Willamette Sturgeon

[El-Kabong]

Do people actually eat sturgeon from the Willamette? The idea of eating a bottom feeder from the willie leaves me a bit cold. am I missing something, what do you all think?

Thanks

EK

[reeldick]

I'll bet you have had worse than that in your mouth. Just don't eat it daily. I doubt if it will kill anyone.

[Sturgeon 42]

Most of the Willamette fish that are caught below the Fremont bridge are Columbia river fish with fat belly strips... :grin: :grin: :grin:

[Redbull]

Ya, but that's coming from a guy who eats bait. :grin:

I mean skip Wendy's, he goes straight to the bait frig at Fishermen's.

Common Hog, tell the story.

[TundraIII]

I only eat Sturgeon I catch in the Astoria area. BUT I just started fishing for this species a couple of years ago and am no expert on the matter. I have noticed that the sturgeon in many of the recent pics I have seen look "skinny" to me. Water conditions, time of year,location and picture angle all could be factors I suppose. Just seems to me that the sturgeon I picked up last year in the estuary were healthier looking with wide bellies. I may have just been fortunate to catch some fatties but I dont think I know enough about eating bottom feeders out of the Willie or even below Kelly Point. Some folks will say these fish migrate, spend time in all these waters at some point. Have'nt heard a definitive answer on that. I would think that many sturgeon in the estuary never leave, but that could be ignorance on my part. I prefer catching these fish in salt water and until someone comes up with some convincing information it's catch and release on the Willie for me.

[ 01-20-2004, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: TundraIII ]

[5-Cents]

Sturgeon are highly migratory so the chances that a larger keeper sized fish are full year residents is probably slim, that being said I would not keep a fish from that area of the river and eat it. I only have 5 slots for OR and 5 for WA and I am saving those for the estuary. At least I know those fish are fresh from the ocean.

One way I heard to tell the difference between fresh and not so fresh sturgeon is the sharpness of their scutes and their coloration... the whiter the belly the better.

[clubber]

5-cents
Are you saying you have both a WA and OR sturgeon punchcard? Is that still legal? If so, any idea what an out of state Oregon license costs? I need to get one.

[SPAZZ]

heck yeah, They migrate so there not only sucking up the bad water. Eat good and enjoy!

[Fourteen]

An out of state licence for OR costs $83.50.

[bribri76]

The rule is your only aloud to tag 5 sturgeon a year. I you have 2 tags. One for oregon and one for washigton. You are only able to have a total of 5 sturgeon combined. Not 5 on each. This is why people need to read rules before fishing. If a gamewarden check your tags you will get a big ticket. So please read the rules before you post something that will get people in trouble with the law. so 5 cents you onle have 5 tags for sturgeon. And if you don't believe me call your local fish and wildlife office.

[Smj]

Oooooo...THAT'S going to put a kink in a lot of peoples fishing plans.

Is that the case with Columbia salmon and steelhead too? I've heard people talk about filling both their WA. and OR. tags in the past.

Now if we could just get the commercials off the sturgeon too there might be some hope for them.

Smj

[KingFisher85]

Its true, only can bonk a total of 5 sturgeon.

[TheRogue]

I believe that's only true for the Columbia system? In other words, you could put 5 on each tag, as long as more than 5 total aren't from the Columbia/Willamette...Grays Harbor, Tillamook, Umpqua, etc.

TR

[Diehard]

Funny how a topic can change in the middle of a thread. I too would like to know more about the gators in the willy. However, in regard to the OR/WA tag issue: 5 gators total, no combined limit; salmon/steelhead: no combined limit. In otherwords, if you punch your limit on your Oregon card, you are also done fishing on your Washington card.

[ 01-21-2004, 08:22 AM: Message edited by: Diehard ]

[5-Cents]

Cool!

Dont get bent out of shape everyone this is the first year I have had a WA card and someone told me this was legal... I will look into the rules now.

Heres a big what if... Since WA tags are good April through April what if you tag 5 sturgeon before the WA tag runs out and buy another when the season is up in April? After the April date you would have a WA tag with 0 fished punched and then you could fill your OR tag. Seems like a loophole there.

It's not like I want to over harvest anyhow I caught way over 100 keepers last year and only kept 8. :grin: If I want more than 5 from Astoria my wife and kids go with me quite a bit anyway.

[Boat Monkey]

Yeah, the sturgeon are migratory... from the industrial area around the Oregon City falls to the downtown Portland superfund site. Yummy. I usually have mine with a side of asbestos...

[KingFisher85]

Diehard
I'm not to sure about the salmon deal what you just said. "salmon/steelhead: no combined limit. In otherwords, if you punch your limit on your Oregon card, you are also done fishing on your Washington card"
I have not read any place where that is such a thing? Only for Sturgeon.
Thats so in salt water and the Columbia River. But if I fill my Oregon card on the wilson, sandy, clack, etc etc...I can still fish washington all I want for salmon and tag as many as I want.
Maybe I miss read it...I don't know...

[clubber]

Thanks for the license info. I thought it may be fun to try the Willamette. Sounds like it has been productive. Hope I didn't get off the topic too much. I didn't mean to sound like I was questioning 5-cents. I am sure he is a very respectable fisherman.

[Conspiracy Theory]

This came from the Wa Fishing Regulation Pamphlet.

"All sturgeon kept are required to be recorded on your catch record card. The annual limit is 10 fish, even if an angler possesses both a Washington and an Oregon license and catch record card. Anglers may continue to catch and release after retaining 10 sturgeon in waters of the Columbia River forming Oregon/Washington boundary."

This came from the WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife web page concerning fishing regulation rule changes. The page is dated January 16th 2004.

"During retention periods, fishers are limited to one sturgeon per day. In Washington waters, anglers face an annual limit of 10 sturgeon per year through March 31; beginning April 1 that annual limit drops to five fish. Oregon imposed a five-sturgeon annual limit at the beginning of this year."

There are some more changes to sturgoen fishing times in WA state. Check out this link. This is where I got the above quote from.
WA Fish and Wildlife Sturgoen rule changes.

My understanding is the same goes for all fish in the Columbia as far as using both state's tags.
I called the WDFG back in October to clarify a similar discussion with some co-workers about crabing in the Columbia and pretty much got this answer. It doesn't matter which rules you use you can only use one states rules and tags.

I am not questioning anyone's intent either just helping clarify.

[ 01-22-2004, 12:14 AM: Message edited by: Conspiracy Theory ]

[Fish mojo]

Sorry with more questions on the 2 state tags, If you get checked at the washington side, you show you washington tag, same for Oregon. How does Washington know you have a full Oregon tag?

[Diehard]

Kingfish,
you are correct in regard to fishing the Sandy, Clack, ect. I was speaking of the Columbia.

Clubber,
I have fished with and along side of 5-cent and he is a respectable fisherman. I have never seen anything to make me think otherwise.