Sturgeon 12/10/05

How do you like the new avatar?

Sweet!.... but why is Erik always getting all the sturgeon love? .....  I'd ike to get a little.   

Did the Press Demo include a photo(s)?  The story is great, but the picture would really turn heads!!

Stuart

dude, I still want to know about the 65lb braid.  

There really wasn't much science behind the selection of 65 braid.  Upon examining the last 4 or 5 feed of my braided line after having being wrapped up with that sturgeon, the braided line is pretty beat up, but not so much that I feel it would have jeopardized the strength of the line too much.  I think you could certainly go with 30# or 40# braid.  I went with 65# braid because there isn't much selection between 30# and 65# braid and 65# didn't look all that thick... it is still smaller diameter than the 25# mono I was using. 

I do like the look and feel of Stren Superbraid over that of powerpro... but that's just my opinion... they're all probaby just fine.

I really like using braid for sturgeon fishing because of the sensitivity it offers.
 
Stu... no picture in the paper... just a paragraph. 

One other funny thing that I just thought of... when driving home with that sturgeon in the back of my truck and tailgate down I got a few guys drive past me giving me the "thumbs up" and I could see people looking and pointing in my rearview mirror when I'd pull up to a stoplight.  Kind of fun...

One other funny thing that I just thought of... when driving home with that sturgeon in the back of my truck and tailgate down I got a few guys drive past me giving me the "thumbs up" and I could see people looking and pointing in my rearview mirror when I'd pull up to a stoplight.  Kind of fun...

Erik, If I had caught that fish that day.....it would have been a hood ornament on my truck on the way home 

Way to go on the HUGE fish Erik!

 

Going out tomorrow to try for sturgeon at Shell Bank, the tides look great  After Joels sad story, I'm going with 40 lb braided and dedicating my TLD 15 to sturgeon fishing.

Mooch, cough up the story. how did you rig and what happened?

leader material and test, mainline test, leader length etc, is what I'd like to hear about.

how long did it last before it broke off? where did it fail in relation to the hook?

please don't make me post anymore about sharks, I am scaring myself, 

Mooch, cough up the story. how did you rig and what happened?

leader material and test, mainline test, leader length etc, is what I'd like to hear about.

how long did it last before it broke off? where did it fail in relation to the hook?

please don't make me post anymore about sharks, I am scaring myself, 

+1 ... Lets hear it Mooch

As for the Mooch... he was using 15# line with I believe 20# mono leader.  He was intent on impressing everyone with his ability to land a Dino on light tackle. 

The fish he broke off came to the surface immediately when he hooked it.  Nobody got a clear view of it but what I saw looked light in color and the behavior looked "dinoish" to me.  It broke off after probably less than a minute... snapped the leader.  Another tell tale sign of Mr. dino... those pesky scutes that cut line when they roll up in it.

I've clearly been wasting too much time this weekend playing with some animation software that I just discovered on my computer... what do you think of the newly revised Avatar.  I couldn't resist...

 

As for the Mooch... he was using 15# line with I believe 20# mono leader.  He was intent on impressing everyone with his ability to land a Dino on light tackle. 

The fish he broke off came to the surface immediately when he hooked it.  Nobody got a clear view of it but what I saw looked light in color and the behavior looked "dinoish" to me.  It broke off after probably less than a minute... snapped the leader.  Another tell tale sign of Mr. dino... those pesky scutes that cut line when they roll up in it.

I've clearly been wasting too much time this weekend playing with some animation software that I just discovered on my computer... what do you think of the newly revised Avatar.  I couldn't resist...

Mooch, you might have got away with 15# main line, but 20# leader.. ...

Erik... good job on the avatar.  I'm trying to come up with a few ideas of my own using some recent pics.
What programs do you guys recommend for creating animated avatars?  Photoshop?

Mooch, cough up the story. how did you rig and what happened?

leader material and test, mainline test, leader length etc, is what I'd like to hear about.

how long did it last before it broke off? where did it fail in relation to the hook?

please don't make me post anymore about sharks, I am scaring myself, 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I actually had 20 # power pro for main line and had 20 # big game mono for leader. I hooked up in 5 ft. of water at the time and it took-off towards Bill and Erik. It actually "swirled" on top of the water just between Bill and Erik. I thought I was going to lose it on their anchors but I got lucky and it started swimming towards my yak. And just as when I was ready to release my anchor, the fish was directly underneath my kayak and broke off  the leader I must have battled the fish for a couple of minutes. (I only had my bait about 10 ft. from where I was anchored)

I actually had 20 # power pro for main line and had 20 # big game mono for leader. I hooked up in 5 ft. of water at the time and it took-off towards Bill and Erik. It actually "swirled" on top of the water just between Bill and Erik. I thought I was going to lose it on their anchors but I got lucky and it started swimming towards my yak. And just as when I was ready to release my anchor, the fish was directly underneath my kayak and broke off  the leader I must have battled the fish for a couple of minutes. (I only had my bait about 10 ft. from where I was anchored)

Would this have been your 1st Sturgeon?

What made you decide to go against every piece of Sturgeon equipment fishing advice posted on the internet and use only 20# leader?

I actually had 20 # power pro for main line and had 20 # big game mono for leader. I hooked up in 5 ft. of water at the time and it took-off towards Bill and Erik. It actually "swirled" on top of the water just between Bill and Erik. I thought I was going to lose it on their anchors but I got lucky and it started swimming towards my yak. And just as when I was ready to release my anchor, the fish was directly underneath my kayak and broke off  the leader I must have battled the fish for a couple of minutes. (I only had my bait about 10 ft. from where I was anchored)

Would this have been your 1st Sturgeon?

What made you decide to go against every piece of Sturgeon equipment fishing advice posted on the internet and use only 20# leader?

I actually caught a small green sturgeon last year with the 20 # leader but I guess I really underestimated the power of a bigger one this year. As for using light line....I'm a big fan on it - it may sound ridiculus to others but I LOVE the challenge of landing BIG fish with light line. I've lost MANY FISH in the past with this kind of set-up BUT I DID manage to feel the fight (even for a short while) and nothing get's me more pumped-up knowing that the odds are always against me. To this day, my light line record is a 5 pound bass on 4# line  . MY most heart breaking moment was watching a 20 # salmon break my 12# line with my bass rod (it was my first time fishing for salmon on a rented skiff from Santa Cruz). I got to battle this salmon for a while till he was belly up and when I tried to swing the fish closer to the skiff (so I can net it) and it got too close and hit the boat's hull and made a run that finally broke my line 

But I did bump my line for Sturgeon for the next round - 80 # seaguar flourocarbon leader with 30# big game mono / main line.

 As for using light line....I'm a big fan on it - it may sound ridiculus to others but I LOVE the challenge of landing BIG fish with light line. I've lost MANY FISH in the past with this kind of set-up BUT I DID manage to feel the fight (even for a short while) and nothing get's me more pumped-up knowing that the odds are always against me.

  :  I love the light stuff.....my hearts been broken by jackpot caliber fish many times too but the adrenaline rush and feeling of accomplishment continuously lure me back.       

You're a  Joel.