Stergeon

[davetclown]

Its that time of year again, any one going to give them a shot this year?

I will probably go one time this year just for the sake of going. Ya know, its the principle of the thing.. [laugh]

If I get one kool, if I dont, I am sure I will have a relaxing time....
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[lurtch]

i have no clue were to go what to use..id like to try just never done it..i didnt even know there was any left to catch in this state..
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[davetclown]

You have to get a special tag from the dnr office to even target them, last time I went they were free, but still you had to register just so they know how many people are targeting Stergeon.

there are only four places that you may target Stergeon.


[ol][li]Black Lake, by lottery only through the ice in feburary, hook and line or spear. any size....[/li][li]Ostego Lake most of they year hook and line, I would have to look to see what the size limit is there,[/li][li]Lake michigan out miles away from shore, and they must be 70+ inches long if I remember coorect.[/li][li]St clair river, mid july to the mid or end of september and it is a slot size limit, I think 42 - 52 inches, any thing bigger or smaller must be released.[/li][/ol]to target them you basicly do it the same way you would target catfish using much the same bait.

yes there are a number of stergeon caught accidently by catfishermen. and walleye fisherman alike...

I doubt I would ever keep one, I have caught one once, the next one I would like to get a pic of, I didnt have a camera the last time I caught one,

there are different species of stergeons, the one I caught was a white, at the time I caught it, it was too small to keep, and today in the same area I caught the last one, it would be to big to keep... [:p][blush][laugh] So ya, the biggest fish I ever caught was too small to keep.... [laugh][sly]
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[lurtch]

sounds like a pain just to targrt a fish you might catch one but probbly cant keep..ill probbly hold of on that one..thanks for the info though learned alot..
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[lonehunter]

I'm looking forward to giving it a try .

Ostego lake is where i'll be heading , when is up in the air .
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[davetclown]

I made my way out to the st clair river today, well yesterday now,

I missed the spruts, they continued to go around me.

Met up with Bob from utica

I was out for about 8 hours, 4 - midnight. in that time we counted only 3 freighters moving on the channel, one down and two up.

there were a dozen or so other anglers there, but by no means was there a shortage of seating along the board walk.

by the time dark fell, all the anglers septin Bob and me had left the river side.

I did a fair share of feeding gobies, or so I figured, I didnt pull any of them up. or any thing else for that matter...

Bob and seveal other guys found them selves some action with the sheepheads, They ran 8 - 12 pounds... they all had yellow or brassy shade on them, not the white silvery color I am acoustom to.

Bob and I shared a few rigging techs'

I was also suprised not to see any Redhorse while I was there, tho if things are running the same o same o, then they too are running about two weeks late.

now the skeeters busted loose right at sundown, so I whipped out my trusty repellent and the skeeters stayed their distant, septin a few comocozzies, one made a mad run right for my eyeball, took me a cople to recover from that-n

now to the meat of the report, mind you now this is second hand news, but there are several reports of stergeon being landed both from shore and out from the channels.

I hope to make it out that way one more time this year...
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[uticabob]

Dave, pleased to make your acquaintance at the St Clair river, and thanks for pointing me to the bigfish site

I've been back to the same spot a couple of times, since. Still haven't caught a sturgeon. A mystery fish did break the freshly installed 17lb line, on one of my lighter weight setups, before my son or I could even get to it. I'm guessing it was a muskie, rather than a sturgeon, due to the quickness of the event.

We've been catching (and releasing) mostly the usual sheephead. Yesterday, I did, however, manage to catch one of those redhorse that you had been expecting to see.

Bob from Utica

[davetclown]

Hey bob, good to hear from ya....

If them redhorse are showing up there I can start expecting to seeing them in the inland rivers...

what I didnt tell you before is that you can post your fishing and hunting photos here if you like.

you can put them in your post and replies or you can open your own photo gallery.. to find your free gallery, look up on the blue bar twards the top of the page and put your arow over Big Fish Fun and the menu will drop down and then click on the gallery.

Not to disclose the place you are fishing, "we dont do that here, just genneral locations"

remember where I said I was going to move to but didnt get around to it? go all the way over to the last can on the left and about 5 feet this side.

cast out about half the distance you have been, there is a hole there, or at least it used to be there, That is where I got mine at many years ago... set one line there and put a bell on it... Remember you dont have to be a mile out because that first step is a doozy.

set your drag to about 8-10 pounds, you will still have to let a stergeon run a bit before you can tug in that log... Like a carp they have a run, just not a freight train run where nothing stops them but time and lots of line. The key is steady presure and no horsing...

Heres that pic of that alaskan salmon I was telling you about., click on it to see a larger immage.

[center][url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/photos/showphoto.php/photo/1048/cat/500/ppuser/89"][/url]
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[uticabob]

Cute salmon, Dave!

Nothing much new to report, I just keep trying....Thanks for the tips, I'll let you know if I ever get a sturgeon.The season runs 'til the end of next month, I do believe.

