Sturgeon Fishing

[56Chevy]

So me and my buddy just got the crazy idea that we want to catch a sturgeon this summer. Does anyone have any experience with this? Where do you go? What kind of equipment, tackle, and techniques do you use? Any information would be helpfull. Thanks.
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[drowning_flys]

Ya sure you want to ? it can be addicting. you will need a surf rod I recommend a 12ft ugly stick. some 8 to 12 oz sinkers 6/0 to 9/0 hooks a heavy spinning reel or surf casting reel with 40 pound mono or 40 to 60 pound Dacron and some fresh trout squid or large night crawlers. there are lots of good places in hagerman. one good place is just across from the alligator viewing ponds below buhl behind lower salmon dam below bliss dam then every major hole downstream from bliss dam.
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[thebug]

be very carful you will end up sitting on river banks at every chance you can. I prefer the 11 foot rods with 100 lb power pro braid with a braided nylon sturgeon leader. You'll see in sport shops something called sturgeon candy dont buy it! go to winco fredys any other grocery store and buy the herring in wine sauce and some thread from walmar and wrap it onto the hook. some people use the elastic stuff i think its a wast of money. also if your fishing below strike i have found that crappie heads work really well samething below hells canyon. also near twin there is a place called auger falls just below it where rock creek dumps in is a great hole for dinos you have to go accross the broke bridge at the bottom of the yingst (sp) road on the jerome side then scramble up the broke bridge and walk about 2 miles to it a bit of a walk but its been worth it all three times ive been down there

remember that you must use barbless hooks i have been checked by the f&g
also im always looking for peoples to go with or if you want to try it befor you buy i have extra stuff and will take you out to give it a try send me a pm if interested
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[sloppyjoe]

I am not sure where you are in the process of accumulating the approproate gear, but I just posted a 12' Ugly Stik and a Penn reel in the Idaho for sale section. Take a look and let me know if you are interested.
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[kentd71]

I really like the braided nylon sturgeon leader and it is better for the fish and will not cut them like the super lines will. Ugly Stick is a popular rod and I have a lighter one that works well. It has a Penn 330 and I am going to 50 or 60 lb line. My Penn 555 casts the best but it is not a level wind so you have to direct the line to keep it level. It is on an Ocean Master rod from Bass Pro Shops (4-8oz). The 8-16 oz Ocean Master rod is a little stiff on the tip but if I was using over 12 oz I would use it. I fish below C.J.. They have fish up to 6' below American Falls res.
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[basskikker]

i am so addicted to sturgeon fishing. i go out weekly. i would shy away from using braid. it can cut up sturgeon pretty bad and it breaks very easily when you are fishing around rocks. i mostly use 50-60lb mono. penn 330 is an excellent choice of a reel for the money. only down side of the 330 is that it may be a little small for some sturgeon you hook up with. i have had a few ten foot sturgeon strip off all the line on it without slowing down at all. if you have troubles with casting bait casters then the penn spinning reels work very well too. if you want to spend a little more money, i also love the Shimano Torium size 50, its a bait caster that holds about 400yars of 60lb test and will be able to handle any sturgeon you hook up with. as far as leader goes, i love 130lb dacron or 80lb mono. save yourself a lot of money and start pouring your own weights. i love taking people out sturgeon fishing and i am confident i can get you into them. if you want send me a private message.
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[SteelFisher]

Basskikker,

What style weights do you like best? I cast bullets so all I would need is the mould to cast weights.

SteelFisher
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[thebug]

for me it depends on where im fishing 10 and 8 oz pyamids if its an area i wont snag up to much. if its the river near twin falls or in the jet hole cabin hole ect below bliss i like 8 to 10 oz bank sinkers. i agree that the 30 to 50 dollars youll spend on a mold is well worth it
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[basskikker]

there are two different kinds of molds i use: the pyramid mold(8-10oz) and the river sinker (they are a circular, disk shape weight that look like a hocky puck 8-10oz) they hug the river bottom really well. those two molds work best for me. if i had to chose one, i would go with the pyramid mold- it seems to be the most dependable style the majority of river currents and conditions.
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[mudsucker]

I got some silicone and made a few sinker molds this winter. Pyramid molds are easy to pour from silicone. I made the patterns from clay, but any store bought sinker would work great.
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[drowning_flys]

What kind of silicone ? how well does that work? Ive been using 10 and 12 ounce pyramids and recently picked up a storm sinker mold that a customer requested. I haven't tried them yet but the 6 oz is the same size head of a 12 oz pyramid and the 8 oz is quit a bit bigger than the 12




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[mudsucker]

Alumilite High Strength 2. I got it from Larry Dahlberg's website. He has videos about making lures and molds on there, too. Those sinkers pictured would be simple to mold. I made some small 3 sided pyramids and a few other shapes for my first try. I've made other pyramid molds in other ways in the past. I leave the top of the mold open, pour in the lead, then put in the copper wire with pliers until the lead hardens. Very simple. I use wire from scrap romex.

Your sinkers are from two piece molds, much more work to make. The silicone is so flexible, that round ball on the bottom would pop right out of the mold when hard.

Where did you buy those?
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[drowning_flys]

How expensive is the silicone? I have been making lots of different molds out of steel for different things and the silicone might be the answer to some of them. the molds i use are hilts i bought most of them from simerlys in Wendel but the last one i found online. There pretty fast to use i can turn out between 60 and 75 sinkers in an hour
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[mudsucker]

A pound is $27.50. For those big sinkers, if you were careful and didn't make your mold too big, I bet you could make 3 and maybe 4 molds with a pound.

They should cast just as fast as any other mold. Limited by how slowly the lead hardens.

I once talked to a guy that used railroad spikes for sturgeon sinkers. Any problem with that?
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[drowning_flys]

That's not too bad but the great thing is ya can make any shape you want then use silicone for the mold. has some very interesting possibilities. I looked into that when i first started fishing but all the ones i found were like 28 or so ounces. I'm too old to cast that much weight lol
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[mudsucker]

Yep, just use some kids clay and make any shape you want. My 7 yo son made one. The nice thing about lead, no matter what shape your sinker is, you can be pretty sure it will sink.
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[drowning_flys]

Very true but you would be surprised as just how perfect a sinker or anchor has to be before certain people will accept it as good enough [:p]
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[thebug]

i think meet that same guy who fished with the railroad spikes below hagerman they seemed to work well. here are links to were i bought my sinker molds
pyramid sinker mold
http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdet...9&CATID=59
storm sinker mold
http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdet...1&CATID=59
bank sinker mold
http://www.barlowstackle.com/acb/showdet...7&CATID=59
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