circle hooks for sturgeon?

[crazyted]

Hey Larry,
first off I just wanted to say you are the man! I cant believe that it took me this long to witness some of your fishing adventures. Your show is the best on tv IMO. True skill that you can catch fish anywhere in the world. You motivate me to take and my fishing partner since birth(my younger brother) to have our own fishing adventures.

Ok my question .. I have been fishing in the California Delta where I have lived for my whole life. Ive finally saved enough to get a little 12' alum boat to start chasing some bigger fish . People here seem to all use d style or octopus style (j) hooks for sturgeon. I was wondering since the mouth of a sturgeon is so small and they normally swallow the bait completely would a circle hook be a good hook to use?

the standby in this area is buying the junky pretied leaders in 60-80# crimped wire 24-36'' down to a loop with 2 hooks and a bead seperating the hooks. Any advice on common setups would be helpfull. Also if you have info on a wire crimping kit so i could make my own?

[dahlberg]

The rigging stuff can be aquired at almost any major tackle supplier. I get my wire, 49 strand, from All Tackle. I've found J hooks work best, with the barbs pinched down of course.
If you're gut hooking them, you're giving them too much time, or maybe not fishing with a tight line. Why wire? Sharks?
have fun in your new boat. I hope a big sturgeon gives you a nantucket sleigh ride!
best,
L

[crazyted]

Not exactly sure about the wire. I believe what i heard was that a sturgeon has little "blades?" on the sides of his body that could cut the line. Do you normally just use braid or mono for the leaders?

o and about the gut hooking it has not been a problem yet as I take my first major outing targeting sturgeon tommorrow. I just wanted to make sure I am using the right gear.

thanks for the advice
ted

[dahlberg]

hi ct,
Yup, I just use hard mono.
L

[crazyted]

[quote="dahlberg"]I hope a big sturgeon gives you a nantucket sleigh ride!

LOL we hooked up on an oversized green sturgeon illegal for keeping in this area.

He was about 66-69 inches. crazy time! He tore that wire leader up pretty bad. Maybee the greens have rougher scales than whites? Still cannot find a qualified source for why people use wire.

thanks for the info
ted

[veilside180sx]

On the Columbia (Oregon), we use a braid (such as Tufline XP, PowerPro, etc) for the mainline and regular dacron for the leader. Sturgeon are not line shy, since they don't rely on sight nearly as much as most other fish.

Mono and wire leaders can not be digested by the fish and tear their stomachs. That is why pretty much everyone in the NW runs braids/dacron at least for the leader. Personally I use 80-130 dacron for the leader, and 80 super braid for the mainline.

I can only assume that the people recommending wire leaders, do so because sturgeon like to roll to escape. This causes the line to wrap around the body of the fish and the leader to be cut on the scales. Important thing is to keep your line tight and pressure on the fish continuously.