This time not in Hells Canyon, but in lowly CJ strike. A 10 foot plus sturgeon.

https://www.idahostatejournal.com/freeaccess/record-smashing-10-foot-4-inch-sturgeon-caught-at-idaho-reservoir/article_8dfbff9a-7f20-5498-8b74-3ba689e0d71b.html?fbclid=IwAR0hs6ls-mlr-P07Ic2G41bjlIzZ9TKDxwAxFZl0ZCdZ5GmRIohSejTC9vI

Well, it's happened again! C.J. Strike Reservoir in southwestern Idaho — typically known for abundant crappie and smallmouth bass — has once again produced an eye-popping state record fish. Although, this time it's not a catfish. Greg and Angie Poulsen of Eagle Mountain, Utah traveled to Idaho, hoping to tangle with North America's largest freshwater fish, the white sturgeon. While fishing on C.J. Strike Reservoir on Aug. 5, Greg Poulsen got his chance and hooked into a big one! Greg ultimately landed the 10-foot 4-inch monster sturgeon, and set the hook on a new state record in the process.

At 124 inches in length, this rare fish swam past the previous record of 119.5 inches, set in 2019 by Rusty Peterson and friends. While the Snake River around C.J. Strike Reservoir has good numbers of sturgeon, fish over 10 feet are exceedingly rare, and usually only seen in Hells Canyon.

Out of hundreds of fish collected during surveys from the Snake River around C.J. Strike Reservoir, only a handful of sturgeon in this class have been seen. Biologists from Idaho Power captured a 131.5-inch behemoth in 1993, as well as a 119-inch fish in 2015. Downstream in Hells Canyon, where biologists have handled more than 4,000 sturgeon during surveys over the last 30 years, only 10 fish have ever exceeded the 10-foot mark! So yes, they do exist, but these are very rare and special fish.

Fishing for Idaho's white sturgeon is allowed strictly on a catch-and-release basis, and they may not be removed from the water while handling. Sturgeon around C.J. Strike Reservoir can take 10-15 years to reach sexual maturity, while those in Hells Canyon take even longer. The slow growth, long lifespans and infrequent reproduction means these river giants are very susceptible to overfishing, meaning populations can take decades to rebuild.

Cool.

That is a beast!

Dutch: Whoa.... thats a whopper.
I wonder how much it weighed?
Thanks for sharing.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

And wonder how old it is?

I am gunna add some fuel to this

It took a Utah boy to catch it.

No wonder Idaho hates the Utah Boys.







HA HA HA

I remember back in the 70's that some huge sturgeon were being caught in the Columbia. Wonder how big those were?
Cool fish.....

That’s cool. Thanks for sharing.

Sane thing I was thinking.

They are great fun to fish.

I'm about 80 miles from there. The old record was caught by a 10 year old kid a couple years ago in the river below the dam.

What do they taste like?

It's been catch and release for decades so who knows? They about got fished out many years ago so they went to C&R. Numbers are really growing in recent years and they're catching more and more of the old big ones.
They must have tasted pretty good, though. That's why they got fished out in the 1st place.

How about an old comeback: they taste like a cross between spotted owl and bald eagle. Without a doubt a nice fish.

AWWWWW...

They're just holding it close to the camera to make it look big.


That's one heck of a fish!

They were caught on the Sacramento River where I grew up and were considered top notch. My Mother used to make a meatball soup with them.

Very firm, mild white meat. Not unlike swordfish.

No bones.

we see them fairly regular here in the Kootenay River. usually 45-60 inches. have seen some big returns on the scope in the 100ft deep holes.
this one is a spectacular fish!

An uncle caught them from Lake Of The Woods I don't know if it was the same variety) along with the other species there, and also lived and fished in Florida for several years. He considered them the best tasting fish of all.

To see a 8 1/2' fish fully leave the water on strike is something to behold. To see it landed right next to the boat, rest, and do the same boatside is remarkable, gone for another 20 minutes. My wife was reeling and eventually landed the 8 1/2' 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 .