01-18-2017, 05:47 AM
After reading an article in the Idaho Statesman about ice fishing for Sturgeon at a private lake in Parma called "Poor Fish" Ranch I was intrigued. So with no real expectations a friend and three of my boys left Rexburg at 3:00AM on Monday. We arrived around 9:00 and met the very friendly proprietor Jim Schwartz. After signing the paperwork, paying the fee and promising to treat his sturgeon with respect we were off to the lake. The lake is about the size of the Rexburg Nature Pond but is full of sturgeon between 2 and 6 feet long.
We drilled 4 holes together in order to accommodate the large fish as we didn't want to scrape or bump them on the holes when we landed them. The small sturgeon pecked at our pickled herring throughout the day. They were actually difficult to hook on the barbless hooks. Every once in a while the big boys would get aggressive and really bite hard. The five of us landed around 30 sturgeon over the course of the day and each person landed at least one really good one that for fought incredibly hard. Of course there were a couple that fought for over 10 minutes and we never saw them as they came unbuttoned too soon.
Overall I had a great time and my kids got a very unique experience. If it freezes again next year I would definitely try it again. (See pics)
Windriver
[signature]
We drilled 4 holes together in order to accommodate the large fish as we didn't want to scrape or bump them on the holes when we landed them. The small sturgeon pecked at our pickled herring throughout the day. They were actually difficult to hook on the barbless hooks. Every once in a while the big boys would get aggressive and really bite hard. The five of us landed around 30 sturgeon over the course of the day and each person landed at least one really good one that for fought incredibly hard. Of course there were a couple that fought for over 10 minutes and we never saw them as they came unbuttoned too soon.
Overall I had a great time and my kids got a very unique experience. If it freezes again next year I would definitely try it again. (See pics)
Windriver
[signature]