Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Another Idaho record fish.....

I ate some smoked sturgeon many years ago as a kid. Dad was gifted some from a friend of his along with some smoked eel. I remember the sturgeon being quite tasty but I didn't like the smoked eel at all. Other than the sturgeon flesh was white and smoky delicious I can't think of any other thing to compare it to.

As mentioned by others here they are a firm, mild, white fleshed fish. In my opinion I thought it had a very faint “muddy” taste but my wife thought I was nuts. If I had to compare it to any fish I’d say it’s closest to tilapia. It’s also one of the fish that, like skate wings, can be cut into chunks and boiled in Sprite, etc and called “poor man’s lobster”. I caught roughly 15 fish to find one that was in the slot limit. Most of the fish I caught were WELL over the slot limit and a few were just under. If I recall the slot limit for retention was 38”-54” and the one I kept was 52”. I caught quite a few that were much bigger like EdM’s fish but after a long and well fought fight they were released unharmed. They’re a long lived fish and also very hardy. The most surprising fact that I learned about sturgeon was how powerful and what amazing fighters they are. To see a 6 or 8 foot docile, non-threatening, lumbering, prehistoric beast come shooting out of the water and completely clearing the water like a Great White shark going after a seal is quite an experience and it’s one of my top 5 most memorable fishing trips. They peeled line off the reel as easily as a spooked yellowfin and the aerial acrobatics they displayed would make a Blue Marlin blush.

If you’re a fisherman and you’ve never done it then I’d add sturgeon fishing to my bucket list. It’s absolutely worth the experience. I’m not usually a catch and release fisherman unless it’s required by law but I also don’t generally fish for fish that I don’t want to eat….HOWEVER…I’d make an exception to go sturgeon fishing. Catch and release sturgeon with the right guide I guarantee you would never forget!

My dad caught one about 49 in. We couldn't wait to eat it,as we had heard how good they were to eat. It was just ok, walleye was much better. I had a big sturgeon on one time, saw it near the boat, it made a run and took out alot of line, the old man cut my line saying we didn't have to time to fool with it. I was bumbed! He wanted to walleye fish! All in the Detroit river.

I'll add very low oil, which makes them challenging to smoke, at best In my mind, they are very close to shark or even alligator in texture.

There's some growth in the sturgeon farming sector, mostly driven by the siren call of caviar, but the Chinese have waded into that niche with their typical go big or go home approach, so that will likely destroy that in fairly short order.

Ive never had sturgeon but it's tough to beat walleye. Yes I'm biased because I'm from Minnesota. Walleye on a stick at the state fair, I don't think it gets much better.

Our squadron Warrant officer caught one circa 93 in the Columbia and was able to keep it. He had some of it smoked by some outfit down near there and it was excellent. Firm with just a little smoky flavor. I'd not hesitate to eat more.

If it's anything like swordfish it has to be good.

Very nice, looks like fun.

Have a spearing and hook and line season here in WI. Smoked sturgeon is excellent. Reminds me of buttered toast.

There are, of course, several different species. The species in the story is white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) -- it is very low in oil which makes it challenging to smoke.

Other species, like the green sturgeon, for example, are much oilier and take much better to smoking.

very easy to BBQ , not like any other fish. great with Vodka .