Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire 12 yo Angler in Idaho Reels in 10 Ft Monster Sturgeon, Ties Catch-and-Release State Record

And for the record, having dealt with farmed sturgeon for 20 years, even a 5 footer will slap you hard enough with it's tail that you'll think twice of messing with anything bigger....

For those that may be interested in fishing them I can highly recommend these folks. His rates were around $1100 a day for up to four anglers so not crazy expensive per person. Of course you have to get there and get lodging and meals short of lunch. We drove up from our place in north Idaho and stayed at a B&B. We caught eighteen fish in three days, many in the six to nine foot range. The craziest thing is when they hit the bait they go straight up vertical fully out of the water. An excellent trip in some beautiful country.

https://www.sturgeonslayers.com/

Local dirt: Congratulations to the young angler!
Many happy returns of the day for him.
I have caught exactly 1 (one!) Sturgeon and by coincidence it was on Idahos wondrous River Of No Return (Salmon River)!
The "huge" (I thought!) Sturgeon was estimated at 7 feet long and 100 pounds and the battle that pre-historic fish put up was stunning to me in that crystal clear and swift water.
And indeed, the fish was not removed from the water even for a moment - the picture we took of it there in the water is one of my prized possessions.
My maternal Grandfather caught a 200 pound plus (no way to weigh it - an estimation) on the Snake River in Hells Canyon about 55 years ago and the "Brownie" photo was also one of his prized possessions.
He and our family ate that one.
Again good job there for the young angler.
One 100 pound Sturgeon was ENOUGH for me.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

VG, Yours and your Granddad's experiences must have also been awesome.

I wasn't exactly sure what the story was on
these fish . My first thought was something
similar like the alligator gar in this region.
Years ago, you couldn't kill enough of em,
and it was pretty much open as to method and
no limit or size restrictions. I've jugfished
and bowfished and caught I don't know how
many on a rod and reel. A friend and his wife
live on a lake that's on a river where many
very large alligator gar have been taken.
Not sure when, but it got to be a trendy thing
to go on a guided catch and release gar trip.
Some of the regulations have also changed
as far as not being able to take gar pretty
much because of the gar fishing trend.
Back some time ago, I knew and worked with
men who did a lot of tournament bass fishing
that would take you out bowfishing for gar
with much enthusiasm in their nice bass boat.

Just wondering if this was a similar situation,
or exactly what

In the 1800's and early 1900's, sturgeon were a favorite all along Idaho's Snake River from Shoshone Falls on down to the Columbia. Then came a series of dams and severe over fishing. Their numbers dropped to the danger level. 50 years ago, the IDFG went to a catch and release only program on them and numbers have been slowly coming back up. They can live to 100 years old so there could be some that were here clear back before the Great Depression.

They've long said that there are no sturgeon above Shoshone Falls as there's no way over or around it. However, I've seen one above there, maybe 25 years ago. It was pretty small, probably less than 2', but there was no question about what it was. Nothing else looks like that.

If you come to Idaho to catch a sturgeon, go all the way and do a Jet Boat guided trip in Hell's Canyon. Big fish, beautiful country and there's nothing like ripping around in a jet boat. You could also buy a rod, license and do it yourself. Really not that difficult and plenty of places in So. Idaho with public on the Snake River w/ access off the bank.

I’m amazed at this fish!

Ranger - great question.

Removing them from the water is extremely hard on their guts. When they are in the water, their innards are supported by the water pressure. Take them out, and gravity can / will stress their systems enough to kill them.

Sturgeon of that size are generally the brood stock. It takes something like 15 years or so for a female sturgeon to reach sexual maturity.

Those monsters are the future of the species, and we want them to reproduce.

Beautiful fish.

local_dirt,

Catching oversize sturgeon is definitely fun, but for a real kick in the pants come out to Astoria on the Oregon coast in June some time.

