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Spoonbills and Sturgeon out of Everts Resort
by Briank on 08/15/2009
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 The Father Son Team of Jeff
and Tanner Harcey Never say never.
Less than 30 minutes prior to this paddle fish catch, I was explaining to Tanner Harcey why we never catch spoonbills fishing the way we do. Spoonbills eat plankton and are generally snagged when caught by hook and line fisherman. Anchoring and fishing with our bait on the bottom just isn't a setup that's going to catch a paddle.
Thirty minutes later I'm eating those words while taking photos of Jeff's 30.5 pound paddle fish. We took it's weight in the net, cut the PowerPro line wrapped around it's bill, snapped a few photos and gave her some cpr before she swam off into the depths of old man river.
After a very nice fight that made me believe it was a larger sturgeon, the lassoed paddle came to the boat. Getting it into the Beckman was the next hurdle. Jeff swam the fish into the net head first going down stream. It's the only way the fish and it's paddle were going into the net!
Jeff's was reminded by Tanner a couple - ten times that this fish was Jeff's only fish of the night!
 Tannner's first of 3 tagged
sturgeon The fella I was to be guiding tonight canceled at the last minute, so after a fish buffet at the Bluff's Bar and Grill in Hager City, I was focused on seeing how this rising water would effect the shovelnose sturgeon and cat fish bite on Pool 4. This might be the last night in the 70's for the rest of the year and I wanted to take advantage of it.
While getting bait at Everts, I saw Tanner Harcey fishing from the dock. This would be a perfect time to take him out fishing as I promised him I would earlier.
I was looking at the LakeMaster map a week or so ago and notice a place that I could anchor in 20ish feet of water and fish in much deeper, fast water that the shovelnose seem to like. Tonight would be a good night to check it out.
It wasn't long before the tipy tops of the St. Croix rods started dancing and Tanner had his first tagged sturgeon to the boat.
 Tanner with another taged
sturgeon The bait today is what I try to always take along this time of year. Sucker slices, crawlers, live and dead fatheads and Secret Seven stink bait.
I try to let the fish tell me what they want and tonight it was a small thumb nail size sucker fillet followed closely by crawlers. We never brought out the secret weapon...the stink bait.
Barbless 3/0 Gamakatsu circle hooks with a four ounce no roll sinker along with a 8 inch leader made up the terminal tackle. The barbless hook makes it a breeze to take out of all fish quickly and easily.
Using 80 pound test PowerPro relieves my mind of that "is the line going to break" feeling. Since cats, sturgeon and appearenly paddle fish are not line shy, it's clearly the way to go fishing for trophy fish.
 Lower is a Lake
Sturgeon-Upper is a
Shovelnose I'm ask frequently what is the difference between a shovel and a lake sturgeon. Small lake sturgeon are often mistaken for a shovelnose because they look somewhat different from an older lake. The scoots or bony plates on a smaller lake sturgeon are much sharper than a larger older one.
A shovel will have a semi circle of whiskers where a lake will have a straight line. The whiskers or barbles are rough on a shovel and baby butt smooth on a lake.
The head is more flat than a lake sturgeon.
Here's a photo of a lake and a shovel that shows the color difference.
Remember there isn't a season for lake sturgeon on the Mississippi River. Catch them, photograph them, measure them and get them back in the water as soon as possible. Don't forget to record the tag number and send or call it into the MN DNR at Lake City. Maybe someday, we'll see a catch and release season on these guys!
The summer of 2009 is on it's down hill slide but we have the best fishing ahead of us!
Get out there and stick a big one!
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Location
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Wisconsin
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Water Body
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Pool 4 of the Mississippi River
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Species
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sturgeon
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Water Temp
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77
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Flow
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7500
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Technique
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rigging
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Briank's Trophy Catfishing and Sturgeon Adventures
'09 Photo's<<
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Stuart
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Way to geter done Tanner & Jeff. 
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About as useful as a back pocket on a shirt
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Mike W
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Cool catch Brian. I bet those guys will be talking about that fish for a long time to come.
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Mike Westman - www.HomeTownplumbing.net
Your twin cities plumbing experts!
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BrandonJ
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Those are cool lookin fish
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There is no sick day for Brandon J
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Bret Clark
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Way cool paddle fish
Great read and pictures Mr. K 
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Bret Clark - IDO Ice Pro Staff
"Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway."
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Ben Garver
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Sure looks like you guys had a great time.
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Ben Garver
Bass Pro Shops Pro Staff
Salt Valley Guide Service - Guiding available on all Nebraska waters.
Call 402-890-3057
I say we work 2 days and fish 5!!!
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Pete Bauer
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Great Report BK
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SAUGER
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Steve Krapfl
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Nice Report BK!!! I have to say that I've never taken one on bait, only snagging. I hate to snag for the things, but it is fun tying into one. I always CPR them afterwards so, no harm, no foul. Nice looking sturgeon as well.
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Briank
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Well Steve, this one wasn't exactly "hooked" either.
It was lassoed around it's paddle. I was surprise there weren't any marks from the 80 pound PowerPro on it's beak.
I should have had a picture of Tanner kissing her before she was returned to the water...but I wasn't too sure how well they can stand being out of the water and didn't want to take any chances.
Besides, the rumor going around the girls Tanners age is that he has a kiss to die for.
We didn't want that.
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Briank's Trophy Catfishing and Sturgeon Adventures
'09 Photo's<<
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Chris Granrud
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Boy those sure sound like fun nights Brian!! I sometimes miss the night fishing. One thing I always notice is those boys are having fun when their with you!! Congratulations on the fish, and passing out smiles!!
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Chris Granrud - RainyDaze Guide Service
World-Class Walleye, Crappie, Pike & Smallmouth Bass Fishing!
Visit RainyDaze Guide Service to book your next adventure!
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DocFrigo
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Hey, no mention of the paddlefish poop??
heard the washer had a hard time removing it from clothing. 
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Briank
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~Paddle Poop~
Now I'll start off by saying flathead poop has a unique smell which my favorite wife can't stand, but I don't mind it so much.
But Paddle Poop is another story! After the photos where taken and the paddle safely back in the water, I noticed the god awful smell. I took a wiff in my shirt...nope, wasn't me. Since I just started smelling it I figured it had to have been the fish.
I used the spotlight over the boat floor and found a little pile about the size of a silver dollar....then my eye caught the pants of Tanner. Yup...while he was holding the fish for a picture ol' Mr Paddle pooped on his pants. 
The smell of spawning flats, the worst stink bait and even  Mike, my co-worker does not hold a candle to the smell of Paddle Poop.
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Briank's Trophy Catfishing and Sturgeon Adventures
'09 Photo's<<
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Re: Spoonbills and Sturgeon out of Everts Resort
