Sturgeon

According to a blog from a very good outfitting operation, Snake River Guide Service, the middle portion of the free flowing Snake River is home water to the White Sturgeon. This area has a stable population that are the focus of freshwater trophy fishing and is catch and release. Throughout much of the spring, summer and into the late fall months, large numbers of sturgeon are caught and released. There are tons of fish in the 5-7 foot range and good numbers that will be true oversized fish meaning larger than 7 feet. Some of these giants are ten feet plus and weigh well over 500 pounds. I had a chat with sturgeon fishing guide Tom Laird. “I saw a picture of a 9 foot sturgeon that a guy, just before he released it, Lord knows how many pounds that would be, that would come out to about 425 pounds, they said the way you release the sturgeon, they don’t have any teeth, and that you just have to turn them over on their back and pull hook out. Is that correct? Since its barbless hooks, it is not hard to get the hooks out, my buddies wife loves doing this, will get out and get the fish into shallow water where he is still immersed, get a hold of the tail and they just sit there, and his wife will reach up into the mouth and get the hook, she basically pops a tree and that keeps her from re-catching the fish. It is unreal.