I’ve been on a mission to catch a giant sturgeon since last October. That’s when anglers who target these Jurassic-looking fish told me they catch 7- to 9-footers from Idaho’s Snake River, only an hour from my home.
I hooked and lost two of these monsters last fall but had to put my sturgeon obsession on hold when the 2026 Progressive Bassmaster Elite Series season got underway.
The two-month break from the last Elite tournament on the Pasquotank River in June and the next event on Lake Champlain in August afforded an opportunity to resume my sturgeon quest.
My brother-in-law John Thieman, my good friend Chad LeBlance and his 13-year-old son Theodore joined me and my family to celebrate the Fourth of July. Fishing, of course, was on the agenda.
We launched in a stretch of the Snake River that’s awesome for smallmouth bass. We started casting buzzbaits and Z-Man Evergreen JackHammer ChatterBaits at 8:30 a.m. By 11 o’clock we had caught at least 50 strong, aggressive river bass that weighed from 2 to 4 pounds.
I asked everyone if they wanted to keep fishing for smallmouth or go for sturgeon. They voted for sturgeon unanimously.
I had marked a few deep holes last year that I thought had potential, even though this stretch of river isn’t highly regarded for sturgeon. My bait wasn’t in the water for more than three minutes when I hooked an 8 1/2-footer.
I set the hook as hard as I could with an extra heavy 8-foot rod and a big Daiwa reel spooled with 130-pound line. The sturgeon about pulled me into the water. Then it jumped. I battled the brute for 30 minutes before I could get my hands on it.
Idaho’s regulations require barbless hooks for sturgeon and you can’t remove them from the water. Also, you must release them immediately after taking a photo.
Most anglers get into the water with the sturgeon for the photo. I was hesitant about doing so but manned up and jumped in. I grabbed the sturgeon by its huge, sucker mouth and wrapped my arm around it. What an awesome experience. It was the fish of a lifetime.
Jonn caught a sturgeon later that day. The next day, Chad got to reel one in with his son. I had to get one more so my son Dustin could experience what it was like. We hooked one right off the bat. I held the rod and let Dustin crank until he couldn’t do it anymore. Then I took over. All three sturgeon measured 7 to 7 1/2 feet in length.
My wife, Kari, was super jealous and wanted to catch one. She had to wait because I left the next day to fish Lake Champlain before the cutoff. I hadn’t been to Champlain in four or five years and needed a refresher. Forward-facing sonar will not be allowed at that event.
After two days at Champlain, I flew to ICAST, which was a Coike show. Every one of my sponsors introduced new products. Yamamoto’s new urchin-style offerings include the Yamamoto Uni HD, which has a larger core than the original Uni.
The Uni Mas has an even larger core and bulbous appendages that catch water and shimmy erratically. The larger profile Uni Max also has lively bulb appendages. All these baits should be available by the end of July.