Migrating sturgeon are coming in to the Columbia River estuary to feed on schools of anchovies that time of year. Unlike the resident fish, these ocean-going sturgeon have way more fight in them.

We generally fish on incoming tides, when the tide is covering up sandbars that are normally exposed high and dry during low tides.

The sturgeon come in to the shallow water to feed on clams and shrimp. They suck around in the sand with those big vacuum cleaner lips of theirs.

Anchor up in about 3' of water. (Yes, you read that right - three feet.)

When you hook one of those fish they have no place to go except straight up (tailwalking), and straight out! It's a frikking blast! They call them poor man's marlin for a reason.

We use light salmon type gear, and the fight is intense. Most of those fish are in the 48" to 60" range, but they sure have a set of shoulders on them. You will occasionally hook one in the 6' to 7' range. The truly big resident monsters are way further up the river system, and congregate at the base of Bonneville Dam.

I don't look down on anyone fishing for the monsters using broom handle rods and trailer winch reels - hell I used to do it myself. But, personally I don't do it any longer because it's something akin to beating up on old women in a nursing home. It's extremely hard on those large broodstock fish, and the damn sealions just hang out and wait for a stressed fish to be released. It's heartbreaking watching a fish that is potentially 50 to 60 years old getting thrashed by those bastards. The Marine Mammal Protection act of 1972 needs to change, but that's another story for another time. Those fúcking furbags are not endangered.

***Again, I don't think poorly of anyone who chooses to do so. I totally understand that not everyone has the opportunity to fish different methods for them, and it's great fun, good scenery, etc. etc.***

Give it a try sometime!

Tag

Mostly has to do with extended photo sessions. Imagine one has just run a quarter mile and is subsequently required to pose while holding his breath for a 2-minute picture shoot.

Sturgeon are tough dudes though and can exist for several hours out of water. A huge one was poached from one of the Columbia River hatcheries several years back and there was speculation that if it could be recovered soon enough it might survive. It did not turn up.

Recovery efforts though for salmon/trout when waters are on the warm side can be an extended deal. One has to hold them upright with a good current flowing into their open mouth. We pretty much have to release all stream born salmon and steelhead here in Oregon, but I still see a fair number of floaters that are simply unhooked with no such effort made. If a fish can't keep itself upright when released, it's pretty much toast.

Ranger99: The first time I ran into the "no bringing the fish up out of the water law" was on the Clearwater River near Orofino, Idaho about 35 years ago.
We were Steelhead fishing from a boat there on the Clearwater and eventually I hooked one of the very few 20 pound plus Steelhead I have ever brought to the net!
The law at that time was VERY specific - NO removing the Steelhead from the water.
The picture I did try to get was not worthy of that trophy native Steelhead.
And that I assume was the reason for the no removal from the water law/regulation - to protect that native run of LARGE Steelhead from stress.
The Sturgeon I caught on the Salmon River I am NOT sure if it could have been removed from the water for pictures but I didn't even consider that - the fish was to big and again I did NOT want to stress it anymore than I had already.
Plus trying to lift a 100 pound plus creature that is still squirming up out of the water would be VERY difficult.
Long live the beautiful rivers of Idaho.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

My nephew runs the canyon almost every weekend and most of the time when he takes newbes up he knows a couple areas where he can pull in and they will catch a couple sturgeons ranging any where from 7 to 10ft. The newbes think that is the most awesome thing of the whole trip. I get pictures from him all the time showing me different sturgeon he has caught.

Voluntary catch and release, by deliberate intent, is fish torture IMO. Tell me it isn't. Inflicting pain, panic, injury, and trauma on another being in the name of "sport", or fun"? I don't do it. Well, not much, anyway, but I try to be honest about it on the rare occaisions I do. Releasing something incidently caught of the wrong species, or outside of slot limits you get a pass. Well, maybe pike too....

Flame away.

I've heard some the Lewiston/Clarkston fish are quite well known and even named.