My first sturgeon! + What on earth did I hook?!

[popriveter]

I caught my first sturgeon yesterday fishing pool 3. It was landed pretty quickly, handled gently and back in the water in short order. I marked the length on my boat, but haven't yet pulled out the tape to check my rough measurement.

A couple hours later, I hooked and lost a monster. It came on a vibrax spinner with a single hook. It really felt like a strike (not a snagged fish) and it began to run the moment it was hooked and did not stop. I had a med-heavy baitcasting combo with 25" mono and a big spool. I was pretty confident with my gear, so I cranked the drag down pretty tight, but it didn't seem to slow this fish at all. It swam straight across the heavy current below the dam, ripping out line so fast that it burned my thumb when I tried to assist the drag in adding extra tension. I estimate it was 100-200 yards out when it turned upstream, swam straight into the dam and got my hook stuck either on the dam or the debris just below. It was insane! I have never encountered another fish this powerful. After a few minutes of trembling, I had to try and break that mono. That was not an easy task.

So what did I hook? Here are the clues it left me: 1-seemingly bit an inline spinner, 2-constant, fast tail strokes (felt like a running salmon, but the size of an orca), 3-located just below the hastings dam, 4-made the sturgeon above seem like an easy fight.

What do you think?

[bobbymalone]

What do you think?

Stray Russian submarine?

congrats on no longer being a sturgeon virgin

[goblueM]

a bigger sturgeon or a huge flathead would be my guess

[mainbutter]

Given it was a spinner, I bet it was a flathead, but MAYBE a sturgeon. There are places in the middle and southern parts of the US where flats are targeted with spoons, crankbaits, and yes even inline spinners.

One possibility is snagging a sturgeon, snagged fish are always 10x harder to fight and I couldn't imagine landing a large sturgeon snagged in the side or tail.

[Stratosman]

Tail hooked carp would be my guess... There are HUGE carp by that dam.. Did you actually catch that sturgeon on the spinner? THat would be wierd especially since that water is not that shallow there.

[popriveter]

The sturgeon was fin-hooked accidentally trolling a crankbait. I'd never heard of a sturgeon or a flathead hitting a spinner, but I'm sure stranger things have happened. Also, just because it felt like a strike doesn't automatically mean it was. I've never caught a tailhooked 40lb carp, but I have tailhooked 12-15 pounders and this sure felt different to me.

I'll find some opportunities to work "sturgeon virgin" into conversation this week. That's useful term!

[popriveter]

The sturgeon was fin-hooked accidentally trolling a crankbait. I'd never heard of a sturgeon or a flathead hitting a spinner, but I'm sure stranger things have happened. Also, just because it felt like a strike doesn't automatically mean it was. I've never caught a tailhooked 40lb carp, but I have tailhooked 12-15 pounders and this sure felt different to me.

I'll find some opportunities to work "sturgeon virgin" into conversation this week. That's useful term!

[RumRiverRat]

Stray Russian submarine?

Red October?

[ILLIFIED]

I think you've been bitten hard by the sturgeon bug

[Fever]

I'm going Flat head Cat. My personal best was a 44 pounder and it was prob a 20-30 min fight (seemed like longer). I was using med. heavy spinning tackle 6-6 rod with 50 lb braid. I had drag cranked tight and she still tore out line like I wasn't there. She went up stream 50-100yds then down, then back up, then back down 50 - 100yds, staying deep the whole time. I was lucky to have not had her snag up or same thing would have happened to me. I dang near gave up and let a buddy sub in for me. Big cats fight like it's their last fight and don't tire easy. So... I'm guessing 50 plus pound Flatty. Fun though when your knees are shaking like that.

[popriveter]

I'm still thinking about that fish (or submarine)!

[TruthWalleyes]

You hooked a big flathead. They'll sit on the edge of the hole created from the dam. Nice Sturg.