A must for any fisherman!

I have just returned from a trip to Idaho and hooked into a sturgeon while I was there. Any fish that bites as lightly as these and fights as hard is an E ticket ride for any fisherman.
This one was just a baby at five foot long!!!!!

Nice going Wylie! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Been carp fishing in San Diego Creek in Irvine at lunch time during the week and they work just like you mentioned. Light and cautious biters but its a ball when they hit. Been kinda dry lately but spawning is almost over I think.

Tight lines,

Mike-

Thanks Mike,
Those carp can be a blast once you get the hook in them and you are right they bite very much the same way. The only difference with the sturgeon is spotting the bite in the current. In the 15 or 20 hours I was fishing for the sturgeon I had seen over 15 bites and only got the hook in the one fish. <font color="red"> A super sportsmans fishing challenge if I do say so myself. </font> /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/buttrock.gif
If you ever have the chance to fish the sturgeon DON'T MISS IT! I am sure if you ever hook into a good sturgeon you will have a memory for a lifetime.

Tight Lines Mike,
Wylie

By the way I just found a length to weight chart and the fish I caught was right at 65 pounds.

you eat it, or keep it as pet for the caviar? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Wylie,

Nice catch! I used to fish for sturgeon in the SF bay (had a nice little boat) and caught 5 all told. I met guys who had fished for them for years and never landed one! This is one prehistoric animal that doesn't taste like fish at all! Great eating; the other white meat! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif Like you say, a slight flick on the rod tip is all the signal you get and if you set the hook, you feel like you have caught the bottom and your boat is adrift in strong current! I have seen quite a few of these guys jump while sailing in the bay and it's always a real surprise to see something this big come blasting out of the water with no warning! Wonder why they jump anyway.....

- Don

Ted,
I have heard that the sturgeons are some of the best eating fish that swim but I had to let this one go. On the Snake River fishermen are not even allowed barbed hooks and all the sturgeon are catch and release. Over on the Colombia River there are slot limits in place so fishermen can take sturgeon of certain size limit but I think this one would have been a little over the slot limit. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
I have an 80-gallon fish tank but I think I would have had to fold the fish to fit it into the tank so I let it go./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/banghead.gif I might have been able to charge admission to a pet a dinosaur attraction but I think a bigger tank would be in order. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif

Tight Lines Ted,
Wylie

Wylie,

One of the most amazing things to me is the age of these guys. I understand they can live for well over a hundred years! You could catch and release the same fish your grand father caught 75 years ago! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon15.gif

- Don

Thanks Don,
In the time I was in Idaho (three days fishing) I seen some come out of the water as well and they are a sight to see when they jump!/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif That bite is really hard to detect but it didn't feel like the bottom of a boat with this little monster. After the hook was in the fish it was on, it ran out over 200+ yards of fifty-pound test while I was riding the spool with my hand./ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ooo.gif I was convinced I wouldn't see the fish the way it was running as I have been spooled before and this was just how it happened. One long run with no pauses or even an indication the fish would turn at all, then it turned and this time I knew I had a chance at landing it. After that first run there were three more that were not as long as the first.
I feel very fortunate I was able to land this little monster, as I know many people have spent a lot of time trying to do the same. Next time I will have a rod built especially for the sturgeon and this should make it easier to get a hook into them. I'm also going to step up to a heavier line, probably some 80 or 100 pound braided line as I did set the hook a few times and couldn't move what I had set the hook into. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
About the jumping, some fish jump to slap their body on the water to remove parasites but this may just be one of the reasons they jump.

Catching grampas fish could put a turn on those stories of the long walks to school in the snow with no shoes and living at the bottom of a five mile hill.
I am not sure if any body knows how old these fish can grow or just how big they can get and I know at least on the Snake River barbed hooks are illegal now.
How's that for tough grampa? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yellowlaugh.gif
It is sad the way people treat these fish just because of them growing so old. I was told that some people will catch them and carve their name into the fish. Dumb a** was here would be suitable if anything is and I hope I never see this type of crap going on. That kind of crap is just wrong! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif