Girl Power/Rainy River Sturgeon

As the Rainy River spring sturgeon season continues the girlfriend and I came across an odd day; a day she had off of work and I did not have clients or other chores to get done. Days like this are rare so being the romantic type of guy I am I offered a get away to a remote spot on the Rainy River for a little quality time, I’m not sure sturgeon fishing was her idea of a quality time but after that outdoors date it is now on her list of favorite things to do.

Following a little convincing that getting up at 4:30 am and heading through the frozen darkness in a boat was a good idea we arrived at one of my old sturgeon spots just as the sun should have been breaking the tree line if it was not for the shadowing cloud clover. I gently placed the first rod in the holder and began to explain what to do when a sturgeon comes along and sure enough one did come along and gave the rod a rock solid tug. We went from the serenity of the early am river to the whining of the reel, singing of my heavy monofilament line and chaos of trying to line up cameras, unfold nets and making sure my five foot fishing partner didn’t lose the game of tug of war that was ensuing; I’m sure an early morning swim would not have been good for anybody. After a short ten minute battle she had landed her first sturgeon; a nice 45” fish.

We took the pictures, released this landmark fish and attempted to review what had just happened as I re-baited and placed the rod back in the holder only to have it get slammed again! Another sturgeon only seconds after the sinker hit the bottom! My now comically self proclaimed pro fisherwoman knew exactly what to do as she carefully put the tension to the fish and chased it around the boat, under the motors and even tamed a few hard surface rolls as she boated her second sturgeon; a blunt nosed 54 inch fish with a solid 20” girth. We once again, took pictures, released the fish and settled back into our seats as we finally had a chance to set the second rod. I took that opportunity to dig out some coffee and began to explain that fish like that just don’t happen all the time and it won’t always be that way as I looked up to see the old Penn rod loading up again. She had another fish on! This time I sat back and watched the monster I had created adjusting the drag, working the fish around the boat and keeping the line tight as this behemoth learned that a picking on a little girl was a bad idea. I was as proud as I could be as boats begin to show up for the day slowing down to watch this little lady battle a fish for forty minutes and eventually steering all 60” of sturgeon directly into the net as she set the pace for the day.

This went on all morning as she boated sturgeon after sturgeon and I was somehow demoted to white suckers and net man. I was also very happy that I was using a drift sock on a stern bridal preventing lifting the rear anchor every couple minutes.

The water was only 36.6 degrees and the rumors are the bite is slow but we proved that wrong with a little technology and not settling for the sit and wait anywhere deep theory. Utilizing the Lakemaster Rainy River map and sonar was crucial to another successful day on the river. By simply making use of the well marked deeper holes on the map I was able efficiently make several passes with the sonar looking for larger humps at the heads of the holes and those tell tale massive arches of sturgeon on the bottom. I also have to admit the Lakemaster map saved my boat on this trip. After a morning full of sturgeon we decided to make the run five miles up the river to check out an old walleye spot; a trip I seldom make. As we motored along I seen a sunken hump on the map that I did not know existed but I put my faith in the Lakemaster map and knowing the water is a bit low. I swerved the cursor arrow around the mapped hump only to see a rock the size of a Subaru pass by the port side of the boat just below the waters surface. Wow that was close.

Well done Lakemaster, well done.