Sturgeon!

cliffpaul2 · #1 01-08-2006, 11:46 PM

Have you ever seen anything this ugly?

It is a White Sturgeon from San Pablo Bay, CA (the northern part of "San Francisco Bay"). It was 79 inches and about 150 pounds. It took about 30 minutes to get it in using 80 pound spectra fishing line. Catching one of these fish in this area isn't that common, but one this size is especially rare. There is a slot limit of 46" - 72", so this one had to go back into the bay. It was a lot of fun to catch, though.

Franco · #2 01-08-2006, 11:51 PM

Dont they get cavair from a sturgeon?

scook · #3 01-09-2006, 12:50 AM

Yes, caviar comes from Sturgeon, but I don't know any more than that about it.

If you don't look too carefully at the head, it's a magnificient looking fish, and NO bones.

We caught some nice ones in the lower Columbia River early last August and I hear they've been biting recently but have been too busy to go after them. Water's too high now anyway with lots of rain. Some of the small ones put up a better fight than the big ones - had one less than 2' long tail-walking toward the boat - that was a fun one.

I think the meat is really good. It's white and firm, doesn't have a lot of flavor, but is great grilled with lemon and garlic or with white sauce (wife did some for Christmas dinner with white wine sauce - fantastic). Unlike Salmon, you don't want to under-cook it.

Nice to see there's at lease one other V-20 guy on the west coast.

This is a great site - best of fishing to everone.

#4 01-09-2006, 01:39 AM

not sure if the same species but we caught one about 25 pounds in jones inlet while drifting for fluke. didnt know it was protected (it was) so we took it home and put it on the grill... WOW!!! incredible. like eatin snapper (the human kind)

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cliffpaul2 · #5 01-10-2006, 01:39 AM

Yes, it's the same exact fish that they get caviar from in Russia and on fish farms in the U.S. The meat is fantastic. Some say it's a lot like lobster, but I don't eat enough of that to confirm. It's awesome smoked too.

Scook - I don't understand why there aren't more V-20's here. It is the perfect boat for rivers, bays and oceans in this area. I absolutely love the damn thing!

chitbob1 · #6 01-14-2006, 11:44 PM

His skelaton is on the outside that is why he is ugly when I lived in Illinois on the Mississippi river my father was a comm. fisherman caught many in nets but they don't get very big and everybody there smokes them but I hear that their protected there as well now

bigshrimpin · #7 01-15-2006, 12:41 AM

CP - Good to see you getting out and enjoying the boat!!
I saw your post on coastsidefishingclub . . . That's a HUGE Sturgeon. Did that baby get any air? I'll be out fishing on Monday . . . We're gonna try around the Mothball fleet.

scook · #8 01-16-2006, 05:44 PM

I don't know if this will work, but try this link for a picture of a 700+ lb Sturgeon taken from the Columbia in the old days. I've seen pictures of huge Sturgeon being hauled out of the river with a Model T vintage car, but can't find one on the web right now.

http://gesswhoto.com/sturgeon-postcard.jpg

cliffpaul2 · #9 01-24-2006, 12:56 AM

BS - No air, but one heck of a fight. He pulled us around the bay for a while!

bigshrimpin · #10 01-28-2006, 12:04 AM

Must have been an amazing fight. We got skunked at the mothball fleet. No one around us caught anything. The water was like glass most of the day. Back east I used to use a chum pot . . . I'm gonna try using that next time for sturgeon.