2009 Sturgeon Excursion Report

By mark_johnson 0

Wow – If time flies when you are having fun, this trip was a 747!! The 2009 Sturgeon excursion on the Rainy River/Lake of the Woods was a great 3 days of big fish and good fun. Compared to last year the bite was pretty slow, but the number of big fish made up for that in a hurry! The general attitude on this trip is so laid back that I’m sitting here wondering where my tireless drive to fish walleyes went?

We started our first day on the water about 10Am with one little bite that looked like it must have been from a 6 inch perch….that bite turned into a 25 minute battle, a muskie rod in 3 pieces and my personal best 61" Sturgeon. Seriously, my arms are still sore! The next hour it was a little slow so we moved downstream a few miles to another hole. It didn’t take long and here comes that same perch on steroids. Another 20 minute battle and we had a fat 59 incher in the net. The days on the water seemed to go like that, a 1-2 hour break interrupted by a big fish and a bunch of high-fives.

Our presentation started with a 4oz river sinker, 14" braided leader and a 4/0 circle hook. With that crazy fast current we upgraded to 8oz and stayed with that to keep the bait on the bottom and steady. It was probably overkill in some places but if you aren’t on the bottom they won’t bite. We used a 28lb navy anchor to hold us and a Drift control trolling bag off the back to stabilize the boat and keep it from swinging, it worked great.

With 3 guys in my boat we only averaged about 6 fish a day, not too many compared to last year’s 30+ fish per day. But It didn’t really matter given the size of these fish we were willing to be patient. Our 6 biggest fish were 51, 53, 55, 59, 60 and 61". If things got too slow we would move again and try to reproduce the same situation in another hole. We fished 5-6 different locations between the gap and then upstream about 5 miles. We looked for deeper holes, current seems and tried to stay in 20-35 FOW, all spots had fish but certain places were much better than others. Overall this was a fantastic trip to be on! It was great to see and talk with everybody again. My cabin is already booked for next year. See you on the water!

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  4. I’ve always wanted a three piece Sturgeon Rod!!

    I thought I was the only one using a drift control sock…they work a heck of a lot better than lifting another anchor…so says the favorite daughter.

  9. Thanks guys! Feel free to add your pictures and comments to this report…I know there were alot of big fish caught over the weekend

  15. Thats funny!

    Quote:

    Your van and boat were hard to spot.

    I told my buddy..”do you think he makes signs?

  17. Hi Brian,
    Thanks for the welcome. It was good to see you again. I don’t know if you remember, but I dropped my first no roll with you on the Croix. BTW We were glad to spice things up, and I don’t mean the best Bloody Mary’s ever served at the Fireside. Next year pull up and visit.

  19. Howdy Kooty,
    Thanks for the welcome. We sure did get a lot of looks, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Look out next year. Yeeee Haaaaa… Ps Can and how do I get a banner on your site?

  21. Howdy 18Fisher. Awesome, I know it’s over the top, but that’s just what I was hoping you would say.
    Float on over next year and say Hi.

  24. Quote:

    your site?

    I’ll save this line forever. Just remember this when all you other smucks are razzing me!!!

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