suckers running?

[Bobb-o]

anyone seeing any suckers starting to run anywhere in the state?

[Dan Thiem]

Not yet! But, it is good to know there is someone besides myself that enjoys sucker fishing.

At first people say, "What? Sucker fishing? On purpose?" Ya on purpose. If they only knew how much of a sporting battle these fish really have. If catch and release is the way you fish anyways, what's the difference what species of fish is on the other end of the line.

The Zumbro River near our house really does hold a great number of these fish. Every spring the town has a contest for the biggest sucker of the one week long event. Most years the winning fish is in the 7 to 8 pound range. It sure is a funny sight watching a guy walk into the Neptune Bar with a proud glow on his face holding a big 'ol sucker to register!

Usually we start to see the good fishing start around the first to second week of April. It usually lasts until late June. The cool thing about sucker fishing in the Zumbro is that you never really know what you're going to catch. One time for instance my daughter was horseing in what I though was another sucker. Her little arms couldn't even hold the pole upright. The strength of the fish fighting was pulling the pole down and while she was cranking on the reel she really wasn't gaining anything on it because of the drag. So I did what every Dad would do and went over to tighten the drag a bit and help support her pole. Ends up she caught a 20" walleye.

So, Bobb-o, if you ever get to S.E. Mn. drop me a line and we'll go sucker fishing!

[Tyler Holm]

I'm already hooked and have never caught one or fished for them. I can't wait for Dan to show me the ropes. A few more weeks, then tight lines for me!

[Maashkinoozhe]

Cool. A sucker thread. With spring coming I have to bone up on my sucker I.D.ing - I caught some redhorse a number of years back, but I had no idea what kind they were...

Being a sucker newbie, what does one use for bait? I've heard cut nightcrawler...

Dave

[hanson]

I can't wait Dan.

You remember this beauty?

Wait a minute... I'm not talking about the fish.

[Dan Thiem]

Maash, I'm sure everyone has their own approach for sucker fishing, but mine is as basic as it gets. Eight pound test rigged on a medium action rod. Tied on the line is a #4 or #6 baitholder hook. I usually have a sliding sinker on when the current is high but if water levels are at the normal levels just a split shot. For bait, you got it, a night crawler bunched up on the hook with a couple inches of tail still dangleing. Prop the rod in a "Y" stick and sit back and enjoy the outdoors. Sometimes that kind of fishing is the most relaxing. Untill you hook into one. Then there aint nothing relaxing about it.

Hanson- ya that day was fun! Nice looking roughie! The fish is good looking too!

[Roughfisher]

I have reliable reports of staging early-run suckers in several rivers at our latitude. If you want to follow the progression, here's a chart I made:

Take the Black redhorse timing with a grain of salt as most of the spawn timing info for them is from the south where they are more common. Beyond that, the shortheads and longnoses come first - but the longnose on Lake Superior are much later because of the cold water. Whites and Northern Hogs are also early.

One thing to keep in mind is that the riffle-spawning species are drop-back spawners, meaning when they do decide to spawn, they like to move a short distance backward into the spawning riffle. So during the very early stages of the run (like now) you want to target deeper-water areas upstream of good spawning riffles. The closer you get to the spawn the closer to the riffle you fish. And during the spawn, you still want to be fishing above the riffle because the active spawners will rarely take a bait and you'll just snag them. Fish as close to the riffle as you can find deep water. Four feet is enough in small streams. I like a two-inch chunk of crawler with just enough wait to barely hold it in place. Slinky rigs are excellent for this type of fishing. A lot of suckers, especially shortheads, are very light biters when the water is cold, so you need to prop up your rod and pay close attention. As the water warms you can use drifting and steelheading tactics, but for now you want your rig totally stationary. Circle hooks are excellent on suckers and make catch-and release easier and less damaging to the fish. Eagle-claw's new baitholder circle hooks are the cat's meow for sucker fishing, but unfortunately you can only buy them snelled. Standard #8-12 black circle hooks work great too. Suckers are excellent eating this time of year (grind the fillets or score them) so enjoy a good meal but release what you can't use. Good sucker runs mean lots of baby suckers for forage, lots of sucker eggs for other fish to gorge on, and great sucker fishing for your grandkids. Once the season wears on you're going to start encountering deeper-spawning, territorial sucker species which require more mobility. Keep at it. Good luck.

[Dan Thiem]

Once again Roughfisher has grace our site with his vast wealth of information!

I remember last year you helped me out i.d. a sucker. You definatley know your stuff ! Thank you!

[Maashkinoozhe]

Thank you Dan and Roughfisher for sharing! Definitely printing your posts! I'm getting keyed up this year to expand my species list and I want to target suckers this spring. Guess I'll have to bring my species keys with me to make sure I get them IDed right.

Dave D.

[hip_hop_fisherman]

No sign of them here yet, was going to go out tomorrow regardless whether they were there or not until I just checked the weather, wish I would of sat and watched a pole outside today, how nice it was.

[Lunker]

Saw a couple big old suckers sittin up against a dam on the WI river while I was walleye fishing. I'm no sucker guy, but that's proably a good sign for ya.

[Fish'n guy]

Got a nice white sucker out of the Cannon river yesterday.

[Cooter]

I think they're running from the current around here right now.