Rigging for sturgeon

[Knife2sharp]

Anyone target sturgeon in the winter?  I was using whole smelt and a group of guys not 100 yards from me caught 3 and they were using cut shiners.  My theory wasn't the bait or location, but 6 guys with two lines each possibly created a chumming effect since their lines weren't spaced that far apart.  Or maybe by using chunks instead of whole created more scent?  Does anyone know what they prefer in the winter?  Is it similar to sometimes walleye like just the head of a minnow instead of a whole one?

[Kevin23]

More stink, more scent, more meat. They feed by smell first and sight second, just like catfish.

[slipperybob]

I don't specifically target sturgeon.  In fact I kind of try not to catch one.  Since I will encounter them while fishing for crappie with typical light gear.  It's easy to hook up with a lot of baby sized ones of 36" and less and more often if lure is on bottom.

It's very easy for a sturgeon to go after a fathead minnow.

[Bumski]

In Wisconsin it's not legal to fish sturgeon through the ice except the spearing season on Lake Winnebago in Feb.
Why would you want to target them in the winter? 

[Knife2sharp]

Catch and release on St. Croix. Went back today, really slow, I had one channel catfish come and mouth my bait but he dropped it.  Saw him or a different one two more times within 15 min. I also had a pair of  +12" mudpuppies try and fit my shiner in their mouth.  That is one fuggly creature.

[DTro]

Fishing sturgeon is basically the only thing I did all ice season.   I rig for them 2 ways:   1 is under a foam bobber I run a 4/0 circle hook with a 1 oz sliding sinker sliding right down to the hook (this keeps it from tangling on the drop).   The other way I do it is with a simple 3/4oz heavy hook jig head and tight line it to the bottom with the rod laying on a bucket and I just watch for the tip to move.    No matter the scenario, you need to watch your line very closely, sturgeon bite very light.  Sure you are going to get the occasional fish that eats your bait and swims off fast, but 90% of the bites is just a simple twitch of the bobber or rod tip.    For bait we almost always use a couple of crawlers and smashed up fatheads.  I do like to keep one of the minnows alive.  I think the movement of the minnow attracts them.  Also, every once in a while I like to pound the bottom and stir it up a bit.       These fish roam a lot and really its just a matter of being in the right place at the right time and having a lot of patience.  I have had 5 skunks in a row and a few 15 fish nights.    It sure is a blast when you hook up with those fish 50” or bigger! 

[Knife2sharp]

Awesome info DTro.  So, is using a whole dead sucker or large smelt too much for them?  I'm talking 9" - 12".  Have they been known to mouth the bait and drop it if they feel the hook?  I'm just wondering if it's worth having a rod or tipup outside the shack some distance away?  I have a heavy Thorne Bros rod that I got for lake trout, but use on pike and works great.  I was using it in conjunction with one of those HT Ice Riggers. 

On the catfish I was using a medium shiner cut in 3rds, but it wasn't fresh, it had died in my holding tank in the basement the day before.  I was about to set the hook when he dropped it.

I would've thought the way pike grab dead bait that getting rough fish in a river to take one would be simple.  It's proving to be quite challenging, but fun.  Watching that big cat fish slowly approach my bait from head on and seeing this dark shadow emerge into a fish was something I'll never forget.  I spent two days fishing and still waiting to catch my first glimpse of a sturgeon.  I wonder if the lack of snow pack on the ice hasn't shut them down somewhat.

[DTro]

I've seen them bite so light that they would never trip a tip up.  we do all kinds of weird things to try and detect the bite better like hanging bobbers on a slack line and tip downs and neutral bobbers.    in my experience you don't want a bait any bigger than about a golf ball in the winter, they seem to prefer a bit smaller bait.  In the fall we use some bigger baits and they will eat them, but keep in mind the size of their mouth, it's not very big.

I have a bunch of sturge ice vids on my youtube channel.   Here is one i just pieced together tonight from a FB live feed we were messing around with:

&feature=youtu.be

[Knife2sharp]

Wow, after seeing some of your vids I was going way too big on the hooks and bait.  I was more or less rigged for pike/muskie and you guys look to be rigged for walleye when it comes to the size of hooks and bait.  I was using 80lb Power Pro on my reels and 80lb dacron red tip-up line for my leaders with about 5/0 single hook or two 1/0 hooks on a single smelt or sucker.  I looked up rigging for sturgeon online and what I came across must've been for summer fishing or for 100 lbers.  I gotta take it down a notch or two.

[DTro]

Well that's the catch 22. You want to be a rigged a bit smaller in the winter, but you still want to be able to handle that 100lber when it comes by.   Keep your gear upsized (rod, reel, line) but just downsize your bait/hook.   Big fish will eat small baits.   One time we were messing around with the Aquavu camera and mudpuppies and the guy had a small crappie rod with tungsten jig tipped with a tiny piece of crawler.  Wouldn’t ya know it, along comes a 50” sturge and sucks up the tiny jig. 

[J_MAKI]

Curious what type of areas are you catching them through the ice?

[slipperybob]

Curious what type of areas are you catching them through the ice?

I catch mine down by the river...St. Croix River.  Like I said, tired of hooking into big fish that won't fit into a 9" hole.  I have enough fun with the channel cats already.