42"?

[Irontrader]

How close to 42" do you keep a fish?

Caught a sturgeon yesterday that was right at 42". Fishing buddy measured it as 42, but I thought it was more like 41-3/4", but could get 42" by stretching it a bit.

End result was we returned it to grow some more. I wasn't comfortable enough to keep one that was questionable.

[Bait O' Eggs]

The one fish we released on Saturday was about 43 inches, but was a skinny little thing. He had one belly fin tore clear off. One of the plates on its back was tore off. Both wounds were not healed over yet. He definately got hung up in a net somewhere. images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif images/icons/frown.gif

We caught one shaker with the black spots all over its body. Not sure what they were from, but it wasnt cute like freckles on a kid.

Does anybody know if a sturgeon has the ability to rust a hook out of its mouth like a salmon? We had a couple that just flat swallowed a 6 ot hook. It was either cut the line or do "open head" surgery that would have killed the fish for sure. Hope we didnt leave them for a slow death with a deep hook. images/icons/confused.gif

[Grits]

BOE- I think all fish have the ability to rust out hooks. I know with trout fishing all the catch and release books say use cheap hooks not plated with anything (nickel, stainless steel etc) so they will rust out quicker. I know with sturgeon that it would be hard to find hooks that weren't plated but I think all hooks eventually rust out.

[Killertraylor]

I've cought more than one sturgeon with a piece of sturgeon leader coming out it's crapper. All of them were shakers and did not appear to be in very good health - I have no idea if the hook rusted out or not but I doubt it because I could not remove the leader from it's anal vent. It seems to me that this process would take many weeks considering the strength and materials used in todays hooks. If you really want to do the sturgeon population a favor, keep the 42 inchers and release the 50+ inchers - it's the older larger sturgeon that do all the breeding and the 50+ inchers have a better chance of making it there. If you are barbequing them, a fat little 42-44 incher is the perfect thickness - the bigger ones are a little fat sometimes. I've also heard varying reports regarding the age of a 42" fish - I cought a tagged one a few years ago that was only 5 1/2 years old - seems they grow faster if they have good feed.

[ 04-02-2001: Message edited by: Killertraylor ]

[zipper]

That was the correct thing to do. It takes 11 or 12 years for the fish to make that size... give 'em a chance to grow up!

[Fishplay]

I would make sure it was a very firm 42". The regs don't allow for streching. With the fish on its side and the tail in its natural state it must be a solid 42". I know if your just beginning it's hard to release a fish of this size but in time you wont want to keep those skinny fish anyway. You did the right thing. Let him go to grow and be caught again. The difference a couple inches makes is huge in the fillets.