in the water and clean will mean more fish over time.
Between the braid and the Carbon Fiber the slightest nibbles are telegraphed to your hands via the through the rod handle composition.
I had a rod building friend of mine tell me switching from a cork handle to EVA foam was a mistake because of trying to keep it clean. That wasn’t true in this case at least. Although I still like the feel of cork, I found myself lightly sanding the cork each year and then painting on a sealer to try to keep it looking new and some what clean. The foam handles turned out to be much easier to clean with a wash cloth, some Dawn for Dishes and hot water. I still had to pick off the shad scales as had to do with cork.
I’m not trying to tell you this is the ultimate rod for YOU because there’s a lot of personal preference in what makes a catfish/sturgeon rod your favorite rod. I will say I have not found a better performing rod built with quality (made in ‘merica) for the four species I guide for.
Want to try one out? That’s the only way I can tell if a rod is for me. Shoot me a PM and we’ll see if we can work it out. I’m not sure of your location.
Full disclosure, I’m sponsored by Team Catfish although I can chose any brand of rod I want for my boat.
I will say I have not found a better performing rod built with quality (made in ‘merica) for the four species I guide for.
Every time I hear that word it makes me smile… 
LOL! Should be two eggs on that plate… this is ‘merica!
Thank you BK. Those rods sound perfect if they have all those traits you said. It will just be a while before i get one if I decide to. What where the rods you used to use for channels and sturgeon.
Thank you
Charlie
For flats it was a Premier and channels and sturg I used a Triumph.
St Croix.
Both are very good rods although as Ralph mentioned the fore grip could have been longer on the Triumph.
The I-Cat is a bout twice the price of a Triumph and the Premier is about $20. more.
Ps I recommend holding one rod if you can. Many fish are caught by using rod “feel”.
Flathead Rods in holder.
I-Cat-7000-Folbe-Holder.jpg
I-Cat-80-Tug-o-War-Braid.jpg
From what you’re telling me this rod is what I’m looking for and I’ll probably pair it with an abu7000.
Ps I recommend holding one rod if you can. Many fish are caught by using rod “feel”.
Yeah if you aren’t attaching bells to your rods, and your not holding your rods; you’ll miss a lot of bites.
FYI That’s why I switch to 6500’s for sturg. Lighter weight, I don’t need the winching power of the 7000 in the areas the sturgeon are. Also the line out alarm on the 6500’s are too light for a decent sized live bait.
Since I primarily fish from shore lots of line capacity is a nice thing cause i have had some BIG sturgeon take out well over 150 yards of line when they don’t turn back around.
LOL! Charlie, you need to run faster! 
Honestly, I can’t imagine a 60+ inch fish being caught from shore.
I know it happens frequently but that adds a whole new set of problems to landing the fish!
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