Prehistoric Catches
by Roy Van Goor
A lot of the French waters hold sturgeon; I have caught several from different waters up to 64 lb. The biggest I have come across where ant angling lines Etang de Laroussi. I have fished Laroussi for 3 times, and caught sturgeon on 2 trips. On my 1st trip I caught one that came out 3 times between the anglers that week. My 2nd visit I was able to hook 3…and landed 2 of them. Both weighing over 60 lb.
The strange thing is that my friend that was fishing with me on both trips only landed one. I my view these fish love fishmeal based boilies and pellets. He was using scopex on his 1st trip, where I was on fishmeal based baits. Often I could see them feeding over my baits, they tails would come out of the water. Revealing that they where present. After he switched on to fishmeal he landed one within 1 hour after casting his rigs out. Another important thing with sturgeon is the way to handle them. They need to be landed by hand…not in a landing net. If you would try to land them in a landing net then the sturgeon could get damaged petty badly. Their back could break, and the fish would not survive a capture. The best way to land them is when are ready for landing, put the unhooking mat in the water and try to get hold of them by the tale pull the sturgeon on to the mat and take it carefully on to the bank.
After weighing, and taking the trophy shots carefully put it back in the lake and hold it by the tale to recover, they often need some time before swimming away, so be patient and take your time to treat them properly.
I think they are fairly easy to catch, but I think its all up to the baits that are used. Anybody that’s targeting them I would recommend Smokey fish, special crab or the liver b8. In combination with pellets I am sure you will get some sturgeon action. To avoid them, or at least reducing the chances of a sturgeon take I would recommend fruity trifle or rahja spice. I never tried the pineapple crush, but maybe some of the other bloggers can give advice on these baits being “sturgeon proof “. I know they are really good for avoiding poison chats. So if your after some of these prehistoric monsters..give Laroussi a try, and maybe you will catch the sturgeon of a life time.
Greetz
roy van goor
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Tags: action, angling, bait, boilies, capture, fish, Fishery, fishing, fishmeal, france, landing, Laroussi, news, pineapple, proof, rahja, scopex, Smokey, sturgeon, tackle, techniques, tips
Hi Roy
I managed to catch 13 Sturgeon in a week on etang La Horre a few years ago. There were only supposed to be about 16 or so in the lake and I didn’t catch the big one. I definately caught one of around 12lb twice as it had a damaged left pectoral fin and my friend also caught that same fish during our weeks trip. Etang La Horre is over 250 acres in size so catching the same fish again and again shows that they like their boilies and yes mate I was on fishmeals that week.
I hadn’t thought that fishmeals may be a factor until you mentioned it in your post but it is a sound theory and one I will investigate further myself.
Cheers
Jamie
I had the same situation of repeat capture, as the same fish came out twice in the week we were fishing. The bailiff of the water said it comes out nearly every week. Not the most intelligent of fish me thinks?
Hi Roy
I’ve also caught a few sturgeon in France over the years. Strange looking prehistoric things aren’t they? They are also very greedy and have very short memories! When I went to Laroussi I caught one of 58lbs on the last night and that was the fourth time that fish had been caught that week!
On another French lake I caught a 40lb + diamond back sturgeon twice on a pineapple pop up from exactly the same spot in the swim, at the same time of day but two days apart! I also caught a 50lb+ on the same trip on a crab boilie. There were only two in the whole lake!
I agree, they love pellets - anyone interested in catching them would be advised to use a fishmeal boilie over a big bed of pellets. They often get caught quite close in. At Laroussi most of them get caught within 30 metres of the bank. Sometimes they leap clear out of the water when you first hook them - that’s quite a sight when they are over a metre long! And boy do they fight hard. The first run is unstoppable. If you hook a big one, hang on!
Elie g
hi phil,
i dont think so either.
and very greedy…they clean you out when they enter a baited area for sure.
greetz roy
You all very much seem to sum the Sturgeon (or Smurf’s as iIlike to call them) up.
I have caught quite a few in France now and loved catching them to start with. They were something new and something exciting - particularly the fight. These days I try and avoid them and no longer use pellets on any lake which contain Sturgeon.
Regarding the fish repeatedly coming out this is quite common. They are a freshwater shark and simply swim around feeding constantly.
I remember one trip I had in France where I had 10 over 20lb the first night. The same night Lee Jackson had a couple, Martin Ford had at least one. and I know there were odd ones caught elsewhere around the lake too. The silly thing about it I think I am right in saying there were only around 10 Sturgeon in there!
Great fun if you haven’t caught one before but they can be a bit of a pain once you have had a few. It strikes me they will hoover up most small baits. I have even caught them on single grains of maize.
If you want to catch them put a bed of pellet out and a PVA bag of pellet over the top. So long as your bait is light enough you will catch the old Smurf’s.
Best fishes
Shaun