Sweet first time Sturgeon in middle channel

[new b]

Hi everyone,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs8Tyf6GHl0


I'll add detail to this on Monday but I wanted to get this up right away.
We went out as an after thought last night at about 10:30. After drifting for about 45 minutes I hooked into this beast. After talking it over we decided I hooked him closer to 11:40 so this was about a 20 minute fight- the end of the movie was 12:04 this morning. I really thought the fight would go on much longer when I saw how big this thing was on it's first jump. That first jump made me think big musky, but then why'd a big musky be at the bottom of 40 FOW?? After the second jump I thought big ol' catfish. Anyway, check this video out.
Did I do right by the Sturgeon? I really couldn't see trying to get him in the boat.
I never ever thoght I'd catch a fish like that! I'm still glowing! I keep watching this over and over ;)


Jeff

[Radar420]

Awesome catch! :)

You probably saved both you and the fish from a world of hurt by trying to get it in the boat.

[det07]

Jeff awesome fish!! I cant believe how well you handled everything! I agree with letting the fish stay in the water. It makes me sick seeing people handling huge fish that they intend to release. I cant wait to get my first. I caught my first hoosier muskie a few weeks ago.

[y2ba]

That was an awesome video. "HOLY S^%T" i was laughing my butt off. :lol::lol:
Way to go...that fish will go on to make someone elses day...and hopefully they treat him as well as you did.

[new b]

Thanks Guys!

That was an awesome experience. That was the first time I used that rod and reel- I bought both based on the whipping 101 posts on here. I was using plain old 20lb mono just bouncing a chugging wieght off the bottom that I'd tipped with a 4" pumpkin seed Gulp based on Slicks recommendation- I thought about it after but I should have thrown him a plug on tape for that ;). The rod I was using is 4ft and in the video, if you look close you see a 36" measuring tape stuck to the inside wall of the boat so you can quickly hold a fish up to it to measure. Well, when I drug him around so his head was at the 36"mark, his tail was still way back towards the back of the boat which is 2-3 feet behind the start of that 36" tape. Since this happened I found out Sturgeon don't have teeth so I guess I could have tried to get that hook out but man, he was a bit intimidating. I have also read that they are quite docile after the fight and tend to belly up like that but again, at the time I didn't know. I figured he might just start going nuts when I touched him!

[new b]

By the way,
DO you think that hook will rust off and fall out?

[brett74]

By the way,
DO you think that hook will rust off and fall out?


Yes it will.

[Jimmy Carl Black]

Congrats on your first 'gator. That's what we call them in Oregon. I hooked into my first, about a 14 footer below Bonneville Dam plunking spin-n-glo's for steelies in August. There are pics of some from the past that are estimated at 26' and perhaps 2000 pounds. The biggest of the monsters hang out below Bonneville and end up running into your hooks. She, of course spooled me on 100 lb dacron but my 20lb leader broke when I put the breaks on.

Michigan really should invest in their lost Lake Sturgeon fishery. The Great Lakes system could support millions of them. They're great eating and about as good a sport fish as any billfish with their acrobatics, fighting ability and size. Back in OR, we might keep 2 or 3 a year within the 42-60" slot limit. Some people, of course, abuse the fishery but as long as the big momma spawners are kept alive, you can have a real viable reproduction rate.

I wonder if they eat gobies?:evilsmile

[Slimshady]

Michigan is investing in them again. In fact, they spent millions on a man-made spawning reef near Belle Isle for them. There was a show on Great Lakes Outdoors back in late May about it. They said that there are only 1% of the Sturgeon in the Great Lakes today as there were 100 years ago. They were everywhere. They used to trap them and burn them for firewood and other uses. People called them junk fish.

The problem is, they said it may take 5-10 years before they start using the spawning site on a regular basis. Then it takes many years for them to grow to adulthood and spawn on their own. 50-100 years from now, we may have a great population again.

[new b]

lol...slim you made me chuckle.
Yes, i think you are right, the fishing should be excellent in a hundred years...shall we plan a sturgeon outing for 7.16.2107??? of course with that many sturgeon, the season may start earlier!

Anyway, in my research after catching this guy I found a site that had a chart listing the rough age of a particular size sturgeon. I have no idea what the link was but if I find it again I'll update this thread. I looked up a 60 inch sturgeon and it figured the wieght to be anywhere from 40-80 lbs with 60 being the usual. It also told you the approx. age too. In my case, that fish I caught is roughly my age- 37!

Kinda cool to think the fish you just caught was born around the same time as yourself!

[Greenbush future]

My grandnother who grew up near Sturgeon Point near Harrisville explainded that in the 40's-50's these fish were veiwed as trash fish because they would tear up the nets set for white fish. They would kill them with clubs and stack them on the beach 30 feet high. I recal pictures or this and it broke my heart to see them.