Sturgeon donts

[WayneChristie]

Im far from the only dino fisherman on here, and I know Im not the only one who prefers to take great care of these amazing fighters. If you have any suggestions feel free to add them in this post.
Number 1!!! if you are going to target a fish that can drag your mamma into the river and drag her all the way to Saskatchewan go frikkin prepared!!!! a walleye or 5 dollar Wallyworld rod is going to do that big fish a lot of harm, if you do manage to win the battle. Beg borrow or steal something (BRB need to lock my truck) that has the strength to put a lot of pressure on them, and end the fight as quick as you can so they dont burn out. I started fishing for them using 30 pound braid and very quickly realized they only laughed when I hooked a gooder. I wont use less than 50 pound on a spinning reel and 80 on a baitcaster just because of the extra capacity they usually have. The government bios (ok some of them) would love to shut this fishery down to protect the lake sturgeon, or did last time I heard right Tallyho? Think about that for a minute. what would it take? a total bait ban on all waters they inhabit. thats a lot of H2O in Alberta, I went through the same thing when they killed bait in the Bow in Calgary, all it left was those damn girlyfish that will eat anything shiny and the Rockies who I used to make my main target I hate fish who die when you take a picture of them. waste of good river space
Number 2!!! dont stick a weighscale in their gills!!! chances are you just killed a living dinosaur because you just had to know if it was 23 pounds or 24 pounds. they are a close relative of the shark, and they dont weigh nearly as much as you would think for their size unless they are full of roe. even more reason not to weigh them!!! They dont have a spine, instead of a
backbone with separate vertebrae, the sturgeon
has a continuous, flexible, cartilage‐encased rod
called a notochord that runs the length of the
body and ends at the tip of the upper lobe of the
caudal fin. No fish should be weighed vertically in any case, throw a loop around your neck and over the rafters pull yourself a few feet off the floor and see how much weight your neck and spine will support no dont! , unless your name is Turdoh then GIVER!!!!
Number 3 Pickeral rigs are what needs to be banned in this province,in my opinion, total waste of any sort of skill, can you tie your shoe? Then you can tie a sturgeon rig, or a rig for any river bait fishing! I got so tired of pulling those crap things out of the river with dead fish attached, how would you like to starve to death? I know I wouldnt. If you can make a loop in your line and tie the most simple knot known to man, you can tie a rig. I use 20 pound fluoro tied to the end of my braid with the same knot exactly, to attach my weight. Same knot to attach my hook to the snell and the same exact knot to attach the snelled hook to my mainline above my weight. this way when a sturgeon takes your line somewhere you would rather she didnt your weight will the majority of the time break off and leave you with a dinosaur with a surprised look on her/his face. Ive had them actually swim through flooded willows and even one jump into a willow and roll back into the water then get a big surprise to find it was still attached to my line. And I have also had them run around something like one last Monday the managed to get the mainline around something and pull the hook out. Getting the drift now why I love these beasts so much??? there are fish in the rivers in Alberta that will scare the crap out of a lot of people, even my 6 footer wasnt nearly the biggest caught in the SSR and thats the old gramma Im chasing til one of us cant swim anymore! I know theres more but Ive bored you all to death now so anyone else feel free to add your tips and suggestions, lets take care of these things this time around and have an absolutely incredible fishing experience for more and more anglers, just do it right!!! I know people like slider rigs for them too, personally I dont use them except on rare occasions I prefer my system because Ive been using the same for 50 plus years on southern rivers and it works for me. Feel free to use a slide if you prefer, they both work great. There are photos of both kinds of rigs in the 2018 Barry Mitchells Alberta Fishing Guide magazine in the article I wrote ( OK that was one off the bucket list for me) and I will do a video tutorial on how I tie my rigs when I have more energy, had 4 monsters on yesterday even if I only landed 2 of them I was totally worn out, still recovering from my concussion and did 8 hours of heavy pressure washing today so Im actually typing this with my nose I cant even lift my arms this evening.pics of my smallest, 12 inches of cute as a button and deadly as a straight razor, dont believe me drag one across your wrist if your name is Turdoh and get it on video please! Ive donated lots of blood to them and love every drop! second is my largest at 72.5 inches and I owe a lot to Dale S for helping me with the tagging of this beauty, he also taught me a lot of what I know about these fish.

[huntsfurfish]

Great post! Thanks Wayne!

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

Great post! Thanks Wayne!

thank you, guess we all have to have a passion for something, and dinos are mine since i caught my first. Tough they are but they arent bulletproof and they need to be taken care of so we can have some amazing opportunities.

[huntsfurfish]

And this post/thread could apply to all species. And think its great that you care so much. Wish more did.

[walleyechaser]

Quality post. Most guys around Lethbridge are using walleye rods and cheap pickerel rigs. Seen a good couple get spooled. This is more true than ever with so many new fisherman around

[Wes_G]

New fisherman.... no kidding! The river was ridiculous in Lethbridge yesterday, almost 100 people on 1km stretch of river, most were using gear that was way to light and pickerel rigs from the ones I actually saw, although there were a few that were set up adequately, not many though.

