Fishing Forum

My 1st time ever. Lots of fun, a long drive but still worth it.
I was invited by a friend to tag along on a trip he was going on. We arrived in Twin Falls and picked his Motorhome up at storage. That night we fished and although we saw what he knew to be sturgeon, we only caught a few squawfish.
The next morning, we fished a different place with different results. He released a 6' and lost a 3-4' I had one on. We also caught 5 trout.[/img]
That night we fished the 1st spot again. Zipppp.
Next morning after a 10 mile dirt road drive he released a 3', I released a 4', my first! I also lost a big, he guessed 6' due to knot failure.
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Fun fish aren't they.[]
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Hundreds of pounds of fun! It has been a real blast for me. I used to surf fish and had cast 4oz and bait maybe 60 yds with spinning gear, the thought of casting 8nbait ,80 yds with a 4/0 senator and 40 lb test has been the biggest mind blower. It also got that 4/0 off the shelf. I'm going to learn to cast my 6/0 next.
The one I caught was fun, he ran pretty good but did not jump. The one in the pic jumped twice. I'll go again, for sure.
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That is a trip on my list to try someday, looks like you had a blast!
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My wife(5'4" 100#'s) hooked an 8'er with a 12' ugly stick, 12 oz pyramid, and a 10" mort and this fish jumped 6' out of the water(beyond it's full length) 4 different times. We got part of it on video. I can't believe the power those fish have. I landed a 9'er about 11 years ago and it was a 2 1/2 hour fight! They get in your blood.[cool]
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It's in my blood already. The good news is that I already have some Penn Senators from when I lived in NC. I bought a 12' Ugly but I'm thinking of building my second rod over the winter. I will at least modify my Ugly with some more EVA up front, a taller stripping guide and a roller tip.

I will respool with a better line too, something not as stiff as what ever is on them now. What do you think about braids.
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Why would you want to put a roller on the tip? If you use braids please use Dacron as your leader. Those sturgeon roll (similar to a catfish) and braids will slice them up.
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Nice report Troll, thanks for sharing. Do you think the area you were fishing at could be fished from a boat? I know some of the area around Twin Falls would be very hard, if not impossible to get to with a boat. WH2
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I only got to use braid for about 2 casts the last time up and i loved it until my buddy hung up and ended up cutting almost all of my spool off![mad] We could not break it. 100# braid and about $22 to spool up.
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The tip is where the most friction is during a fight. When a fish runs the line travels over the exact same spot and that spot can get hot and damage the line or with some braids it will cut into the guide.
A roller top spins as the line goes over it and there is minimal friction. That is why big game rods have roller tips.
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With braids it might be a necessity; however, with Dacron (80 pound) I have had not problem not using a roller tip. The problem I have seen with rods with a roller tip is that the rods are extremely stiff. I prefer a rod with a faster tip so that I can see the subtle sturgeon bites.
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There are some areas that can be fished from a small boat, there are some areas that looked like they could be fished from a big boat and others that may be fish-able only with a jetboat or floating downstream in a raft.

We only fished 2 spots really, there are numerous public access sites between Twin Falls and CJ Strike.
Kent,
I have the same 12' Ugly Stick you mentioned. I'm not going to cut any of the rod off, just change out the tip to something with less friction. It will still detect the subtle bites.
Let me say something, I had no idea how subtle the bite could be. A 6' fish can suck the belly out of a mort and move the rod tip no more than 1/4". Most mud cats bite harder.
Back to what I was saying. I also plan on adding some more EVA foam to the front of the rod grip, up to about 6" from the 1st guide. This will be more comfortable for me when I have a fish on. It will also make it easier to lay the line back onto the reel spool while bringing in the line, with my thumb. Lastly I want to either get a larger diameter 1st guide or raise up the existing one so that the line to the top of my 6/0 is not at such a great angle.
Mostly all of this will keep me thinking about spring and getting back up there. The good news is that there are some very expensive rods, reels and accessories available for this kind of fishing. Really feeds the addiction.
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[#002850]I watched a TV show where a couple of guys were catching them from the shore with heavy spinning rods......I believe it was on the snake somewhere around CJ Strike....That would be a hoot.....If your drag is not set right, it could mean a swim.[/#002850]
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I took 2 friends(twins) a few years ago They might have weighed 100# soaking wet and one of the brothers hooked a 6'er and we had to hold him down on the rocks. Good times.[cool]
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[#002850]Wow, that would be a hoot...where were you, and were you using spinning gear? [/#002850]
[#002850]I'd like to give that a shot next year.[/#002850]
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Hagerman. Spinning gear...
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[#002850]I've been after them in a boat before, but that's a whole different ball game.......This way, it's just you versus fish.[/#002850]
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I just was told that this weekend was hot. Mt friend landed 5 the first day and 3 the second. Randed from 4' to 7.5'.
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I have never fished for them any later than september. I would imagine you can catch them all year long. Just not as many in the colder months.
8 fish in 2 days is pretty good. Especially for those size of fish. The best day i can remember in all my sturg trips was 14 landed and probably 4 breakoffs and 4 or 5 longline releases. That was a VERY busy afternoon and evening![]
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Best trip we had was 25 sturgeon landed and several others losts in 2 1/2 days of fishing. I have caught all of mine (except for one small one) from my boat. I have gas money ready and waiting to go with someone who knows where to fish for them from the shore.
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