Sturgeon report April 2nd

[Kent]

Yesterday, I took Carson, a sturgeon virgin, chasing sturgeon.  Carson is a young man who I met on Pineview ice fishing.  He offered for me to drill a hole right next to him (which I declined to do), shared some bait and gave me some tips on how to catch some crappie, aka sturgeon bait.  I was so impressed, with his kindness, that I offered to take him sturgeon fishing.  He was hoping that we would catch 3 or 4 sturgeon, but it was a little better than that.  He caught 11, including the largest, at 90 inches, and I caught 9.  We lost over 10 sturgeon and missed several bites.  It is nice when the hope of a great day is high and it actually pans out.

One thing that was frustrating was seeing two boats with anglers fishing with tackle that would have been fine for trout, but definitely not adequate for landing sturgeon.  Over the years, I have told many anglers that they are using inadequate tackle for fishing for sturgeon.  Most of them take my comments as a compliment, that they are able to land such large fish on such light tackle.  They don't realize that I am meaning exactly the opposite.

[WalleyeAl]

20 sturgeon in a day is awesome!! a 90" is real nice too.

I agree with you on the light tackle. I see it all the time at AF unfortunately. Typically they dont have near enough drag capacity and wayyyy to light of line. It can be quite harmful to the fish from what IDFG says.

[ocean]

Yesterday, I took Carson, a sturgeon virgin, chasing sturgeon.  Carson is a young man who I met on Pineview ice fishing.  He offered for me to drill a hole right next to him (which I declined to do), shared some bait and gave me some tips on how to catch some crappie, aka sturgeon bait.  I was so impressed, with his kindness, that I offered to take him sturgeon fishing.  He was hoping that we would catch 3 or 4 sturgeon, but it was a little better than that.  He caught 11, including the largest, at 90 inches, and I caught 9.  We lost over 10 sturgeon and missed several bites.  It is nice when the hope of a great day is high and it actually pans out.

One thing that was frustrating was seeing two boats with anglers fishing with tackle that would have been fine for trout, but definitely not adequate for landing sturgeon.  Over the years, I have told many anglers that they are using inadequate tackle for fishing for sturgeon.  Most of them take my comments as a compliment, that they are able to land such large fish on such light tackle.  They don't realize that I am meaning exactly the opposite.

Way to go Kent you should change your name to the sturgeon master ?

[Kent]

Yesterday, I took Carson, a sturgeon virgin, chasing sturgeon.  Carson is a young man who I met on Pineview ice fishing.  He offered for me to drill a hole right next to him (which I declined to do), shared some bait and gave me some tips on how to catch some crappie, aka sturgeon bait.  I was so impressed, with his kindness, that I offered to take him sturgeon fishing.  He was hoping that we would catch 3 or 4 sturgeon, but it was a little better than that.  He caught 11, including the largest, at 90 inches, and I caught 9.  We lost over 10 sturgeon and missed several bites.  It is nice when the hope of a great day is high and it actually pans out.

One thing that was frustrating was seeing two boats with anglers fishing with tackle that would have been fine for trout, but definitely not adequate for landing sturgeon.  Over the years, I have told many anglers that they are using inadequate tackle for fishing for sturgeon.  Most of them take my comments as a compliment, that they are able to land such large fish on such light tackle.  They don't realize that I am meaning exactly the opposite.

Way to go Kent you should change your name to the sturgeon master ?

I think "Gracious host" is more appropriate.  My guests often catch more fish than I do, but they don't seem to mind.