[WayneChristie]

Im just concerned ignorance is going to cause the end of the best fishing in Alberta if too many people mess it up. I also think for the absolute majority they get all fired up when they see and hear the stories, and why the hell wouldnt they, I did the exact thing when I moved to dinoland. its a steep learning curve its the responsibility of the ones who know what to do to help the ones who dont but want to. Its nothing less than an addiction, I live in the bald ass prairies with so few trees the coyotes line up for three days just to pee, and I have within a very short distance fish that could overturn a boat if they happened to jump on it, and I know this for a fact I was Tboned by a sturgeon on the SSR in my boat, a few inches higher it would have been in with me and it looked big enough to kick my ass. I left the mark on the boat til the rain washed it off, it was the most exciting moment in over 50 years of fishing and the dino must have enjoyed it too it jumped completely out right behind the boat. and yes I may have sharted

[bushnell]

Well said sir

[Jims83cj5]

Originally Posted by Wes_G

New fisherman.... no kidding! The river was ridiculous in Lethbridge yesterday, almost 100 people on 1km stretch of river, most were using gear that was way to light and pickerel rigs from the ones I actually saw, although there were a few that were set up adequately, not many though.

Did you teach anybody anything or just complain on here.

[Wes_G]

Originally Posted by Jims83cj5

Did you teach anybody anything or just complain on here.

I was not fishing at the time. Was out riding my bike... What would you say if someone who isn't even fishing comes walking down the shore in a bike helmet and shorts and starts telling you what to do?

I am not even sure how they would reel one in without getting caught in 5 other peoples lines at the same time. I am not a big fan of bumping shoulders with 10 other people fishing 30 yards of shoreline all trying for the same thing.

[walleyechaser]

Originally Posted by huntsfurfish

And this post/thread could apply to all species. And think its great that you care so much. Wish more did.

Originally Posted by Wes_G

I was not fishing at the time. Was out riding my bike... What would you say if someone who isn't even fishing comes walking down the shore in a bike helmet and shorts and starts telling you what to do?

I am not even sure how they would reel one in without getting caught in 5 other peoples lines at the same time. I am not a big fan of bumping shoulders with 10 other people fishing 30 yards of shoreline all trying for the same thing.

Its brutal. There is no way a 5 foot plus sturgeon would not wreck 5 or six lines.

Every where you go in the city you hear people talking about sturgeon. A guy at the river told me that anything over 20lb test is overkill. People who use more need learn how to fight a fish. Seen the same guy break off two sturgeon in a couple hours.... have seen quite a few sturgeon with pickerel rigs wrapped around them or coming out the wrong end in the last couple years

[swampy45]

Informative and educational post for those that are not in the know. Thanks Wayne.

[Talking moose]

Yup. Agree. I was guilty of this when I first started river fishing. Used a medium action 6’6” rod, 3000 series reels, and pickerel rigs.
I then upgraded to packaged “jackfish rigs” thinking I was set.
Well, the first sturgeon I caught in the 15 lb range had me rethink my setup. I figured if a 15 lb fish gave me that fight, what’s a 60lb fish gonna do? Lol
I now use an 8 ft med/heavy spinning rod, a 6000 series reel, 80lb power pro braid, and a home made sliding rig with quality gammy hooks.
Got my pb last week. 56” out of the NSR!

[Talking moose]

I should also mention, if people plan on bait fishing the river, even if you are not targeting sturgeon, it should be mandatory to use equipment big enough to deal with a large sturgeon.
I’ve caught them in 15 fow and I’ve caught them in 2 fow.
Middle of the river and 5 feet from the bank.
They can be anywhere. Especially during high water.
Enough time spent fishing the river and you will eventually tie into a good one.
No matter where you fish.
Go big!

[HuyFishin]

fantastic write up! definitely informative.

Thank you

[WayneChristie]

Originally Posted by Talking moose

I should also mention, if people plan on bait fishing the river, even if you are not targeting sturgeon, it should be mandatory to use equipment big enough to deal with a large sturgeon.
I’ve caught them in 15 fow and I’ve caught them in 2 fow.
Middle of the river and 5 feet from the bank.
They can be anywhere. Especially during high water.
Enough time spent fishing the river and you will eventually tie into a good one.
No matter where you fish.
Go big!

I have literally held my rod out and dropped my bait down in maybe 2-3 feet of water because there was a guide boat in front of me. Caught a nice dino. Thing was when I walked to the shore I saw a head come out right there for a peek so I dropped my bait under its nose. Hardest part of catching a sturgeon is patience. Both my 61 inchers this season were caught when I was packing up to leave so I guess I need work there too

[WinefredCommander]

Good on you Wayne. A lot of idiots targeting LKST these days.

