I’m thinking the best way to describe the ’07 Sturgeon Excursion is….WOW! Some of the guys went out this morning but as of last night, Mr. Bob Bowman (the EX- Musky Guy) had the top fish honors at 61 inches. I’m going to let Bob fill you in on the details of his catch.
The weather was…well fantastic on Thursday and Friday as few were totting around red faces. Saturday was almost perfect with the exception of an hour or so of rain.
The bay opened up on Saturday morning and the few that fished out there reported a slow bite. The big fish and numbers we in the river. The water temperature was at 47 degrees. With the exception of a few dead heads that Jon Jordan marked with his brand spanking new Yar Craft, the river was debris free.
Thursday afternoon, the first boat I ran into was none other than Chris Hanson (Hanson) and his friend fighting a good size fish. I’m not sure of the size…but as Chris held it up he hollered…”This is way we come to the Rainy River!!” No doubt!
I’m pretty good at guessing the weight of St Croix River Lake Sturgeon, but with the girth of these monsters…I though the guessing out the window. The one fish I had on…I figured to be in the mid to high 50 inch range… once we boated her, she barely made 49 inches but likely weighed in at the same weight as a 55 incher from the Croix.
We had a double in our boat! I’m sure Jon will be posting some video soon. Thanks for letting me ride along Saturday Jon and Terry!
Friday, I was lucky enough to ride along with Jeff (Dr Hook) and Kooty (John). With Kooty’s stories flying left and right, I’m not sure how we caught any fish! Here’s Kooty’s 50 incher.
I want to thank all the folks at Wigwam Resort for their hospitality. They did a very, very nice job on our deep fried turkey dinner Saturday night and making everyone feel at home.
It was great to have 50+ IDA members and their friends in one spot..seeing old friends and making new ones.
I think that’s one of the nicest parts of the Sturgeon Excision. A person doesn’t have to fish early or late in the day to catch some real pigs. Fish at your pace. Then time in the evening to catch up with everyone. I’m looking forward to 2008 already!
Dr Hook with his first LOTWs/Rainy River sturgeon!
Kooty’s release photo.
Thanks for the post BK.
You guys looked like you were having a great time.
What an awesome time! It was THE best fishing I have ever had. We caught roughly more than 500 lbs of fish in a 3 day period.
Our team (Aquajoe and Ralph Wiggums and myself) will be posting a bunch of pics as soon as we can. Met a bunch of great guys and the staff at Wigwam were great!
Mark you guys nailed them Saturday
It was fun seeing you guys hook into so many 50+ inchers in such a short time!
Same with me I’ll be posting more in the next few days.
Back to work an reality
I would have to say I had an outstanding weekend. I brought up two anchors and came home with two anchors. Our group had 4 first time sturgeon fishermen and they can’t wait until next year
. Our groups biggest fish was 60.5 inches. The best fish story of the weekend was one of the guys hooked into a nice 59 incher. As it was coming to the boat, it was starting to unwind itself from the line. They finally got the fish in the boat and noticed that the hook had busted! Good thing it wrapped itself up!
The attached picture is of some man-made structure we thought about fishing next to. Figured it would be good cover that would hold some sturgeon.
Will try to post more picts, this is my first try at this so I’m going to see if this pict. turns out.
I hear it’s been there for almost for weeks….@ $255.00 per day…
Anytime a person comes home with the same amount of anchors they left with…well that’s a good trip!
Who got the 60.5…and are they sore?
It was a very fun time, both fishing and after. My boat boated 37 sturgeon this weeked. Now the after fishing part
was very fun, I don’t think my feet could take any more dancing 
Hey ,speaking of dancing…anyone catch Kooty’s impersonation of Coyote Ugly last night ON the bar?
How you feeling today Kooty? 
man I am sorry I missed that!!!!!!
Ya and it was scary
Yeah Aaron it was a dream trip!! We caught 5 sat that were over 50 inches. I caught 3 of them.
One of them the 53.5 went 49 lbs. Needless to say Im sore as are the rest of the boys! 
