2008 Fall Sturgeon Season

[Sandmannd]

Nice fish guys, looks like a fun night.

[hanson]

What the heck is up with the CrappieTom safety chartreuse stocking hat Ralph, thats his signature accessory.

[Ralph Wiggum]

What the heck is up with the CrappieTom safety chartreuse stocking hat Ralph, thats his signature accessory.

LOL, someone left it at my house once. I never found the owner so I threw it in the boat

[Shack]

Ya, it sure was a fun night

No Manny's steak dinner last night , but almost thought right at the end it could have been a 50"'er+

Thanks Ryan for the fun time and great trip! Wish I could get back out again tonight, but the wife works tonight and I am stuck with the kids at home.

Good luck to all who go out tonight.

[Ralph Wiggum]

No Manny's steak dinner last night , but almost thought right at the end it could have been a 50"'er+

LOL.

We were hoping for a release shot of a 50-incher to get a steak dinner out of Steve D

[wastewaterguru]

Nice fish guys.

Still debating about tonight.....I think Darren could probably talk me into it.....

So another words....I will see you at my house at 4:15.

[DTro]

Let me think about it.......

OK

[Eric Wetteland]

I'm going out one last time. My son and I are going out at 4:30 out off the bluffs.If anyone sees a 1957 Alumacraft mod k say hi. Hope everyone has good luck.

[Northlander]

Dont you guys get any big ones? Ill bring back some picks from rainy and show ya what a Sturgy is suposed to look like.

Seriously good job and nice picks guys. You cant help you have to fish the lowly St. Croix.

[DTro]

You take what is given to you Northlander

Between these and none, I pick these.

Between these and Rainy fish, no contest.

[DTro]

Well the Sturgeon season ended in a fizzle last night for us. The wind and the cold front didn’t help much.

It was windy enough to either constantly have us swinging or even push us right off anchor. It was tough to say the least.

And the bite?

Bee are you tee A elle Brutal We avoided the Skunk, but not by much

Time to switch gears now. Bring on the fall walleyes and or some early ice!

Thanks to everyone for dragging me around all season (especially WWG). My boat just isn’t made for the Croix, so hopefully we can utilize my boat a little more this fall on the MN.

[Shack]

Well, that bites for ya guys . Having a very slow/skunked night is one thing, but on a cold crappy night to boot .

I hate that.

I was hoping your guys trip last night would help send off the end of the season, but in the end it shows how "not" predictable these fish area. You guys did get some nice ones though this season .

I think I might try some flathead fishing this weekend downtown

[Eric Wetteland]

We made it out last night from 5:00 till 9:30 with only one fish. The nice thing was it was my biggest fish yet 48". Not bad for only my second time out. I hope next year I can land more fish than one a night. the other nice thing was my son was with me he is 9. He got to fight the fish for a little bit so it was a team effort. Good times.

[Ralph Wiggum]

The other nice thing was my son was with me he is 9. He got to fight the fish for a little bit so it was a team effort. Good times.

That is very awesome. I'll bet he remembers that for a long time.

[wastewaterguru]

We just got the two sturgeon. One for me and one for Darren. We missed about a half dozen or so on top of that.

Didn't have to worry about running out of bait though.

[fishinJohn]

I usually fish a lake nearby for channel cats but I haven't been able to fish much lately but I had one more open water opportunity for the year so I decided to try the river in my hometown. The section I was fishing actually closes for a few months for cats after Nov. 15 so I was thinking maybe I would have some luck because maybe they gather there when the water cools. Plus I learned that there are some decent flatheads so I might actually get a chance at my first flathead. I went to the local bait shop and all they had were walleye minnows but I bought a few dozen planning on using multiple minnows on the hook. I got to the dam and was happy to see nobody there so I could set up where I wanted. I put in two lines in an area away from the strongest current where there was some good swirling and what I figured had to be a deep hole.

I had several early snags so I got to fine tune my sense of the breaking strength of each line I was using; 50 lb PP and Suffix. An hour and a half passed and I was about ready to move when I noticed some action on my ugly stick. I grabbed the rod, waited for some pull and set the hook. At first I thought I had a snag but then it ran a little. I was thinking maybe I had finally caught my first flat or maybe the current was a big factor but either way I had something strong. The fight was on for a full ten minutes with many runs, several times where the line was hung up on rocks, and many times where I thought the line was going to snap or maybe the rod. The fish pretty much stayed in the deep hole which was my goal since I thought I would lose it if it got into the rapids. When I finally saw the fish I immediately was disappointed because it is not in season so instead of taking my time to admire it I got the hook out, measured quickly, snapped a picture and got it back in the water in 40 seconds or less. It was the best fight of my life and I couldn't have landed it without what I have learned on this forum. I hope you all don't think it is bad taste to post the picture of a fish caught out of season but I truly did not aim to catch a sturgeon and switched my bait to the frozen bullhead cut bait I had along as a backup afterwords. I just wanted to pass on what I thought was a great way to end the open water season. My first sturgeon and first fish even over 30 inches. 44" and STRONG.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Very cool! I don't think it's in bad taste at all. If you're not targeting an out of season fish, you've done nothing wrong.

Congrats on a beautiful sturgeon.

[DTro]

Nice fish John, and it I had something like that nearby, I'd be fishing it right now too

I'm sure every species of fish in the river can be found in that area. Just looking at your picture, I can pick out a couple spots I'd be tossing a bait for walleyes.

[Shack]

Ya, very cool and nice fish!

[MinnesnowtaWild]

Very cool fishing spot there! Very nice Sturgeon as well. It's been a lifelong dream for me to catch a Sturgeon, but I just don't have the opportunity here.

[crazyice]

There are plenty of shovelnose in the MN river. Just not lakers.

[DTro]

There are plenty of shovelnose in the MN river. Just not lakers.

No open season for those shovlenose on inland waters, so you cannot intentionally target them.

Just thought I'd mention that since most people don't know that. Even if you caught a record, which I think I probably have, you have to immediately release them.

[crazyice]

Ah, I didn't know that! I know on the 'ssippi it's a contious season from the red wing dam and below. My bad!

[DTro]

Ah, I didn't know that

yeah, you and just about everyone else. Not one of those regs people tend to look at. I didn't know it either until a few years ago.

[fishinJohn]

Dtro,

Any suggestions on rigging for walleye in all that current? I haven't tried much but bobbers are out of the question. You are right about species though, I have even seen a paddlefish near there. There were plenty of seagulls too.