Sturgeon conditions?

[trigger7mm]

For the sturgeon fisherman out there; do you find that the fishing is better when the river is low and clean, or when it is up somewhat and the water is dirtier? Thank you for your advise, have a great weekend!

[Safety D]

People arnt gonna tell you

[Weedy1]

For the sturgeon fisherman out there; do you find that the fishing is better when the river is low and clean, or when it is up somewhat and the water is dirtier? Thank you for your advise, have a great weekend!

Here's what you do.
You scan all of the postings on AO Forum for sturgeon catches on the NSR/SSR.
You then correlate the catch dates to the Alberta's River Basins reports for flow rates.
Afterwards you extrapolate out the precipitation values from the Environment Canada Climate data along with the moon phase and sun solar flare activity data

and

YOU HAVE YOUR ANSWER!!!

[Weedy1]

Or you could just say f it and go fishing......

[RavYak]

I have heard it is tougher when the water is low and clear but I don't have enough first hand experience to draw my own conclusion. All I know is the river has sucked for me this year, but hey that isn't much different then other years lol.

[trigger7mm]

Holy cow! Just asked if it is better when the river is high? It's a big river, and I wasn't asking for somebody's spot.Half the fun is finding your own honey hole. It's getting to a point that a guy can't even ask a simple question without the armchair outdoorsman coming back with stupid comments. What's the point of even being a member? You guys should take a lesson from the guys on the trapping forum. They try to help out when they can. Sorry to waste your time with simple questions. I have always tried to give advise to anybody I could if it is possible, but this forum is going in the tank more and more all the time!

[diamond k]

Sorry I cant help you with the sturgeon question but have to agree with you on the arm chair idiots.

[Weedy1]

Holy cow! Just asked if it is better when the river is high? It's a big river, and I wasn't asking for somebody's spot.Half the fun is finding your own honey hole. It's getting to a point that a guy can't even ask a simple question without the armchair outdoorsman coming back with stupid comments. What's the point of even being a member? You guys should take a lesson from the guys on the trapping forum. They try to help out when they can. Sorry to waste your time with simple questions. I have always tried to give advise to anybody I could if it is possible, but this forum is going in the tank more and more all the time!

You should maybe have a real long look at my post, learn how to read through the lines as opposed to jumping to conclusions. You may actually learn something. BTW I was Sturgeon fishing on the NSR in 1970, lived on the bank of the river for 3 years. You also may want to check your attitude at the door.

[SKSniper]

High and murky is the best but they are still fishable in the low clear water. Soon the weeds will be too thick in most places and the water will be too warm...better hustle up lol! Good luck.

[Joe Quiroga]

Probably not what you are after but what the heck. Down on the Red Deer river where I fish around Dinosaur Park the river was absolutely muddy. Visibility was nil, you couldn't see your weight on the line until you pulled it out.

We have never seen any sign of sturgeon around there before. While we were fishing it the other night around 8 pm ish we had sturgeon breaching the surface in front of us one of them was absolutely massive. This was no more than 4-6 feet from shore. Scared the **** out of us LOL. So I'd be inclined to say the muddy waters seem to make them more active.

It could have also been a fluke but the burbot were also biting, took a decent one home with me for supper. I would say the muddier waters definitely creates some activity, at least around here.

[SKSniper]

http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p390/twy2591/Mobile%20Uploads/20160622_134121_zpsumwfhkk8.jpg

Here's a cool release pic from a week or so ago in the clear water.

[trigger7mm]

You should maybe have a real long look at my post, learn how to read through the lines as opposed to jumping to conclusions. You may actually learn something. BTW I was Sturgeon fishing on the NSR in 1970, lived on the bank of the river for 3 years. You also may want to check your attitude at the door.

Sorry Weedy, I thought you were just trying to be a dick. I apologize to you, although there are a lot of guys on here that would rather try to be a rube instead of helping a fellow fisherman out. Have a good weekend.

[ishootbambi]

If you don't really know how to find them, then high and dirty spring fishing will be best. When the water is up they are more evenly distributed throughout the river. You'll find the most pics on this forum from the opener until mid June simply because anyone with a pickerel rig in the water has a chance. Personally I don't bother with the early period. When I go fishing I like to catch lots, and for sturgeon that means low flow periods. They will seek out their summer homes and that's when sturgeon fishing gets good. I've had 50 plus fish evenings and as a group put over 100 on shore in an outing. I like to wait until mid July to think about them. The only downside then is what I've always heard called "beaver pelts"....the globs of weed clumps that drift along fouling your line. In short, give it two more weeks and the best sturgeon fishing will be upon you.

[trigger7mm]

If you don't really know how to find them, then high and dirty spring fishing will be best. When the water is up they are more evenly distributed throughout the river. You'll find the most pics on this forum from the opener until mid June simply because anyone with a pickerel rig in the water has a chance. Personally I don't bother with the early period. When I go fishing I like to catch lots, and for sturgeon that means low flow periods. They will seek out their summer homes and that's when sturgeon fishing gets good. I've had 50 plus fish evenings and as a group put over 100 on shore in an outing. I like to wait until mid July to think about them. The only downside then is what I've always heard called "beaver pelts"....the globs of weed clumps that drift along fouling your line. In short, give it two more weeks and the best sturgeon fishing will be upon you.

Thanks for the tips! We put the boat in the river yesterday and headed out. Ended up catching 4 sturgeon over the coarse of the day. One around 20 lbs, and the rest were small ones. The river had a quite a bit of floating weeds, and the "beaver pelts" we're a bother for sure. Had to keep cleaning our lines off all day. Also caught about a 5lb walleye, and a mooneye. Fishing was slow, but that one sturgeon made it all worthwhile. Saw a couple of whitetails swim across the river too. Thank you for your help, it is much appreciated. Have a great weekend.

[THERICARDO]

High and dirty until you find a couple areas they frequent in high and low water... Low water is tough bc they don't move around as much. Not really ant secret places to fish sturgeon either way, same people fishing the 8-10 places within an hr of Edmonton... Really wanna find some holes and have no boat, rent a canoe, launch in Devon float down and gps points where u see guys fishing on the shorelines... That's how I figured it out when I moved to Ed 7 years ago..