We had the drill down after learning our leason with keeping anchors down with any fish over 40 inches 
Once Aqua joe had a bite and when he set the hook it was like he set it into a car going about 50 MPH in the other direction. Instantly Raplh Wiggums (Ryan) and I jumped up and pulled anchors so fast that we were set in about 30 seconds. Farmboy (Brent) and his crew were laughing about that for a while. 
That fish went mid 40’s and Joe got the record for the fastest sturgeon landed. He did it in about 1 and a half minutes. He had a good technique of hog tying those brutes up. He did that a few times on some real nice fish!
Aaron Im sure you and your Dad had a great time. We saw your boat going in circles a few time out there! Your Dad looked like he was a kid in a candy store!
Here’s some picts of our group and a couple of fish.
fish
another fish
Thanks a ton for getting everything together again this year guys!!! I have a couple buddys up that have never fished sturgeon much and everybody have a blast… It was great company all around as always
I have a few pictures but will have more from the other guys cameras as well but here are a few!
This one was pretty funny. This was daves 60″ and I just finished taping the fish and was going to hand it over to Dave but the fish about took me down and Monica just caught me in time
I know Dave has a few more pics of some other fish and I will post them tomorrow more that likely!!. There is a good one on there of his 60 that won the silver medalian. Thanks again and it good to see and talk with all you guys again!!! I didnt wright all the lenghts down but believe we had 5 over 50 and the one 60″ with quite a few in the mid fourtys. Just couldnt have asked for better fishing and weather
Me too, anyone get the video
Looks like a great time. I need to get in on that next year. Not the Kooty dancing part, just the fishing.
God! I wish I could have been there!
Looks like you guys haf a ball again!
My Dad’s 52 incher with an 18.5 inch girth!
This was his 3rd sturgeon. He is hooked!!! He and I are both sore, unlike Mark we only had us two in the boat so I got my pulling those anchors. I quit counting after pulling each 20 times!
At 30 pounds each that is more workout than pulling in those fish sometimes. Great time up there a little disapointed that I only got 29 hours on the water 
Maybee next year I can get 40…..a full weeks work 
My best….so far
Same here, I didn’t even get a chance to get out any this weekend.
On Saturday on our way in I saw these pelicans and was lucky enough to get this shot. My favorite of the birds.
Nice fish everyone! I am glad the weater turned ou well, and the trip was a great success!
Maybe next year… but the St Croix this fall will have to come 1st!
Welcome back, everybody
Looks like you all had a great time. Once again, I’m sorry I missed out. Thanks for sharing the pics and stories
Heres a few pics, Sturgeon virgins no more!
Big Sleepy with our biggest, a 51.5 incher
I have got to plan on maken it next year. Things have just not worked out for me but I would love to be part of this great trip. Thanks for the pic’s and I’m glad you had great weather.
me with my biggest, a 49
And last a 45
Here you go Brian, Bobby’s 61. For the record, my head hurts.
Had a great time staying with TBO/MN and Rootski, thanks alot for all the help!
Brothers??
Fish
Another
Friday night… What a sunset!
Community hole…
A few more
another
nice evening
Well it looks like you all had a blast.. Looks like alot of nice fish were caught and alot of dreams came thru this past weekend…
Hopefully next year I can make the trip.
Thanks for the report and all the pics guys. Very nice fish for sure.
Thanks, Bill
What a great time. Aquajoe, Audemp, and myself had a ton of fun. 29 hours of fishing in 3 days
.
Saturday we only fished a couple hundred yards of the river and had 5-50+” fish and a bunch more in the mid to upper 40s. We had a 1.5 hour stretch in which we landed a 51″, 50″, 51.5″ and 53.5″ fish consecutively. It was great!!!
I will work on getting some pictures up this afternoon/evening. It’ll take a while–there’s 115 of them on my camera
I thought I would toss in a note from the MN DNR…
The spiny waterflea has enter the LOTW’s/Rainy River system. Please make sure you drain you boats/live wells and anyplace else there is water.
You may take your minnows home with you IF you have fresh (non lake water) at the ramp where you can change the water. Otherwise, please dispose of you minnows in a trash container.
They’re biggest concern is that these buggers will be transported to Red Lake by boats.
