2011 Sturgeon Excursion April 14-17

[folke2000]

Thanks Jake....

Tight lines,

Folke

[wastewaterguru]

90 percent of the time I have used 1 and 2 ounce weights up there. The bite detection goes down dramatically as you increase the weight. I needed 4's and 5's in the river last year......but that was very fast water compared to normal.

[folke2000]

Thanks also to you Waste Water....this will be my 2nd time up doing the sturgeon dance, and still learning....Can't wait.

Folke

[MinnesotaMuskie]

I was up there about 4 years ago...it was incredible.

Here is my question, I have a 16 foot jon boat with a 15HP...do you guys think I could manage with that. Last time up we did not go out of the mouth of the river vedry far and did well.

I realilze wind woduil be the big unknown.

[JimBuck]

I think your jon boat with the 15 will be just fine. If you wander into the gap, just choose your battles wisely.

[MinnesotaMuskie]

Actually I just looked at it last night...it has a 25 HP.

I am using it as a bowfishing boat...might make the trip.

[iffwalleyes]

Anyone have any idea where I can order a flat of crawlers from, down there ? I ordered from Jewell last year & they were waiting at Sportsman's when I got there, which I thought was just great!!!

Attempted to go on their site last night to order again & my computer tells me that it's a bad idea to go there ("Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!"... ).

Anyone have any alternatives for us???

Hey just contacted Jewell Outdoors they are base out of my home town. I asked what was going on. When I hear back I will let ya'll know.

[harvey lee]

7 more days and it's time to go.

[harvey lee]

Harvey Lee,

Last year you said you could bring some sinkers if anyone needs them. Do you still have them? Looking at the weather conditions, it looks like there might be some pretty good flow on the river in the next couple of weeks and I could use some extra weight.....

Thanks.

I do not make them any longer.

Try the Outdoor Pro Store.

Sorry for the late reply.

[Matt C]

HL...your marcum is loaded in my boat so I don't forget to bring it up for ya.

[Capt. Quicksteel]

Thanks. I'll see you up there.

[Traxxx]

Caught a tagged 56" the other day and here is a bit of info I recieved today,from the DNR

As of the date of this letter, we have tagged 6,080 lake sturgeon, 3,087 longer than the 45 inch minimum size limit, at the time they were tagged. The longest sturgeon we have tagged was 71.3 inches long, but weight was not recorded for this fish. This fish was tagged on the Rainy River, near the mouth of the Littlefork River, in 2004. The heaviest sturgeon we have tagged and weighed was 77.9 pounds but only 65.7 inches long. This fish came from the Littlefork River in 2000. The largest sturgeon we have sampled was caught off of Pine Island in September of 2007. This fish was 73 inches long and estimated to weigh 120 pounds. Unfortunately we were not set up to tag this fish, so it was released without a tag.

We have found that in the Lake of the Woods-Rainy River system, male lake sturgeon begin to reproduce when they reach 17 years of age, while female sturgeon do not mature until they are about 26 years old. After maturing, males spawn only every two to three years while females spawn every four to nine years.

[Traxxx]

Intense commercial exploitation during the late 1800s and early 1900s decimated the once abundant sturgeon population. After the decline of the commercial fishery the sturgeon population was unable to rebound due to water pollution in the Rainy River, the primary spawning area. Water pollution prevented the sturgeon from spawning successfully most years, however sturgeon are an extremely long-lived species. Enough individuals managed to survive and reproduction was enough to maintain a small population. With the passage of the Clean Water Act and it’s amendments in the late 1960’s and early 1970s, the sturgeon population started to grow and reproduction is successful in most years. Population estimates for the number of sturgeon longer than 40 inches in the Lake of the Woods - Rainy River system were made in 1990 and again in 2004. The sturgeon population grew from about 16,000 individuals to about 60,000 individuals during this period. Today, the Lake of the Woods-Rainy River system is one of the few areas in the country that has a lake sturgeon population that is healthy enough to support a fishery.

[pushbutton]

Traxx, thanks for the info! Would like to encourage catch and release or replicas during the tag season and continue the progress that has already been made.

[DTro]

Can't wait to get up there. I seen a picture of an open water channel forming in front of Wheeler's public launch yesterday.

Where's the ffwd button?

[DTro]

Sportsman's webcam about 5 minutes ago:

[DTro]

Thanks to JP at WigWam, I just read that Wheelers public access is open.

[cjac]

Great news.....the timing is lining up quite well for next week.

Schwing!

[Eric Wettschreck]

Just put new line on the wife's reel, made up some snells, and got my gear all ready to go.

Less than a week to go!!!!!

[GrizzlyAdams]

2 days til my first trip ever fishing for the big sturgeon. Can't wait. It is gonna be a fantastic time. Looking forward to meeting a bunch of you who will also be there.

[Gordie]

Two more days and counting

[Surface Tension]

Sportsman's web cam from right now.

[Matt C]

NICE!!! Looks like alot of the debris has gone away! AWESOME!

[wastewaterguru]

Groceries bought.

Boat Packed.

Ready to Rock!!!

[jwmiller33]

Glad to hear. That is great news for you excursion'ers

I expect to see pics of some hog dinosaur lookin fish my this time next week!