Have long had a fascination with sturgeon…

This fall accompanied by family and friends we made a few trips. A feeling it would go over well introducing others, it certainly did.

Our first round we stayed two days. Myself, Mike and Steve fished late day one. The next morning Steve would return home leaving only Mike and I.

A soft, slow and relentless power, a drawn out fight which bleeds energy and can then suddenly erupt into a leap of emotions, Steve had never experienced fishing quite like this before.

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After several more tugs of war for everyone, Mikey too would eventually feel what it is like to catch a big sturgeon.

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Steve would later reel in an incidental catfish. Not wanting to bother with it I posed with him and his catch, while the fish bled a little onto his jacket. We laughed!

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Come morning I laid beats into a good one. Then through the afternoon we’d take a sturgeon break and go for a muskie troll while Mike got to BBQ’ing us some treats.

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Tending to fish, measuring and keeping them settled in one place was easier with this home-made box cradle. Fish safety first! Some wood, corner brackets, carpet glue, staples and rubber flooring, for about $65 I constructed this bed to lay fish in. The inside being exactly 60 inches end to end, it makes measuring fish simple and, it cleans easy, keeps sturgeon safe in one place and when wet is healthier for the fishes skin. Fits perfectly over the rod storage locker and makes a good table for messy baiting jobs too. Occasionally some sturgeon don’t entirely fit within it lengthwise, but we forgive those fish for this.

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We would both do well the second day for bigger than average sturgeon. Many fish were super fat and we had no issues pushing lengths to five feet on some.

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No stranger to sturgeon or big fish, Brenda joined me for a day. At 4:00pm we hadn’t caught a thing… only lost a fish. Then they started biting.

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The next six hours was some of the most intense and exhausting fishing we have ever experienced. Some guy in a boat over, all Johnny drama, muscle shirt, jacked up, fighting belt and all, was grunting and shouting forever through every one of his fish. Brenda herself reeled in 14 sturgeon to my 7, and not counting those lost, 21 fish got played to the boat. During this time I was constantly re-baiting hooks and even tending to the BBQ for us to eventually take a break and have dinner. Non-stop action and Brenda was a humble champ as always. And quite bruised up the next day too.

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My fish were okay, with some in the low to mid fifty inch range. Bren caught quite a few more like that too but, it was those sixty plus inch fish which captured our time.

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Both my teenage daughters want little to do with fishing nowadays, but after struggling to find a partner for a final return I eventually broke down and paid this little scammer $50 for her company.

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Leah had little idea what she had signed up for. Cheap labor! Now I had a partner to do the work of reeling in all the fish. An old cloth belt, two scrap cut pieces of floor mat and one hammer belt loop and within minutes her uniform was complete. This little fighting harness proved real handy for her.

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Her first sturgeon didn’t really test her skills much though…

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But we built on that foundation nonetheless, and the next fish was a step-up.

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Most of our time it was the kiddo on the rod but now and again she’d clock out for a break. She’s not that big a girl really, some of the sturgeon were nearly as tall and heavy as her. One thing was for certain though, she had no desire to quit. In fact, she was out of breath, red-faced, but stubbornly grinning ear-to-ear with each hook-up, just doing her damndest to go as hard as she could through each tiring battle.

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Leah is a very quick study and got to pumping the rod and reeling down just like any angler should when playing big fish like sturgeon. She made Papa pretty proud and caught some great fish, her best being a skinny five footer to the whiskers. Told me the two things she liked best are setting the hook and having a sturgeon on her lap.

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She missed every hookset she attempted except the very last, this cost us some fish for sure but I didn’t care… much. 😛 When we got home later she wanted all the photos uploaded to her phone so she could show her friends at school. Dad understands…

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Quick to pass out in the truck for the long drive home, Leah would first collect her paycheck before telling me she had a great time. This old man felt the same way too.

Sturgeon fishing eh! A wonderful time with family and friends.

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Thanks for taking the bait. Lets hook up again!
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Bunk.
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