Remembering The Month of April 15 Years Later…..
April 7th, 2008
This is a 139.5 inch White Sturg I caught below the New Locks with Eric Linde in April of ‘93.
This fish would go 400 plus and was approximated by a nearby biologist as at least 125 years old. IT’S IMPORTANT TO NOTE I LANDED THIS FISH WITHIN 30 MINUTES….which is probably too long in itself….but certainly not the horror stories you hear on line or on the river bank about “3 hour” fights and what not. You may as well just shoot them with an Elephant gun because they won’t live after that kind of exertion.
Studies have shown that when exerted beyond a natural level, such as a fish is during an exceptionally long fight, they begin to take on physiological changes. One of which is oversized fish ABSORBING their roe when exerted beyond a natural limit.
Let’s please share with new anglers what a BAD idea it is to yank on these things. Fifteen years ago was a different story.
There are plenty of places within fifteen minutes of Portland or closer that offer substantial Sturgeon catches where a guy could catch and release keeper sized fish without killing them, and still get a chance to enjoy the fishery. Might not be a beast like this, but that’s your bad for not fishing these things before we potentially face those dreaded words….’non-viable fishery’.
I don’t hassle theses big ones anymore. People who still do face the fact they are contributing to a near 70% declination in this species in the Bonneville Pool.
That cannon ball weight you see in front of the head is the size of a man’s fist and weighs 64 ounces.
Site Founder, H3llcat