Not sure about the EX-Muskie thing, but I will tell you that these fish fight like no other. It was a great weekend and it was great to meet so many new folks, I had a great time
Here is Dan getting worked over by a 53- It is a true test of your gear when these fish take a run…….
I have a ton of pictures that I will put a few up after I get a chance to catch up on this work thing
Thanks IDA and BrianK for organizing this
It was a great time, and we are all going home with sore arms. I also got to meet some of the IDA faithful, Kooty (please leave my sister out or this), Dr. Hook, Rootski,Larry Flatcaster, Shamu, Bob Bowman (remember a 60″ fish looks big when you are only 60″ tall 
), and a ton of other guys I am missing.
Larry, Shamu, Audemp, RalphWiggum, and Aquajoe, you guys should have went back to that spot on Sunday for awhile. We caught 8 fish over 40″ with my Dads best and a trip best of 58.5″ Sunday. We had on a double of sister fish fish that were both 48″, and the weather was beautiful!
I really don’t want to work today especially after the great weekend spent with you all. I am re-living the experience over and over. Thanks IDA for putting this on again.
I’ve attached pictures of the 4 largest fish for our boat. Of course Peggy caught 3 of the 4, that’s okay for me. 1st picture is of a 49″er.
The weather was mostly good, the food was good, and so was the company. I’m already looking forward to next year. Also, like Brian K said I really enjoy the fishing (bankers) hours. No real need to be up early.
See you guys around.
51″er
50″er
55″er
Here are 2 video clips. First one is Brian and his 49 inch fish. Second clip is my 47 incher. They ended up being our 2 best fish of the day. First try at putting video on youtube. Need to work on the quality, but seems to work ok.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7l1ca-2G3o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Nm4Pwn40g4
-J.
What a great weekend! The weather was perfect, the fish were biting and the company was awesome. What more could you ask for out of a fishing trip.
Thanks to everyone at the Wigwam for the good food and the great service.
I am already looking forward to next year.
Hey brian.. i caught a tagged sturgeon yesterday. will post pics tomorrow. the number i believe was 81165.. gotta check the pic for sure… WHO DO I CONTACT TO FIND OUT INFO ON IT??
Contact info at the bottom of this page link:
Mn DNR
-J.
What a great time! pics of our catches on the way!
BK-Who ended up with the medals for the three biggest fish? We had to go early due to some homefront issues for one of our groups guys, so we did not get to meet everyone, but hope to next time.
STCROIXER
We had a great time. We (5 guys, 2 boats)boated 78 sturgeon fishing all day Saturday and Sunday morning from 7:00- 9:00. Our best was a 63 inch. Most were in the 42-52 inch range.This is the 63.
63? You should have let me know at Wigwam!
The largest fish caught on Sat for anyone staying at Wigwam would have won a gold medal! Courtesy StCroixer.
Next year I guess…any photos?
If anyone is interisted in giving this a go again there is a small group of us heading up this coming weekend. Think we are just getting a small cabin for now. Wigwam said this morning they have a number of cabins open.
Had another great time at Wig Wam! Lots of big fish, good friends, and decent weather. TBO/MN and I shared the cabin with Fearnofish82 and his brother Big Sleepy. It was a pleasure to meet you guys as well as some other IDAer’s. Here’s a typical fish that we caught last weekend. We just couldn’t crack the 50 inch barrier but caught a lot of fish in the 45-49 inch class.
In case any of you you haven’t gone up there were wondering what it’s like to fight these fish, here’s a picture of TBO tangled up with a 48 inch fish. He’s using a heavy Musky rod. How heavy? The tip wouldn’t flex very much from the weight of the 2 ounce sinker…yet this fish had it bent double. When they want to go, they go!
Too bad you didn’t have a 12 guage in your hand! Those things are getting outta hand too!
I see you out fished the hubby AGAIN!!!! Good job Peggy!
Rootski, I see you were out in the bay. How did you guys do out there. The reports I heard were all small 30’s and lower. We sure found a little honey hole that was about 600 yds long a few miles from the clemonson launch. I cant wait to see some more pictures.
Anyone getting up there for the sturgeon tourney?
