fished friday and sat at tippy. many spawned out steelies availible for all to catch. hooked and landed one of many sturgeon that could be seen swimming and leaping about. it was like hooking into a giant log that after a minute or so started pulling back and stripping line big time. caught and keep a couple of nice steelies - let many others go. great fun
Sturgeon at Tippy
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Me too!!
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I have seen them there before watch a guy get one in once
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Last summer in very early August, my wife and I talked to a couple of researchers in their jet powered jonboat at Rainbow Bend and again at Highbridge about what they were doing. They told us they were following radio tagged sturgeon that were released into the river, and tracking their progress on how far they were moving. They told us more about what organization they were from (don't recall now) and some info on that sturgeon program in the Big M. Very interesting and informative. Good to hear!
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They're there every year, usually somebody lands one that is just full of hooks and flys all over it's body.
There is a big sign at the overlook at Suicide Bend that explains about the sturgeon and the spawning habitat the Big Man provides, pretty cool!
Mitch
There is a big sign at the overlook at Suicide Bend that explains about the sturgeon and the spawning habitat the Big Man provides, pretty cool!
Mitch
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It was actually in the Hodenpyle inpoundment, and it was about 4 feet long. I put it right back in the water after a 20 minute fight. Caught it in the deep drop off next to the "floating lady head" By the way, anyone know the story behind sticking that manaquin head on that stump? There's got to be a good story behind that!
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where in there is that
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where in there is that in there?
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Hey guys,
We're asking that folks do their best to leave those sturgeon alone. We realize you might accidentally hook one, but if you do please break it off when you realize it is a sturgeon, particularly if it is foul hooked. There is no open season on lake sturgeon in the Manistee River, and according to the law it is illegal to "take or attempt to take" fish out of season. As you probably know, the sturgeon are there attempting to spawn at this time of year. Hooking them and playing them to exhaustion is not going to help them as they try to reproduce.
Lake sturgeon are a state-threatened species in Michigan, and numbers are very low particularly in Lake Michigan. Typically we have less than 30 or so adult sturgeon that run the Manistee River each year to spawn, and of those only a few are females. This is a population that is at a very low level. The bright side is that natural reproduction has been documented in the Manistee River, so we're hoping that over time, we can build a large, fishable population of lake sturgeon. It will take many years though, as female lake sturgeon do not mature until 20-25 years of age, and even once they are mature they only spawn once every three years or so. Let's not harass these amazing creatures while they are trying to reproduce. If we play our cards right, perhaps in the future our children and grandchildren will get the opportunity to legally fish for large numbers of them in our Lake Michigan tribs.
Thanks for your cooperation.
We're asking that folks do their best to leave those sturgeon alone. We realize you might accidentally hook one, but if you do please break it off when you realize it is a sturgeon, particularly if it is foul hooked. There is no open season on lake sturgeon in the Manistee River, and according to the law it is illegal to "take or attempt to take" fish out of season. As you probably know, the sturgeon are there attempting to spawn at this time of year. Hooking them and playing them to exhaustion is not going to help them as they try to reproduce.
Lake sturgeon are a state-threatened species in Michigan, and numbers are very low particularly in Lake Michigan. Typically we have less than 30 or so adult sturgeon that run the Manistee River each year to spawn, and of those only a few are females. This is a population that is at a very low level. The bright side is that natural reproduction has been documented in the Manistee River, so we're hoping that over time, we can build a large, fishable population of lake sturgeon. It will take many years though, as female lake sturgeon do not mature until 20-25 years of age, and even once they are mature they only spawn once every three years or so. Let's not harass these amazing creatures while they are trying to reproduce. If we play our cards right, perhaps in the future our children and grandchildren will get the opportunity to legally fish for large numbers of them in our Lake Michigan tribs.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Yes very good post , I agree we should all leave them alone . I live down near detroit and only get to visit the manistee once a year for some great salmon action . It is a beautiful river and great place to fish . I would love to see an abundance of sturgeon in there some day .
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Excellent post, Mark. "Leave them Alone," should be put in big, bold capitol letters.M. Tonello said:
THANKS MARK ACTUALLY we did leave them alone the best we could snapping leaders as quickly and gently as possible after seeing one up close and personal for the first time. It was a good experience and I will promote good fishing and sporting habits at all times. thanks for the insite. Tom and Becky and friends
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Whit1 said:
I understand the idea of landing one is exciting and a photo would be great but you often hear guys talk about the stress on small coldwater fish that are going to be released. I can imagine what it does to a fish that large that is already under extreme stress to spawn.
As cool as it would be to land one just seeing one next to the boat is a cool thing in itself. Maybe one day it will be very common.
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