By Nick Simonson

Since 2002, lake sturgeon have staged a miraculous comeback in the Red River and its tributaries with the help of a coalition of state, federal and tribal fish and wildlife agencies repopulating the flow.  This spring, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) documented a female fish topping 75 inches in the Pelican River system upstream from the Red, a sure sign that populations are strong and the sturgeon are living up to their trophy potential.  With the annual catch and release sturgeon season slated to open once again on June 16, DNR Red River Fisheries Specialist Nick Kludt says that opportunities for huge sturgeon and consistent action can be found all along the Red River, Pelican River and Otter Tail River systems, now that the fish have been reestablished after efforts began nearly 25 years ago.

“Things are looking really good in the Red basin as a whole, whether we’re looking up closer to say the Red Lake River, the Otter Tail River, or our inland lake fisheries, there’s really a fun resource out there for people to go enjoy during the catch and release season coming up,” Kludt states, “you’re going to find a lot of males that are in that high forty-inch range – so 48s up to 50, some fifty-inch males in there – and then the females they’re going to be in the fifty inch range up towards sixty-plus inches.  So, these are really nice-sized fish and are going to be a lot of fun for people to go out there and enjoy that resource,” he concludes.

Based on where the fish are at this point in the calendar, Kludt recommends that anglers focus on areas of inflowing water that are bringing sturgeon from their spawning runs back into main water basins.  From there, the next likely trip a sturgeon will make is through any pinch point or funnel area between basins, as the fish take on more benthic feeding patterns for the summer.  Electronics, including advanced forward-facing sonar can be helpful in that process, however the effort of angling for sturgeon requires only simple set-ups, easy-to-find baits, and a bit of patience.

“This is real simple fishing that anybody can do with their family. What we’re doing there is mainly circle hooks, because we don’t want to hook that fish too deep – go pretty stout on the circle hook, think heavy catfish gear for that – and then we’re just simply using nightcrawlers and minnows as bait, usually on the same hook. It’s pretty straightforward, we’re going to put a heavy weight on that line and get it down on the bottom, and that’s going to be the best way to target the sturgeon,” Kludt advises.

With recent projects including the removal of a low head dam on the Red River near Drayton, N.D., and this spring’s conversion of Buck’s Mill, another low head dam on the Pelican River system just downstream from Lakes Sallie and Melissa near the city of Detroit Lakes, Minn., hundreds of river miles on the Red from Lake Winnipeg to Wahpeton N.D., along with feeder streams like the Red Lake River, the Otter Tail River and the Pelican River are now open to sturgeon movement.  This in turn is opening historic, natural spawning areas for these massive fish in the flow, as well as for species like walleyes and native suckers, helping to sustain diverse, viable fisheries.  But the improvements are not complete, Kludt explains, as discussions and preparations are underway for more low head dams to be removed.

“We have a few items on our to-do list, I don’t know that we’re going to see construction on them, but we are absolutely continuing to engage on it.  Elizabeth dam remains a priority for us, that is now the last dam on the Pelican River with the completion of Buck’s Mill. So we’re one away from that system being completely open for fish migration,” Kludt details, “up on the Red Lake River, we’d sure love to see something happen at Thief River Falls. That’s the big one for the entire Red basin, if we could get fish passage there, restore some of that spawning habitat, man, that would just revolutionize that entire part of the system,” he adds, referencing the large dam site requires continued partnership with the city of Thief River Falls to make the transition to a rock arch rapids structure on the river which is passable to sturgeon.

The Minnesota inland lake sturgeon catch and release season opens on Tue. June. 16 and closes on Apr. 14, 2027, for the Red River and its tributaries. The current Minnesota catch and release record for lake sturgeon stands at 78 inches from the St. Croix River on the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor for Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Catch and release angling for lake sturgeon along the Red River, Pelican River and Otter Tail River and the inland lakes through which their waters flow continues to draw more anglers each season as numbers and sizes of the fish increase thanks to restoration efforts over the past 25 years. Simonson Photo.