Bait for sturgeon fishing

Answer 1

Depends on what type of sturgeon you are looking for. Lake sturgeon generally are fished with worm balls (a number of worms on a single hook) but generaly can be caught with the same bait used for catfish.

White sturgeon are generally fished with some type of local dead bait (fish).

Answer 2

As with any fishing adventure, you will get a variety of answers depending on who you pose the question too. In general, if you want to catch sturgeon with a fishing pole, and you are fishing from the bank, you will first need the following equipment: A pole (12-15 foot in length, rated for 15-40 lb test line, with a lure weight of 4-10 oz.), A casting real, size 30 or above. 25 lb line or greater, size 5/0 barbless hooks, 50 lb sturgeon leader, three-way swivels, 5-10 oz sinkers, and dropper line to attache the sinkers to the three-way swivels (the dropper line should be 5 lbs lighter than the main line), a role of salmon netting to hold the bait, stretchy thread and a rod holder. For bait, the standard is sand shrimp and worms.

Rig your terminal gear as follows; attach your mainline to the top of your three-way. To bottom on the three-way attach your dropper line (12-15 inches) and weight. Attach your braided leader to your 5/0 hook and then to the middle eye of the three-way. When finished the leader should be about 6 inches.

To bait the hook, place two sand shrimp together in opposing positions. Wrap the sand shrimp in your salmon netting and secure by wrapping them with stretchy thread. Now take two earthworms and secure them around the sand shrimp with the stretchy thread. Place the hook into the bait about one inch from the end of the bait that will be at the end of the leader and make sure the hook is facing outwards. Now wrap a half hitch around the other end of the bait with the excess leader closest to the three-way.

Cast your pole out into the water. In current, stop your spool shortly after the sinker hits the water so the current does not pull your gear down stream. Place your rod in the rod holder and take up the slack in your line so that there is considerable tension on the tip of the rod and the sinker is secured firmly in the river rocks.

When a fish starts nibbling on your bait, be patient. When the fish takes your bait it will swim away with the bait, thus breaking the weight line. This will hook the sturgeon. Grab your pole and take up the slack. Set the hook at least twice to ensure a good hook set (remember, you have a lot of line out). Fish on, have fun!