sturgeon

[beaneye46]

does anyone recreationally fish for sturgeon? ive caught quite a few when the waters been colder like in early spring. and last year i ate one. it was hard to clean but it was pretty good. does anyone else eat them?

[BIGCAT GarryEads]

YES I have, thay are good eating. I can clean one in 5 min.
All you need is a corn Knife a 2x4 and a Fillet Knife.:p

BIGCAT GarryEads

[CatBusster]

you guys eat sturgeon as wel!

they are renown for there eggs - caviar, the russian Baluga is the most sought after its ekks can reach thousands of pounds.

In the English Angling press recently a fisherman landed an 11ft sturgeon on the Fraser River (your side of the pond) THEY ESTIMATED IT AT 1000LB and it took 6 fishermen 4 hours to beat it to the boat!

Thats a lot of fillets, but they released it :)

[metalman]

Stephen,
I believe the sturgeon Beaneye and Gary are refering to are the small ones (5-10lbs) that are abundant in some of the rivers in the mid-west not the giants from the pacific north west. Those huge fish are treated with great respect by the guides out there. I don't know 100% for sure but I believe it is illegal to even take them out of the water, they must be unhooked boatside...W

[Fishgeek]

Metalman is right Catbuster. The sturgeon you're referring to is a white sturgeon which (I think) only lives in the Columbia River basin. The sturgeon we have here in Indiana are little shovelnose sturgeon. We also have some lake sturgeon around but the DNR keeps pretty tight-lipped about where this/these populations are b/c they're considered an endangered species in Indiana.

[bro_catfish]

I belive metalman is correst about having to unhook them boat side , I seem to catch alot of fishing shows about them and Ive never seen one on the deck of a boat

[Deltalover]

I fish for them! The ones out here are the "white sturgeon" also known as "diamond back"! They are also affectionaly known as "Dino" and have been around, basicly unchanged for millions of years! They live over a hundred years, grow to 20 feet and can weigh up to 1500 pounds! A 6foot sturgeon is around 25 years old! We have a slot limit for sturgeon we can keep, which is under 46 inches or over 72 inches must be released unharmed. The bag limit is one per day! They like muddy, swift running water, so most sturgeon fisherman look forward to the first rains (feb through may is best) and when they come, the popular sturgeon holes are elbo room only. They are caught year round however! Do be prepared to wait, it is a time consuming game. The average fisherman logs about 40 hours of fishing time before landing a keeper. You also have to have a sharp eye on your rod as there is nothing spectacular about the way a sturgeon takes your bait. 2 or 3 slow pumps of your rod tip is the norm and give no clue, you are hooked to a "frieght train"! Because they are in swift water, you often need 5 to 10 oz of weight and keeping your bait on the bottom is a must. You will need around 80 lb test leader if your using mono cause the skin is really rough and can wear your line down fast if he gets sideways to you! The popular baits are grass shrimp, ghost shrimp, pile worms, eel and most dead fish have caught sturgeon at one time or another!
You have never had a better tasting fish! There is nothing like it! There is also nothing like cleaning one of these bad boys! Sturgeon have 5 rows of diamond shape armor, instead of scales. There are no bones, instead there is a cartaledge that runs through the fish. You basicly cut the top 3 rows of diamonds off, skin the remaining two rows, cut halfway through tail and body section and pull the cartaledge out, cut into steaks. It's a mess, but what a prize! You can grill it, bake it, fry it and smoking is also excelent. There is also the caviar, if your into that!
I We also have "Green Sturgeon" which reach about 7 feet in lentgh and 350 lbs!

[mr channel]

were can you catch sturgeon in indiana,,ive heard on the wabash but that is,,id like to give it a shot,,were can i go??

[beaneye46]

were can you catch sturgeon in indiana,,ive heard on the wabash but that is,,id like to give it a shot,,were can i go??


ive caught them in sugar creek not too far from the mouth of the river. ive only caught them when the water is cool right when spring starts to set in.

[CatBusster]

excellent post deltalover

[beaneye46]

i thought i was crazy for eating sturgeon. some of the best fish ive ever had though

[mr channel]

where is a good place in indiana to cach them???

[beaneye46]

ive always caught them on the wabash and sugar creek with red worms while i was fishing for sucker.

[river scum]

good place top catchum is in the mouth mr.channel. sorry couldnt resist lol.

i have seen them caught in the wabash and tippy rivers. i have never caught one myself though. there are lake sturgeon in tippy lake but i dont think you could target them for lack of numbers. seams to be a fair number in the rivers conected to the wabash. havent tasted them yet either,must be good cause people wont come off them!

[mr channel]

lol. thanks for the info river,,and all this time ive been catchin them in the rear!! lol

[flathead20000]

Try the Wabash in late May or early June on night crawlers. Went out last year several times around Lafayette and did good every time out. Fish the sand bars. Thats where they look for food.

[lawnman61]

I was watching a show on OLN earlier today with 2 guys catching them, they were weighing in at 125 to 300 lbs and they were talking about some they pulled in weighing over 650lbs.
I myself have never caught one or ate one.