Help Any sturgeon experts?

[muskiejoe]

This may seem like a weird question but here goes. My buddy and I were fishing for muskies on a small 200 acre lake in Wisconsin. On two straight mornings a HUGE fish jumped completely out of the water right in the middle of the lake. When I say huge I mean huge. It was about 100 yards away and both of us swear it was over 5 feet. The question I have is #1 would sturgeon even be in a small Wisonsin lake not connected to rivers etc? And even if they could be in there do Sturgeon come to the surface and jump completely out of the water? I thought they are bottom dwellers. I say it was a muskie. Any thoughts? Thanks, Joe

[AWH]

If there are sturgeon in there, I would say it's a good chance it was a sturgeon. I used to musky fish on a Wisconsin lake that has a decent sturgeon population. It was relatively common to see them jump completely out of the water. When this happens near by, it sounds like a person jumping in the lake! It's pretty cool to see a fish that big going airborne!

Aaron

[AWH]

As far as your question about the possibilities that a sturgeon would be in a small lake like that...you never know. A few years ago a very big sturgeon was washed up dead on Lake Harriet right in downtown Minneapolis. A sturgeon was netted on Lake Mille Lacs, I believe two springs ago. These are two lakes that I don't think anyone had ever heard of a sturgeon swimming in. So you never know what might swim in the waters that you fish....

Aaron

[muskiejoe]

Thanks guys. I guess if sturgeon are known to jump completely out of the water it probably was a sturgeon. If it was a muskie it was a world record no doubt...... I just did not think sturgeon would be in a small lake....

[DTro]

wow, you just dug up some of my old skeletons

I was fishing muskies one time on a small river "way up in the woods". Let's just say the name is the opposite of bigspoon Anyways as we are motoring along downstream I see this monster of a fish (monster I tell ya) jump completely out of the water. To this day I've kept it to myself and stuck it away back in the closet. I know that this river holds giant sturgeon so maybe....just maybe I'm not crazy after all.

[markkstanley]

When I lived out west I would fish for sturgeon and they will jump clear out of the water like a tarpon. I bet a lot of lakes around here have a small sturgeon population and since nobody fishes for them they will be huge. Lake sturgeon live for about 100 years.

[Cooter]

They jump all the time. A buddy of mine actually takes photos of em in the air.

[FishingwithJake]

Cooter - Could you post any of these pictures? I think they would be interesting to see.

[Cooter]

I'll get a hold of him and find out.

[Cooter]

Will be posting a pic or two of jumping sturgeon soon.

[Random guy]

Thanks Cooter, I still can't believe those big old fish jump like that...crazy.

[TSCTSC]

The question is...how do we catch them???

[Cooter]

Bunch of crawlers on a hook and add crayfish scent. Fish on bottom with slip sinker rig. Or use crayfish if legal in MN, its not here in WI.