NSR Sturgeon Fishing

Who's gearing up for NSR sturgeon this year? Nice to hear from other people who do it. Anyone intrested in swapping tips and tricks amongst each other, my PM box is open. Might be looking for some partners this year to come along to maximize Photo opportunities. This year looks like a good year, i even stumbled across a new hole i never knew existed. No sign of anyone else

[Rockymtnx]

I know nothing about it, sure would like to try sometime.

[Sage]

I'd Love to try it.

Sage

[SteveY66]

i fish the river near fort sask quite frequently landing my biggest walleye to date at 12 lbs.



Ive hooked onto some sturgeon but never can seem to land them.


I'd love to try it out.


SteveY

[Versatile]

We have been out almost every week here at the forks. Been hitting some big fish. My tip dont buy cheep pickeral rigs we've lost a few fish from bent hooks.

Good Luck.

sounds like not many people try for sturgeon around here . Once the water clears up nicely ill be out trying a bit this year again, and might have some open invites to join me with extra lawn chair. I do have extra big game rods if you dont have.

We have been out almost every week here at the forks. Been hitting some big fish. My tip dont buy cheep pickeral rigs we've lost a few fish from bent hooks.

Yep for sure, if your gonna use a Pickeral Rig for anything, throw out the hooks they come with, tie your own snells for them with heavy line, and a circle hook, that way when the fish swims away with the bait, it sets the hook on itself.

Pickeral Rigs are a Last resort for Sturgeon though in my opinion.

[packhuntr]

For my rigs, im using 100lb 3 way swivels, 10lb mono breakaway to the weights, and 20lb florocarbon to the hook. The breakaway is approx 12 inches from 3 way to weights, and the floro from the 3 way to the hook is approx 20 inches. It puts that hook and shiner downstream of the rig, and prettywell on bottom, or close to it. You might experiment with terminal tackle abit, but something like this will do the trick for you for sure. Heavy action rods, big baitcasters, and florocarbon have been the make-up of my arsenal for these guys. Just got into it last year though, and still experimenting with it all myself. Though have caught one in the past{luck}, and it got me going on sturgeon.

keep a strain on er, pack.

[Versatile]

Hey Packhunter can you post a picture of that rig?

[packhuntr]

Ya RyanGSP, you might have to give me a day, as i dont have a comp at home that can do this stuff, so i have ta take a pic and bring the cam to work. Its a pretty simple rig, all you will need is a trip to wholesale for terminal, and building them is the easy part. I have caught a whack of South Sask river walleye on them, but no sturgeon yet. Should be able to have pics up tommorow.

keep a strain on er.

[sixpoint1]

Another rig you may want to try is the pike pickeral rig as it is made way stronger than normal rigs, and sitsway closer to the bottom. I also tie my own snelled line of 25pound big game to a 0/1 hook and wire the clips closed.With the bigger hooks you can really put on a big wormball lunch.Which sturgen or walleye cant resist. The power of the sturgen with the current of the river is something everyone should enjoy at least once. Love That River Fishing

[Pigshanks]

Here is a couple of sturgeon from the South Saskatchewan river near the Hat. Dad caught them both.

First one is a little guy from May 21/07



And this one is May 27/07 Around the 20-22# mark.

[~Octane~]

Sweet sturgeon Pigshanks! I cant wait to go with -NDN- for them, should be a blast!

nice sturge's, that scenery is very inviting. Luckily for me the ex-wife and my 3 daughters are down in the medicine hat. Might have to plan some fishing on one of my visits this summer. If you dont mind me asking, how far out were the casts into the current down there???


i prefer a heavy action rod like the Quantum BigCat rod that is a 1 pc 7 foot 6 inch monster. Topped with a Ambasseduer BigGame 9000 reel. Load that with 30-40 pound test Berkley Big Game. I do also like to use 11 foot heavy actionSteelhead rods Like the Quantum Coldwater Series, with Quantum Iron IR410CX reels, when i know there are big pike or im in a area that have lots of under water timber, so i can muscle them out of the way and get thier head up fast

also i use a slip sinker system, but with a Solid Pencil weight, not the ones you use surgical tubing and a rolled up lead, to trim to length. Circle hooks are the way to go for me, but i will use Octopus hooks. Bait varries on location, and a little secret homemade DipBait doesnt hurt either

[Pigshanks]

Originally Posted by -NDN-

nice sturge's, that scenery is very inviting. Luckily for me the ex-wife and my 3 daughters are down in the medicine hat. Might have to plan some fishing on one of my visits this summer. If you dont mind me asking, how far out were the casts into the current down there???

