Sturgeon fishing -- pulled in a huge one!

[Kent]

Just got back from a frustrating sturgeon trip. Day one - 3 boats, 8 anglers (several fishing with two rods) and a total of 3 sturgeon landed. Day two - three boats 8 anglers (several fishing with two rods) and a total of 6 sturgeon landed. Day three - 2 boats 5 anglers (all fishing with two rods) zero sturgeon landed.
I did pull in a huge one that took at least 45 minutes to get it to shore, and we ended up three miles (UPSTREAM) from where we first got hooked up. Picture attached.
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[doggonefishin]

Rut-roh. That's not good. []


Any idea why it was so slow?
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[Kent]

[quote doggonefishin]

Any idea why it was so slow?

[/quote]

The stream flow went from 8,000 CFS on Monday to 15,000 on Tuesday (the day we started fishing) and then up to 16,000 on Wednesday and then 17,000 on Thursday. I have caught them in the high stream flow but I have a hunch that it takes them a few days to adjust to such a rapid and significant change in the stream flow.
Some sturgeon may still be up the river spawning, but that should have had minimal impact. Yesterday, was a windy day, which made it difficult to fish.
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[Lundman]

Sorry you had a frustrating trip especially since you had to spend the $$ no matters what the results.

Sometimes when the boat captain feels pressure to get into the fish there is a couple options - none guaranteed.

1) Switching to one rod and holding it to detect bites - fish are sometimes just tight lipped and don't take the bait like you're expecting. Hold that rod !! My buddy has proved this method time and again and he always hooked the biggest fish of the trip.

2) Try after hours (dark thirty) as the wind usually (at least sometimes) takes a break. You have to be prepared to battle the bugs and have additional safety precautions for battling a large Gator in the dark but it's a wild experience. Spotlight is a must.

3) Try New Waters - this is the most difficult change - unproven waters are hard to fish for long periods of time - I remember sitting in one spot for a few hours - I was ready to bag it but the old man that was with us just kept say another 30 mins -- sure enough he hook a nice 8' and it was a heck of a fight.

Glad you got out - better hooking next time
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[doggonefishin]

What is the flow supposed to be like next week?
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[Kent]

I have no idea and I don't think the information is available.
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[bigfish6]

Hey now... you do know that area is catch and release only right??
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[Brighamfish]

Thanks so much for the invite to come along Kent. I know you said it was definately not your best sturgeon trip ever, but thanks to you it was mine. I had a great time and now know Sturgeon and Mermaids are actually not the same creatures as I had formerly theorized [sly] Hopefully we can get out again and give it another try when the Mermaids, um. . . I mean Sturgeon, are more cooperative [fishon]
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