Hanson's Sturgeon Report from the Rainy!

[hanson]

Sturgeon Excursion 2007

This is the second year in a row now that this has been my highlight fishing trip of the year!

Simply put... the fishing is amazing!

Dad & I arrived at Lake of the Woods / Rainy River on Thursday afternoon and drove up to the Vidas Landing on the Rainy for our first day of tugging big fish off the bottom. Not only was this dad's first time up here, it was my new boat's first time on the water this spring and I wasn't sure what to expect. Thankfully, she had some hiccups but nothing to handicap us to bad.

We set up on an area of deeper water in the river, about 18-19' hole, and proceeded to play the waiting game. I was hoping and praying that dad would get the first fish of the trip but that was not to happen. I ended up tangling with a little 44" for a few minutes. It was really fun watching dad's reaction to the fish but like I said, I was hoping he caught it.

1st Sturgeon of the Trip!

That felt good, 1st fish in the boat and we hadn't even been fishing very long. We knew we were in a good spot, my Lowrance LMS-334 kept showing very large arcs passing beneath us. When I say large, they were VERY LARGE!

Not too much later, fish #2 was on! Better fish, this one was much better! While I was fighting it, dad was running his video camera. I'm not sure what shocked me more, the size of this fish or dad figuring out how to do the video on his digital camera. LOL! What seamed like 10 minutes later, we had this one in the boat and it pulled the tape to 49". Woo Hoo! Now we are talking!

Hanson with a Rainy River 49" Sturgeon

I will say one thing, these fish are persistant! I don't think I even got a 10 minute rest break after the 49" when I tied into another big fish. I offered dad the rod but he wouldn't take it. I really wanted him to feel the power of these fish but he wanted to "catch" his own. Honestly, I just wanted a break 'cause I was worn out from fighting one a few minutes ago.

Hanson with a 50", 2nd Big Fish of the Day!

After catching those 2 big ones back to back, the bite quieted down where we were at and decided to make a short move. Our next spot ended up being the sturgeon nursery, we landed 6-7 smallish fish but dad finally got one! Not much to brag about but he was cute! LOL!

Dad's on the board!

Our first day on the water was simply amazing! 2 big fish, dad's first sturgeon, a bunch of suckers, and a bonus walleye couple with great weather! What more could you want?

On Day 2, we proceeded back to the same spot. The river was now full of boats but the spot we fished was empty. Good or bad, I'm not sure. What I do know is Dad finally hooked a good fish about 5 minutes into the day. And when I say good, she was good! All dad could do was hold onto the rod and smile. Looked like he was having fun! We finally got it in the boat and taped it out to 51 1/2". I should add it was a very, very girthy 51 1/2"!

Dad with a 51 1/2", Way to Go! What a Hog!

But then things shut down and we were off our game. We picked up a bunch more suckers, a few smallish sturgeon, but couldn't connect with anything large the rest of the day. But while we were sitting idle; Papa Grump, Dtro, and ec30_06 were laying the smack down 25 yards away from us. Darren pulled big fish of the day in their boat with a 60"! Awesome.

Day 3 was a race to beat Papa Grump's RiverPro back to "the spot". We lost, which wasn't so bad because Grump would have given us the RiverPro bath if we did beat him.

Similar to yesterday, Dad popped a fish right of the bat! And wouldn't ya know, it was another hog! Dad played the fish for about 10 minutes and we netted her. After seeing a bunch of 50" or so class fish, this one fit that mold as well. But the tape measure wouldn't lie, 54"! "Your kidding me," my dad says. Nope!

Dad with his personal best 54" Lake Sturgeon!

And so it goes... Catch a big fish... Wait, and wait, and wait! Other boats were doing well on numbers of midsized sturgeon but we weren't catching them. It was a 50" or nothing it seamed which made for a lot of time to watch other boats catch fish. And then another one tapped my line. Gotta be a big one with the pattern we were on. Yeppers! It was game on for another nice fish. But this one did something none of the others have done- it JUMPED! As I was fighting it, the line went slack and I said "She's going to jump" and right on que, it leaped out of the water about 3' right at boatside! Awesome! The fight wasn't over yet as she went to the bottom for another 5 minutes. When all was said and done, we had another 49" in the boat. Sweet!

Time to call it a day! Back at Schuster's Resort, we told tales and swapped fish stories with all the other anglers that showed up for the Sturgeon Excursion. Excitement was at an all time high amongst everyone! Everybody caught lots of nice fish with some real brutes coming in as well. What a weekend! I had fun chatting with old friends and meeting new friends as well. I'd name drop but afraid I'll leave someone out. A big Thank You is in order to the staff at Schuster's for rolling out the red carpet for us! We'll be back again next year!

But the fishing wasn't over, Dad & I decided to brave the fog and see what 4 mile bay had to offer on Sunday morning. And what the bay had to offer was nothing short of amazing. There were sturgeon surfacing and splashing all over the place! I mean ALL OVER THE PLACE! Boats were pulling in fish left and right and we got in on a little of that action. Most fish were midsize out in the bay for us, but we got 2 Sturgeon Tags! I got my first tag and dad got his first tag back to back. We also had simultaneous hooksets on a double. We did the round and round in the boat as my fish went one way and dads went the other way. Can you say chaos? Just awesome!

Here's my 1st Tagged Sturgeon!

I've said it once already... What a weekend!

Thanks everyone for the memories and we'll see you next year!

[Katman]

WOW! That looks sooooooo fun! Very nice fish!

[South_Metro_Slayer]

u guys r gettin me hooked and I havent evev ever fished for sturgeons>>>>>>>>>>>>Thanks

[rushing]

I really think people should stop wasting their time fishing for cats and just fish for sturgeon.

[bgreen82]

that 54"er looks nice but that huge 51 1/2" must have just been a beast to pull in. thats girth right there.

[Shack]

Hanson,

Nice fish! I am thinking of head'in up their next year.

[hanson]

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Nice fish! I am thinking of head'in up their next year.

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It really is simple fishing. You don't even need to know much about river fishing to fish these things, they are all over the place. Definitely mark next years Sturgeon Excursion 2008 on the calendar. I'm assuming it will be the same weekend in April next year.

[Big Cat Dad]

Hanson....another great story. I would love to make it up there. Maybe I will in the future. It's just such a long haul for me. I have a limited amount of time and resources and catfish usually take up both. If I ever move to MN it will definitely be on the top of my list.

[troyfideldy]

Hanson Awesome fishing, You guys are getting me all worked up for my sturgeon fishing trip this up coming weekend! What bait seemed to be the most productive and any other tips on finding fish? Thanks very much so.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Deeper water and nightcrawlers is all you will need.

[hanson]

Quote:

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Deeper water and nightcrawlers is all you will need.

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What he said.

[Eric]

Nice work Chris!!!!