Casting out about 25-30'. Right on the edge of the fast current and the backwater. Reel it back until the current stops taking your rig downstream. First Sturgeon was on a minnow and the second on a worm big glob of worms. If you do get down, I can point you in the right direction for sure.

that would be great thx. sounds like casting into pretty much the same set-ups as up here.ill be down there prior for a short visit prior to my manitoba vacation end of June. Can't wait for those Red River Catfish

[packhuntr]

[packhuntr]

[Versatile]

Ahh got it thanks

[packhuntr]

Heres the photo of that rig RyanGSP. You shouldnt have any trouble building afew in a short time. I will tell ya, this posting pictures is more trouble than its worth!!!! WOW.....

keep a strain on er. pack.

hey Packhuntr, got to love those Penn reels, easy on the wallet, and strong like an Ox. That model you got have a bait-clicker? pretty sure i see one

[packhuntr]

-NDN- ya its got the clicker. You know it man, these penns are some great large game reels, the 209 seemed to turn me on, ive talked to afew guys in the past, before i commited on one, and they dig em on charter boat for musky, salmon etc i guess. She is fairly smooth and has a good solid drag. The only other bait caster i run, is Saint Croix. And let me tell ya, its heaven fighting northerns on the nice iron!!!! Wont go back to anything else for my predator fishing.

keep a strain on er. pack.

[packhuntr]

What other kinds of rigs are floating around out there for sturgeon. Anyone else able to post pics???? I am new to this as well, and wouldnt mind seeing what some of these guys have been consistently landed with.

keep a strain on er, packhuntr.

i dont have a pic of a rig, but i always use the old standard slip sinker of 3 - 6 ounces, bead, barrel swivel, 30 pound test leader, 2/0 to 5/0 cirlce hook or octopus hook. I like to use the slip sinker rigs so they can grab line out of the reel with the bait clicker on. If im fishing in a heavily rocky area, and after using the heavy 30-40 pound main line, i cant pull free snags out of the rocks, ill use a sinker release system, most rocks will move, lol

[packhuntr]

Hey, i was wrong about the test of my florocarbon, im running 30lb, i was abit off when i posted the first time, and i feel pretty stupid. I have my 209 spooled with approx 25yds of 30lb floro backing, {to keep the super line from spinning freely on the spool}, and finished her off with a load of 60 pound power pro. The rod is a 7'7 med heavy Rhino. The two as a unit seem to work really well, balances out nice and handles pretty well, though it can be a tiring beotch to operate for an extended amount of time. Par for the course i suppose.

keep a strain on er, pack.

[bobalong]

I use an 11' Quantum rod with an ambassaduer 6500spooled with 30 lb Fireline. I use a lindy rig, only with a 6oz. pyramid sinker, and a 3/0 Gamakatsu. Snell is tied about 24-30 inches long with 20.lb. biggame.

One of my sons and I with a double header from a years back

These are some white sturgeon we caught in BC last November, they use similar gear out there except a little shorter rods, but all reels spooled with superline.

[~Octane~]

Nice sturgeon Bob! Some bold colours on the last 2. Ahh cant wait to land my first one this year Gotta go out and buy a good heavy game rod first, soon

Bobalong, if you dont mind me asking, in that pic of the rod in the holder on the riverbank, what kind of "rod holder" is that, looks pretty slick. I use a different type that has a peg out the side to put your foot on to drive it down.



Nice pics by the way.

[bobalong]

I got it a few years ago, it was made by Scotty, and they called it a Bank Manager. They discontinued it the year after but I have made a couple other's with a potatoe fork (from Home Depot) and bolted a Scotty holder to the handle with a rail mount adapter, works just as well. It's usually not that dusty on the NSR, but a couple of other spots I fish it is, and having the reel up higher sure helps to keep the dust out of it.