5 year old girl dies in Florida Sturgeon incident

Lots of folks get injured by these jumping fish, but it's rare for a fatality to occur. I often boat on the Suwannee River, in that area.
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Quote

A 5-year-old Trenton girl died Thursday night after a sturgeon leaped into her boat along the Suwannee River and struck her and family members.

Wildlife officials said Jaylon Rippy died after being struck Thursday night. Jaylon's mother, Tanya Rippy, 31, and 9-year-old brother Trevor were also injured and airlifted along with Jaylon to UF Health Shands Hospital.

The mom and brother's conditions were not known; Jaylon died either en route to Shands or after arriving at the hospital, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Jaylon's father was on the boat as well, but suffered no injuries.

The family was heading to Hart Springs when the incident happened near the Joe Anderson Boat Ramp in Fanning Springs at about 8:47 p.m. Thursday.

Many details are still under investigation, said Karen Parker, spokeswoman for the North Central Florida office of the Fish and Wildlife Commission.

Damn!! Do they jump in due the sound of the motor or what?

Sad.

Oh man. That's so sad. Can't even imagine the father's grief.

Originally Posted by rong

Damn!! Do they jump in due the sound of the motor or what?

An old timer told me they jump to clear the mud/sediment from their gills. Since they virtually vaccuum the bottom for their food, especially in mud flats when targeting river clams.

I've got a 5 yo daughter.
We run the mighty MO in our little tinny quite a bit.

We've seen some big ones surface and roll, but never seen one jump.

Dinosaurs.
Lots of times I've just cut the line and let it go.

Sturgeon board boats like that every year on the Suwanee. People get hurt and sometimes die. Similar thing goes on with mullet during hours of darkness. 2# mullet in the face at 30 mph stings a bit.

most scientists feel the sturgeon jump to communicate with each other. No one really knows.
What we do know, as locals, is that they represent a danger to boaters. Most folks just ease off on the throttle at this time of year. Others just run full speed on the Suwannee. lots of those type get injured.

How big do these FL sturgeon get?

200+ pounds, and about 7 to 8 feel lnog
Those scales are tough too.

Thanks . Quite a load falling on a little girl

Originally Posted by DigitalDan

Sturgeon board boats like that every year on the Suwanee. People get hurt and sometimes die. Similar thing goes on with mullet during hours of darkness. 2# mullet in the face at 30 mph stings a bit.

My grandparents had a fish camp in Suwannee starting about 1975 and then built a house and moved down there in 1982. In all the time down there I don't recall Sturgeon being mentioned and I don't ever recall seeing one. Is the population growing or are there maybe just lots more people on the river than before.

It's mind boggling to me that there are condos in Suwannee. I remember driving to Chiefland or Gainesville for groceries!

Originally Posted by DigitalDan

Sturgeon board boats like that every year on the Suwanee. People get hurt and sometimes die. Similar thing goes on with mullet during hours of darkness. 2# mullet in the face at 30 mph stings a bit.

My cousin used to go out at night cast netting for mullet. One night, he netted either a manatee, or a big shark, never really knew which, though he suspected manatee. Whatever it was took off, and snatched him right off the bank, and was dragging him under water. Luckily, he had a belt knife, and was able to get it out and cut the rope.

I didn't even know there were sturgeon in Florida....learn something new every day.

To be honest, I didn't either, and I grew up there. But then I was never around any of the big rivers in the north end of the state, either.

Originally Posted by ingwe

I didn't even know there were sturgeon in Florida....learn something new every day.

They're in the James, also, though not in the 200# class. When they go to jumping, some of those rascals have some impressive hang-time.