bill herian wrote:I've caught a 52 inch sturgeon through the ice. Not a big one by any stretch but I remember during the fight I would pinch the #50 dacron between the pad of my thumb and middle knuckle of my index finger, as tight as I could, it would make this wicked popping sound as the fish continued to take line. I've hooked larger ones that I just had to wrap the line around my gloved hands and wait for some part of the tackle to fail.
I've fought 10 foot sturgeon on the Columbia river with a 14' rod, from the bank. At some point it becomes obvious to you that you are wasting your time with a fish you can't even keep. The first thing I would do is jam my fingers in the reel so it couldn't take line and, hopefully bust the line. When that didn't work we would try to put as many wraps of the line as we could around the outside of the reel. If the fish wanted to get away it would break the line.
Sorry, wasn't trying to one up ya. Your story just reminded me of good times had out sturgeon fishing. I miss it.