I have a hard time saying we didn’t do well….but there were boats that did a lot better. One boat in particular had constant action for several hours. Meanwhile on the other side of us we watched a boat take 5 fish over 50 inches in about an hour. I just don’t get it….either you’re on a good spot or you’re not, and it isn’t obvious to me what that means. We all were in about same 23 feet of water. There were a lot of fish caught out there in the bay but I think the biggest fish were caught up river.
We were not far from Mark and we couldn’t break 50 inches and they did it I think 5 times while not far from us. So I know how you feel Rootski. And by the way it was nice to meet you finally!
Any others out there hurt this week?
My Dad is Hurting today
I am just getting my kicks out of him limping around!
His wife only said “I have no sympathy for you!” She wasn’t happy to be left alone for the weekend. But to all you who didn’t go….in the words of my dad it is the best time he has ever had fishing! He will be ready next year!
Here’s a few of ours, all over 50″ (3 of the 5 that Outdoors4Life mentioned above
)
Me
AquaJoe
Audemp
A tag on one that I caught
Awesome pics everyone! Had a great time up there, definately goin back next year! Good food, fishin, and people, can’t beat it
first one friday
41
my first 35″
my first 44″
CHART that gives an accurate estimate of the weight of a released sturgeon, based on its length and girth. Based on actual LOW/Rainy River Lake Sturgeon
Also shows length/age relationship.
my first 39″ (tagged)
I had the chart with and we weighed most of our bigger fish (in the net) to compare the two. For most fish, we found the weights to match very closely (within a pound or two). We did have two that were way heavier than the chart estimated. Audemp ended up with a 49″ that went 47 pounds!!!
Here are a few pics from our catch.
Double-me and Kent
Double back in.
My Dad with a 58.5, he is 6’2 and 275 lbs.
Mr Brother In Law Kent with a 54″
My Dad with an Abu Garcia 6000 reel that is older then me!
My First- A Sturgeon Excursion Virgin No More
WAY COOL EVERYONE!
Just might have to talk the Mrs. into going up next year!
Good pics and fish stories. Would sure like to enjoy that fishery and Gettogether next year..
Jack..
We stayed at Schusters because the Wigwam cabins were full.
63 incher
50 incher
59 incher
It was a great time!
I got my DNR report on the tagged sturgeon I caught. You can check it out here.
I would be interested in hearing the results of any other tagged fish. Please report the info you receive in the thread I’ve linked to above so we can keep them together.
Dan getting worked by a 53.
Jeff and his 47.
Me and a 56, not sure who is holding who??
Last but not least, me releasing a 56″ fish back to grow. Pretty stinkin’ cool.
PS. What happens up north stays up north.
Kooty practiced his Coyote Ugly dance moves in my Crestliner after catching that telephone pole…..little did I know it was in preparation for his debut on the bar later that evening…..
The only person I’ve told is my therapist
The MN DNR boat collecting sturgeon for tagging.
Nice fish everyone…if you think catching them on heavy tackle is fun, try a walleye spinning rod…These fish have absolute power. I would never target sturgeon on walleye gear but when your fishing for walleyes and you accidently hook into one its a great battle, the fish will definetly win every time!!!
One of our beertender in the evening…she was preparing my first drink…
Thanks for a great time Nikki! Say Hi! to your Mom Georgia Girl for me!
Wigwam’s front desk folks….Dani and Judy!
Thanks for keeping track of everyone and the awesome Deep Fried Turkey Dinner!
Hey guys I need some help finding a couple of guys that were up at wigwam while we were there but dont know what either use as there handle name. I know there first names were Scott… Both of them so they called eachother Scott squared
Anyhow I ended up with one of there camera cases with the memory card from there camera. It was in my buddys boat that was up with us and they must have left it in there while we where shootin the sh** at the launch. If anyone knows these guys or ( Scott if you see this ) shoot me a PM or an email [email protected] and I will hang on to it till I hear from ya!!
I think the camera case belonged to one of these guys in Marty28’s group.
Yep, he was really bumbed about loosing it as he had asked if I had seen it.
I am sure he will be relieved once he gets the message.
Thanks guys!! Marty check your PM