Sturgeon are big fish that require heavy tackle. We have caught several fish over 8 feet long (from 200 to 300+ pounds) on tackle designed for salmon, but more appropriate gear is designed for large saltwater fish. As offered on our web site, our suggested gear for boats is a heavy-duty 7-foot rod with a high capacity level wind reel with a good drag system.

We suggest you spool your reel with 300 yards of 100-pound test spectra line. Others suggest you use 50-pound monofilament because the larger diameter has less chance to damage the fish. 100-pound spectra line (PowerPro, Tuff Line, and similar) has a larger diameter, although less than 50-pound monofilament, and much less stretch than monofilament for more sensitivity and harder hook sets. The smaller diameter line drags less in the water, so less lead is needed to keep your bait on the bottom of the river. Spectra line breaks at less than full strength at the knot (between 50 and 75 pounds), so the weak link is close to the fish. If you break, the fish will be better off without a long line attached to catch on rocks and other stuff in the river.

Hooks should be attached to 130-pound Dacron leader before attaching to the mainline. The Dacron has much larger diameter than either spectra or monofilament to have less chance of injuring the fish. The Dacron also holds the bait better than either spectra or monofilament. We suggest 7/0 to 9/0 barbless octopus hooks.  Snell the Dacron to the hook (see picture), and use plenty of wraps. Our Snell covers at least 1/3 of the hook shank. Allow for 2.5 to 3 feet of Dacron. Tie the Dacron to a number 5 welded-ring bearing swivel using a Palomar knot (see picture). Place a slide swivel (for attaching weights) and a plastic bead on the spectra line, and tie the spectra line to the bearing swivel using a double Palomar knot. A double Palomar knot is twice through the welded ring before tying the rest of the knot. This is a stronger knot than the single Palomar; a single Palomar is sufficient for the Dacron, but not for the Spectra. Wet the knots before pulling tight. If not perfect, re-tie. A poorly tied knot will break at much less strength. It is painful to loose a fish from a bad knot.