Sturgeon!

Couple of beauties, for sure!

I have never fished for sturgeon, but was once impressed by a very large specimen getting seriously airborne a few yards away from me while I was fishing for shad near the Bonneville Dam. It was awe inspiring.
 
Robert H. Wilkinson":1as4t9xh said:
Did you see this one - 240pds. 6'10" couple of weeks ago in the Detroit River.
Click to expand...

Nope, I hadn't seen that one. Thank you! We have caught fish longer than that, but not that heavy. The longest one we know of was right about 9' judging by how he laid out alongside the boat. We didn't try to lift it.

The oversize we are getting this year are 60" to 72", and one that may have been a lot bigger but I broke him off before he spooled the reel. We use 30 lbs. line and fairly light salmon poles so if the fish wants to run he isn't easy to stop. It is kind of a waste of time to fiddle with the big fellers for too long.

Peter & Judy":1as4t9xh said:
Can you retain these fish in Oregon or are they all catch a release like they are in Canada?
Click to expand...

For a total of 12 days this year (Mon-Wed-Sat for four weeks) we can keep fish that are 44" to 50" measuring from the tip of the nose to the fork of the tail. It is a pretty small window but there are a few out there. The limit is one per day and two for the season per person. We can do catch and release all year except on retention days when all sturgeon fishing stops at 2pm. I think they do the afternoon cutoff to keep the guides from booking two trips and using up the quota right away.

The fish we kept this trip had one of those electronic tags in it and the fish checker took my email address to send us a report of when and where it was tagged.

We smoke and can most all of the meat. Here is a pic of the first one with a light smoke and ready for the jars. That is about 2/3 of the meat.

C472D373_719E_4DF2_A4AA_BD268C1F90F1.jpg
 
Here is the text of the email from ODFW with the info on the tagged fish we got yesterday. I thought it was cool. Quick, too. Back in the old days the fish were tagged with a wire looped through the tail that was mailed in when someone caught the fish.

Hello,

I am contacting you to give you some information on the tagged White Sturgeon you caught in the 2021 Columbia River estuary fishery. The White Sturgeon you caught was tagged with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag.

White Sturgeon, tag code 3D9.2794D6CB0D, caught and kept on 5/19/21 at 49.6 inches.

The fish was originally tagged by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in June 2017 during the longline tagging in the Columbia River estuary (river kilometer 0). At the time of tagging this fish was 36.3 inches (fork length). ​

Congratulations on your catch!

Thank you,
Natalie
Click to expand...
 
TyBoo":30q23o5e said:
Here is the text of the email from ODFW with the info on the tagged fish we got yesterday. I thought it was cool. Quick, too. Back in the old days the fish were tagged with a wire looped through the tail that was mailed in when someone caught the fish.

Hello,

I am contacting you to give you some information on the tagged White Sturgeon you caught in the 2021 Columbia River estuary fishery. The White Sturgeon you caught was tagged with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag.

White Sturgeon, tag code 3D9.2794D6CB0D, caught and kept on 5/19/21 at 49.6 inches.

The fish was originally tagged by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in June 2017 during the longline tagging in the Columbia River estuary (river kilometer 0). At the time of tagging this fish was 36.3 inches (fork length). ​

Congratulations on your catch!

Thank you,
Natalie
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

That is pretty cool info. Nice fish btw.
 
Very nice. I wish we could keep them here but hey the CCA and others sold out the Puget sound fisherman to the benefit of the guides on the Columbia and their own pocket books. but that is a nice fish and you should be proud.
 
Wow - eleven and a half feet! That's long! The biggest I have caught was right about nine feet measured alongside the boat. It was a lot leaner and lighter than this one though. Cool story - thanks!

Mark - if I ever get up to your waters again remind me before going to bring you a jar of smoked and canned sturgeon. I think you will agree they are very edible.
 
Back
Top