Btw, I recently put on the jacket I was wearing the day I ran into you there, and stuck my hands in the pockets... Are you by chance missing a roll of electrical tape(the one you handed me to use for taping the glow stick onto the tip of my fishing rod)? Anyway, I think I owe you one.....
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[davetclown]

LoL,

Thanks bob for letting me know,
I am glad to know I didnt leave it laying on the lawn some where, I dodnt like the idea of being a litter bug.... I dont want to make my self an unwelcome guest. especialy when I find a spot where I get to fish all night with out being bothered.

if ya run in to a stergeon or walleye, and let us konw.. we'll call it even.. [laugh]
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[uticabob]

Dave and all, I finally caught a nice sturgeon!

Last night, I was shore fishing at that same spot on the St Clair river. Around 9pm, just as it was starting to get dark, I was bringing in a twenty-some-inch fish. A local guy happened by and offered to help, so I told him he could grab my net and scoop it up. It was a small sturgeon, and the guy (turned out his name was also "Dave". What's up with that? said that he had never actually seen one except in pictures.

While we were admiring the fish, I had a hit on another rod (I almost lost it, make sure your rod holders are exceptionally well planted when sturgeon fishing). I had quite a fight on my hands, it was a much larger sturgeon. To make a long story short; I finally landed it at the boat launch. It was about 53 inches, according to my tape measure and about 35 lbs according to my digital scale. Since it was about three inches over the legal limit, I was obliged to release it.

Coincidence upon coincidence. After many attempts, and no sturgeon, I finally get two at once. One too small and one too large. I guess I'll have to keep trying for that keeper....

Btw, I also caught a small/15" walleye last night and a 19" one last week, though I haven't been targeting them. The walleye are certainly in the river now. I've seen others caught and heard reports of some much larger fish being taken...

[davetclown]

Bob, thanks for the reports...

sounds like you found the sweet spot, you in front of the can near the launch like I suggested?

hope ya got pictures for pospairity. [:p]

Wished I could get out there, all that construction on 59 has turn a 2 hour tour to a half day trip. [pirate] I will have to google to see if I can find another way around 59 that isnt to out ragous.

did they get exit 23 north of 59 opened back up yet?
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[uticabob]

Actually, I got the sturgeons at around the 2nd can from the launch (where I had been fishing). I did try the spot you suggested once or twice but I do believe that they can be caught anywhere in that general vicinity, when they are out and about, scouring the bottom for food....

Speaking of food. I'm not even sure what bait I caught the larger sturgeon on. I had a two hook rig, each hook baited with something different, and I lost all my terminal tackle in the landing process...It was either shrimp or dead gobie...

No luck with pictures [frown] It was pitch dark by the time I landed it and all I had was my cell phone camera. One of the kids flocking around took a pic with his phone camera and attempted to send it to me but that didn't work out, and I think it was a pretty lousy pic, anyway, from what I saw...I must start to carry some type of cheap camera (with a flash) in my tackle box.

Are you talking about 23 mile road? Well I think that is all clear, but I don't usually go that way, preferring to take 26 mile. I do hope you make it out there again, some time. I plan to continue to go as long as I can afford the gas...not a real short trip for me either.

[davetclown]

I made it back out again fryday

I gave it a good solid 12 hours, 6pm to 6am.

I got a good half dozen hits, but no hook sets, I know it was stergeon because they grabbed the line and went up river with it before they dropped it, cats would have just swallowed the bait hook and all.

It was a great night, the moon was out the whole time, only saw 4 freighters. I did have to knock off early because of all the fog that rolled in, "before dawn" I was getting soaking wet, made me wish I had packed my overhuals.

I did manage to land 6 or 8 rock bass and one White Bass, You just couldnt keep a worm on the hook with the rockies and gobies...[pirate]

I did have company for the eve, we had a young lady driving a golf cart around every hour or so, they had a flea market thing going on in front of the river for the weekend.
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[lonehunter]

Hey Bob , any new news on your quest for the stergon ?
Oh yea , welcome to the boards !
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[uticabob]

Dave,LH, and all,

I only made it out, I think, two or three times since I got the sturgeons, and haven't gotten any more since. Btw, I lied about not getting a pic for posterity. As it turns out, I do have the pic of the 53" sturgeon on my camera phone, sent to me by a bystander. It is a pretty poor pic though.

The last time I was out was on Sept 24th when I put in about 9 hrs, from 3PM until midnight. I know, I gave it up just as it was getting to be prime time. I had a cold coming on, and all I had managed to catch in that time was a few small catfish. Dave, I don't know that I even saw any freighters.

Well, that's it for sturgeon this year. I'll give it hell next year, now that I know the ropes a little better and have some heavier duty tackle.

If I make it out there again, this year, it will be for walleye or...?
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[davetclown]

Hi Bob, its good to hear form ya again.

we would love to see your sturgeon even if it is poor quality. we get a lot of those.. lol

hope next year we can meet again on the board walk for some more exciting stergeon action....

They say stergeon is the fish of 10,000 cast. ya right, like you are susposed to cast and retrieve for them..lol

if you havent read, the salmon are in up north and out west, and I hear there are a few stealies left over by yates landing "cider mill" in the clinton river, ya know rodchester area. I dont know if they plant eyes there.

I would have suggested going town to the lower end of southfeild freeway but those roads are a mess.

I did catch a walleye up by the bluewater bridge last year near huron streat.
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