fishing for sturgeon?

[carpmanjake]

Originally Posted By: Moonie

we went up to the rainy this spring and did well on crawlers sprayed with WD40.

WD40 pollutes the water, poisons the fish!

actually.... wd-40 is partially fish oil. and it is harmless (at least in small quantities). and it masks human scent, and in therory also attracts fish. did a research progect on it in science in 10th grade

[croixflats]

Part fish oil. I filled my quota for things learned today. Cool to know. I learned a few years ago that trout fisherman sometimes use WD40 to mask their sent. They say trout have very sensitive and small recepticals. The WD40 droplets are so big trout cant pick the scent up.

Sturgeon must be opposite with the size of their recepticals.

[JimBuck]

A reminder For the Croix sturgeon fishing starts below the Taylor Falls dam and ends at the mouth of the river in Prescot.

Good to know. Another quick question if people don't mind the piggyback thread. What launches would you folks recommend for a guy venturing onto the croix for the 1st time? I'm coming from the west metro this weekend to give the sturgies a shot before heading up to Rainy this October. Also, is 2 lines allowed on border waters like the croix with a Mn. license? Cheers.

[Roman_K]

Hey JimBuck, I usually launch out of the bluffs and fish deeper water. If you google st. croix bluffs regional park you'll find it. I believe it is $5 or $10 to launch and $25 for a yearly pass. About the 2 lines, it is legal to fish 2 lines on the st. croix. One of the reasons i love it so much, the boat traffic can get ridiculous though. Watch out for those cruisers they can cause some huge wakes.

[carpmanjake]

Part fish oil. I filled my quota for things learned today. Cool to know. I learned a few years ago that trout fisherman sometimes use WD40 to mask their sent. They say trout have very sensitive and small recepticals. The WD40 droplets are so big trout cant pick the scent up.

Sturgeon must be opposite with the size of their recepticals.

by using the WD-40 they replace their scent with the oils. not really masking the scent

another use for wd-40 is spraying your spool will basically get rid of line memory and make the line more managable

also, spraying spinnerbait and buzzbait skirts with WD-40 will keep the skirt it good condition(the rubber wont stiffen, melt, or harden, and the sleeve wont crack and tear off)

[JimBuck]

Thanks Roman for the advice. Looks to be a nice little park. It says the park closes at 10 does that mean trailers have to be out by then or is just people wanting to enter past 10 aren't allowed to do so? I'd like to get out during the evening if possible to avoid the cruisers.

[DTro]

I would also recommend the Bluffs launch. It is very nice and some good Sturgeon waters nearby. Just a little hint. A Lakemaster chips works very nice on that section. I couldn’t believe how accurate it was.

Also if you venture upstream there is a no wake zone a couple of miles up through the Kinni Narrows. There are a couple of nice areas up there too to fish.

Good holes around Afton, Hudson and Stillwater.

If it’s a warm day + weekend I would recommend only fishing at night, the cruisers are brutal.

[DTro]

We've never had any issues staying past 10pm. There is an automatic gate that opens upon departure.

[JimBuck]

Got it. Cheers DTro. I'm assuming you are referring to the Lakemaster MN. chip? If so, awesome. Hoping to get out there this weekend if time allows.

[Eric Wetteland]

I always go out of the bluffs. It is a nice launch and dtro is right good fishing near. I have the lackmaster chip and it is good for this port of the river. good luck out on the river and look out for big boats. on a side note dtro how late have you stayed at the bluffs.

Eric Wetteland

[Roman_K]

I have the stupid navionics chip, I'm always riding on land especially on the Minnesota. Havent tried it on the croix though. I too never had any problems leaving after dark. I've stayed till about 11.