Sturgeon Set-ups

[gallion_t]

Hello all,

After doing a guided sturgeon trip this summer and finally buying a fishing/hunting boat I'd like to get back into it. Other than the trip this summer I haven't fished for them in probably 20 years and could you an update on the gear.

I'll be fishing on the Columbia around the Tri Cities.

Is there a rod and reel setup people recommend? I still have my pole from back in the day with a Penn 320 reel on it though it's right have retrieve and I like left.

Is 80lb braided nylon still a good option for line?

What weight/type of line for a leader should I be looking for?

What size hooks should I be running?

Other than the standard stuff like swivels abd different sizes cannon ball weights is there anything else you'd consider a must have for catching these things?

Thanks for any feedback. Really hoping to do a cast and blast trip come January. Duck hunt in the morning then try to pick up a fish in the afternoon if the quota hasn't been hit yet

[metlhead]

Your original setup sounds great. 6/0 hooks work great but I'd not use cannonball weights. Pyramid or pancake to avoid moving around on bottom

[gallion_t]

Thanks. I'll get several different types of weights for different conditions.

I plan on still keeping my old pole and having it in the rotation, but I'd like to add at least 1 more so I can bring a buddy or my old man. Plus I'd like to have left hand retrieve this time. Any suggestions on a rod/reel to look at?

[supagoose]

The 12ft extra heavy ugly sticks and Diawa (60series) Sealine and Seagate were the standard for along time. I still think they are and I still use them. The Sealine and Seagate are very user friendly, affordable, and cast very well. They also hold enough line too depending on what you run. Rods I recommend are gonna be 13-14 ft rods. These rods have good back bones and gives you good leverage when fighting big fish. Ugly Stick 12" XH, Ticca Ulua Blue MH, Talon (light and good for casting but not enough back bone for big fish or fast water), Okuma Hawaiian Rods MH (very stiff), and the gold standard not made anymore the Okuma 13ft SST (I believe this is the best all around rod. Great for any size fish and water). Reels, I'd really recommend are conventional open face to level winds and lever drags as to star drag. Diawa Sealine and  Seagate, Penn Squalls, Pennn Tekkota, Penn Phatom, and what I think is the gold standard Avet HXW 5/2 Raptor. I shore fish so everything I recommend is what I use or have used for shore fishing. The SST and Avet combo you can max out the drag and just battle whatever monster the river dishes out as long as the line does not break or hook doesnt pop out.

[gallion_t]

Thanks for your input. Those are much longer rods than I currently have and what we used with the guide. Is that the difference between shore and boat fishing? I thought 6-8' was more standard.

[metlhead]

Rods that long may be very difficult to manage in a boat.

[supagoose]

Shore fishing you're gonna want longer rods. Those long rods are gonna be difficult to manage on a boat. I've only fished sturgeon from a boat acouple time and the people I fished with had salmon and catfish rods. I just remember those rods not having enough back bone and I wasn't able to put pressure on the fish and just fight it. Any fish bigger then 5 ft, those rods just felt like they were gonna break and we'd have to follow the fish for what seemed like forever. I run pretty serious gear thats made for tuna, trevally, and other big salt water fish. You wont find anyone else (I haven't) besides my buddy and I on the rivers. I pretty much run tuna gear and if I had a boat I'd run the same reels but with maybe off shore rods for tuna and halibut. But thats just my guess.

If you're interested I have a Penn International 20 VISK reel gold color LNIB. I'd give you a good deal on. Its not a good shore reel cause it doesnt cast well. But if you're on a boat and just dropping bait or just lobbing bait not very far then it'll be perfect.

[ASHQUACK]

Here's my boat rod/gear setup.
I run 8' trolling rods my favorite were the lamiglass true glass one piece rods nice light tip and plenty of back bone for bigger fish. We landed several 10 plus footers. I ran the tekota 500 lc loaded with 100# braid to a shortish leader usually 40 or 50 pound ultra green during retention season. If we were targeting big fish I would switch to a braided leader usually about 4 foot long to be able to half hitch a whole shad or shad fillet. Working with a guide we tried about every rod on the market for "big" fish and the ones we always went back to were lamiglass glass rods. As much as I hated their steelhead rods and customer service those glass rods were beasts. For hooks I run 6/0 to 12/0 Maruto semi barbless tied with the traditional egg loop. That way I can tail loop a bait and add more as needed with stretchy string.

[gallion_t]

Shore fishing you're gonna want longer rods. Those long rods are gonna be difficult to manage on a boat. I've only fished sturgeon from a boat acouple time and the people I fished with had salmon and catfish rods. I just remember those rods not having enough back bone and I wasn't able to put pressure on the fish and just fight it. Any fish bigger then 5 ft, those rods just felt like they were gonna break and we'd have to follow the fish for what seemed like forever. I run pretty serious gear thats made for tuna, trevally, and other big salt water fish. You wont find anyone else (I haven't) besides my buddy and I on the rivers. I pretty much run tuna gear and if I had a boat I'd run the same reels but with maybe off shore rods for tuna and halibut. But thats just my guess.

If you're interested I have a Penn International 20 VISK reel gold color LNIB. I'd give you a good deal on. Its not a good shore reel cause it doesnt cast well. But if you're on a boat and just dropping bait or just lobbing bait not very far then it'll be perfect.

Thanks for all the info and the reel offer. Doing a quick search it's a little more than I'm wanting to spend right now.

[gallion_t]

Here's my boat rod/gear setup.
I run 8' trolling rods my favorite were the lamiglass true glass one piece rods nice light tip and plenty of back bone for bigger fish. We landed several 10 plus footers. I ran the tekota 500 lc loaded with 100# braid to a shortish leader usually 40 or 50 pound ultra green during retention season. If we were targeting big fish I would switch to a braided leader usually about 4 foot long to be able to half hitch a whole shad or shad fillet. Working with a guide we tried about every rod on the market for "big" fish and the ones we always went back to were lamiglass glass rods. As much as I hated their steelhead rods and customer service those glass rods were beasts. For hooks I run 6/0 to 12/0 Maruto semi barbless tied with the traditional egg loop. That way I can tail loop a bait and add more as needed with stretchy string.

Thanks for a such a detailed write up. Really helpful.

It doesn't look like they make that rod anymore and they're onto a newer version of the reel. I'll have to do some research to see how the specs and size line up.

[ASHQUACK]

I've since switched to the okuma Coldwater reels. They aren't the "best" on the market but they work well for that job. They cast well and have sufficient drag even for the big ones. There are several makers of "sturgeon" rods but I found that a one piece glass rod rated for HEAVY weights work the best.

[gallion_t]

I've always had a soft spot for Ugly Stiks. I think the big water conventional in heavy action and either 7' or 8' 3" might be where I start.

On the reel front, that's a different beast. Since I prefer a left hand retrieve it seems my options are pretty limited. The top option I'm finding right now is a Penn Squall 2 in the 30 weight. That would give me 500 yards of 80lb braided which I would hope would be sufficient.

Haven't bought anything yet and still very open to suggestions.