[Stump thumper]

Bump for this post.. It should be a sticky on the forum, all the right info!

I’ve been out targeting sturgeon as much as I can the last few seasons.. Using a slip sinker lindy rig, heavy rod, level wind reel spooled with 50# braid, with dacron leader. Would never go with anything less. Recently I came across a “instructional” video for catching sturgeon on the NSR, from a young guy in Saskatchewan.. It was on YouTube. There was many comments such as “nice work” and questions on what setup he is using.. This guy uses a 6’ or 6’6” light-medium action walleye setup spooled with 14# line, and of course pickeral rigs.. I had to comment on that, and recommended he learn a little bit about how to properly target these amazing fish. Everything in that video was all what not to do! Lots of educating needed for many people with the intent to target sturgeon.. Bottom line, don’t bring a knife to a gun fight!!
Tight lines all! 🍻

[trigger7mm]

Also, please folks, use single barbless hooks when fishing sturgeon.

[stob]

x2 and you are a good writer... to the point...thx

[58thecat]

I sure hope instead of stumbling up and don’t the shore line when you see people targeting sturgeon with inadequate rigs that a polite sit down and show your gear and explain why just might persuade this mentality.
We all learn be it from the internet or a polite educated conversation but let’s not kid ourselves the internet is so much more easily available.
Don’t put skin colour, religion, politics into the equation as we are all anglers just enjoying the outdoors and we all want to better it and if we can change one small thing in a positive direction we all win.

[Outbound]

Great post, thank you! It's a good insight into a unique fishery here in Alberta I still need to try.

I love fishing for sturgeon on the Fraser River, but that's a whole different ball game. 100 - 130lb mainline is standard there for starters. I should look into an Alberta sturgeon rig for when I find myself in the southern part of the province with some time to spare.

[mlee]

I'll slso admit I was guilty of using improper gear/rigs when I first started fishing the big rivers years ago until someone showed me the proper way. Now I run into countless people using setups that are way too light and the $1 p-rigs from crappy tire.....most are pretty receptive when it's brought up casually that there is a better way....especially after they see you pull in a dead fish attached to a poor rig.

Honestly....I believe a bait ban is coming sooner than later and this is an issue for every species in every river system.
One thought I've had is instead of a full on bait ban....have an online course similar to the hunter training course....and a supplemental "river license ". An extra $10 a year or something.....if you want to river fish....you need to have it. Education and revenue....2 birds one stone....and what's another $10 a year to be able to keep fishing. Just my $0.02.

[58thecat]

Originally Posted by mlee

I'll slso admit I was guilty of using improper gear/rigs when I first started fishing the big rivers years ago until someone showed me the proper way. Now I run into countless people using setups that are way too light and the $1 p-rigs from crappy tire.....most are pretty receptive when it's brought up casually that there is a better way....especially after they see you pull in a dead fish attached to a poor rig.

Honestly....I believe a bait ban is coming sooner than later and this is an issue for every species in every river system.
One thought I've had is instead of a full on bait ban....have an online course similar to the hunter training course....and a supplemental "river license ". An extra $10 a year or something.....if you want to river fish....you need to have it. Education and revenue....2 birds one stone....and what's another $10 a year to be able to keep fishing. Just my $0.02.

Well said, there has to be some middle ground here.


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[Woodmonkey]

Thanks for posting. Very informative.

[Kings]

Thanks Wayne for the informative post. Appreciated.
Cheers

[StringTheory]

Thanks for the informative post Wayne! I remember reading your 2018 article in the magazine, thats when I upgrade my tackle for the big mommas. I haven't targeted sturgeon yet but am curious if anyone is rigging their rods with circle hooks instead of the standard J-hooks?

I've started switching all my tip up rigs to circle hooks with great success (never gut hooked a fish with a circle hook) and was thinking they would be a good option for soaking bait on the river too.

[HuyFishin]

Originally Posted by StringTheory

Thanks for the informative post Wayne! I remember reading your 2018 article in the magazine, thats when I upgrade my tackle for the big mommas. I haven't targeted sturgeon yet but am curious if anyone is rigging their rods with circle hooks instead of the standard J-hooks?

I've started switching all my tip up rigs to circle hooks with great success (never gut hooked a fish with a circle hook) and was thinking they would be a good option for soaking bait on the river too.

My sturgeon hooks are circle hooks

[thumper]

Great post Wayne. And it's nice to see that all age classes seem to be doing well.

[Smiity]

I personally don't fish for sturgeon as i prefer to fish for fish i can keep and eat. I also have have heard how endangered this species is and how careful a person must be handling not only this species of fish but all fish. For the life of me, i will never understand why people feel the need to take sturgeon out of the water to get a photo of it? If you want a photo of it, take one but why do people risk harming it by removing it form the water? I think some of it comes down to respect of animals and i've seen first hand some people just don't care or have enough respect when it comes to handling fish or towards other people. It only seems to be getting worse.