Thread: Sturgeon fishing

My youngest fella with a sturgeon caught a couple of days ago on the Columbia river.Always catch and release,always leave the hook in,and try not to fight them too hard.Sorry,I Ct get the photo to rotate.

They are certainly not the prettiest critter in creation.

Sturgeon would be awesome fun. I saw a few at Bonneville Dam between Oregon and Washington. They had an observation tunnel for a fish bypass that they could do fish counts etc from.

nice. i caught one from the chilliwack river in BC on a charter. it was the smallest sturgeon the skipper had ever seen at around 4lb, so he was quite excited. i wasn't!

it was weird fishing a small river with big game gear!

The Fraser R out of Vancouver is a regular Sturgeon fishery with monsters..
Every year was another story of beasts caught.
Came out of the woods one year at Prince George and they were talking about one that needed a tow truck to get it up the bank.
Amazing fish thingys...
Fraser River Sturgeon May Be Biggest Fish Caught In North America

Kiwijames...my boys catch many of these,this was caught just west of the Bonneville dam,a haven for sturgeon with deep holes,they are scavengers and will eat anything.Its not legal to take them these days as the commercial guys have slaughtered them,how surprising is that,but as private anglers if you hook-up using barbless hooks,you must release,most do.The boys were fishing for springers using lures and squid,this thing took the bait.

They reckon he was pretty buggered by the time they landed it,nursed this sturgeon for close to 15 minutes before it had regained enough puff to steam out on its own.Let them go to early they drown.As an eating fish,when we were allowed to keep them,a beautiful taste,similar to halibut or shark....

Originally Posted by A330driver

Kiwijames...my boys catch many of these,this was caught just west of the Bonneville dam,a haven for sturgeon with deep holes,they are scavengers and will eat anything.Its not legal to take them these days as the commercial guys have slaughtered them,how surprising is that,but as private anglers if you hook-up using barbless hooks,you must release,most do.The boys were fishing for springers using lures and squid,this thing took the bait.

They reckon he was pretty buggered by the time they landed it,nursed this sturgeon for close to 15 minutes before it had regained enough puff to steam out on its own.Let them go to early they drown.As an eating fish,when we were allowed to keep them,a beautiful taste,similar to halibut or shark....

Thats some really nice country through there. Stayed for a while in Eugene. There were also Lamprays in the river. Creepy looking things.

Why leave the hook in? surely it would be better to remove it?

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Why leave the hook in? surely it would be better to remove it?

Yeah mate,great question.Removing the hook,they(Oregon fisheries Dept)reckon you do a lot of damage to these fish.We remove the lure,but leave the hook,they are barbless and are designed to fall out by themselves within several days.I never believed it at first but have seen several doco,s that show this does happen.Sturgeon swallow the bait and hook very deep,not like a snapper where the hook is virtually on the lip.Sturgeon put up a great scrap,so the hook sets deep.Easier to leave the hook and let it fall out.

Originally Posted by Rushy

They are certainly not the prettiest critter in creation.

You can talk!

Originally Posted by Dorkus

You can talk!

Mate I bring new meaning to good looking stud.