The Original Sturgeon Excursion - April 19, 2008

[Eric Wettschreck]

I've never fished for sturgeon and I'm getting pretty psyched reading these posts. Tom, we still a go???

[harvey lee]

AS long as I'm breathing, we are still going. No way that I miss this trip. Only thing left to do is pick up some crawlers as soon as we have a heavy rain. Sure hope it rains.

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: Tyler Holm

The water is nearly open at Frontier. Another 13ish river miles and it will hit ClementsonAccessOnRainyRiver. Oh boy!

It appears that we will at least have the same situation as last year.....or maybe better.

Good news!

[Eric Wettschreck]

Supposed to rain pretty good here tomorrow. I'll be out in the evening checking out the backyard!!!!

[fiskyknut]

River ice-out is making great progress with this balmy weather, the bay should be wide open for the Sturgeon Incursion this year. A buddy of mine was on the Rainy near Frontier on Thursday and they pulled over 30 Sturgeonfish with jig/minnow and 3 of them went 60+ inches!

fiskyknut

[fisherking01]

YIKES!!!!! 3 over 60!!!!

[fishuhalik]

Question for you guys. If i'm just going to cpr, do I still need a sturgeon tag?

[DTro]

 Originally Posted By: fishuhalik

Question for you guys. If i'm just going to cpr, do I still need a sturgeon tag?

No

[DTro]

oh boy!

Tell me Tim's report here doesn't get you excited!

http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/1346499/gonew/1#UNREAD

I cannot wait......

[Eric Wettschreck]

I'm giddy!!!!

[crazyice]

I can't wait!! I am sooo excited, I know I will crush my PB of 41.5" and the pics I have seen of the fish up there show that they are so girthy. I have only went after them on the Croix. So this will defenately be a blast I am sure. I just hope that the weather cooperates.

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: crazyice

I am sooo excited, I know I will crush my PB of 41.5" and the pics I have seen of the fish up there show that they are so girthy.

I hope you do! But its still fishing, and the sturgeon can be very, very temperamental up there at times. There is no such thing as a "sure bet". I know a few experienced sturgeon anglers have been shut down because of the weather, the wind, or whatever causes a tough bite with these critters.

Good Luck everyone, wish I was going to be up there with you guys!

[DTro]

If I was in Vegas, and there was a line for Crazy to crush his PB, I'd hit the bet button and keep hitting it till the machine ran out of paper.

Because of the girth, of course a 45 would be crushing it

[hanson]

 Originally Posted By: dtro

If I was in Vegas, and there was a line for Crazy to crush his PB, I'd hit the bet button and keep hitting it till the machine ran out of paper.

Well... duh! Just saying though... when confidence is too high, thats when she'll bite you in the butt.

I know a sure bet the other morning that was looking sorta sketchy for a bit too.

[DTro]

.....and how did that turn out?

[fishuhalik]

Allright! Looks like I'll be there!!! Well, I won't be able to make it on the 19th, but I'll hopefully be making it up on the 21st. So, I've read through all the posts here and on the Rainy River forum about everything I'm gonna need, but I still have a couple of questions.

First off, how many of you guys will still be there on Monday? It looks like we'll be driving up eeeearly Monday morning, hopefully getting up early monday afternoon or late morning, fishing all afternoon, then all day tuesday and leaving tuesday night. Since neither I nor my buddy have NO idea where to start, I'd love to be able to tag along with someone.

Second, are any of you gonna be able to post a daily report? I'm probably heading up regardless, but it would be nice if someone was gonna do some posting if the bite is really off. Then I could just save the gas money and go the next week.

Third, we have a couple of different boats we could take. One is a 2007 Warrior 18' bass boat w/ a 200 opti, fully decked out. The other is an older 15' glass deck boat. Is the rainy a typical river, full of logs and floating debris? Would the new warrior be ok out there? Also, how much distance will we be traveling by boat, assuming the entire river's open? The main delema is gas money, the warrior is a WHOLE lot heavier to tow, but alot more comfortable to fish outta.

Fourth, is there quite a bit of current? Just wondering what size of anchor I should bring. Also, what kinda depths are they usually at?

Sorry, lots of questions, but I hate to spend all the money and time off work to go up there unprepared! I've literally dreamed of catching these giants since I was 10, and this is the first chance I've had. Thanks a ton for all your replies!!!

[DTro]

As with any other fishing, the bite can change daily, so I wouldn't depend on our reports. If we have a bad weekend, that doesn't mean Monday won't be good.

If it was me, I'd take whatever boat is comfy to sit in all day long. Don't worry about the ride, you can basically put in anywhere on the river and catch fish within sight of the launch.

Can't comment on the up to date current of the river, but the last two years, the current wasn't much at all.

[hanson]

Bring the Warrior.

The Rainy is wide and deep for the most part. There are a few shallow areas along with the other river hazards to watch for so just keep your eyes open. You'll probably be fishing 20-30' of water. Bring all the anchor you have. Keeping your boat still is key for bite detection. The wind can be more of a factor than the current.

[Tyler Holm]

As far as I know almost everybody is leaving on Sunday and I know I won't have a report till Monday afternoon or Tuesday. Bring the boat you can anchor the best. If it were up to me, I'd bring the warrior and like hanson said "all the anchor you have". 100' rope in the nose and a 50'er in the rear is how I do it. Then sinch them tight so your boat sway is nill. In a typical day, I'd guess we travel 5 miles tops in the boat. 10 would be a record, so your really not motoring much.

[fishuhalik]

Well, thanks for all the suggestions guys! Looking forward to it, I'm not gonna be able to sleep for the next two weeks

[fiskyknut]

I might slide in an early report for you as I'll be back and forth from home and the pond thru the weekend. I was fishing them Wallys thru the ice right up from Vidas ramp on Saturday, 3/8'r in 16-17 foot hung nice. I'd say that the current is moving a tad or 2 more than last year and fortunatly the levels up as well.

Here's hoping the weather stays mild as it has thru April so far!!!

fiskyknut

[fishuhalik]

If you could do that, it would be greatly appreciated!!

So what kinda conditions would make it perfect? Most of the river fishing I've done was best when the water's low, or at least not real muddy. I'm assuming it's the same thing here?

[crazyice]

Oh baby!! One week left till we are outa here!

[harvey lee]

Dont forget your crawlers guys. One can also order them by friday at Moore's bait & Tackle. One can order them by the flat.-40 dozen. One can contact Bob at

612-861-7412

[Scott M]

Got mine reserved!