Leviathan-white sturgeon film
Bowfishing
Finally finished this sturgeon film. I don't think you guys will be disappointed.
That was neat, quite the experience I bet.
Nice Bou!
Salagi, it was a great experience!
Thanks for Sharing. When I was 50 my wife bought me a guided trip for catching a fish as old as I was or at least 50# (1 for each year).
I did both in Rainy River. Guide put us on a good spot but we lost the first and the largest fish due to equipment failure(after almost 2 hr fight). The reel gears stripped, no way to get him in. estimated to be over 65 " Second biggest fish came in at 55# tiny compared to the Fraser monsters but still fun and a lot closer to home than BC. Caught few in the 40" size and watched some one catch a 8# walleye on the gob of worms everyone was using.
Even for those little guys I suggest a belly belt.
Go get'em Slayers... Maybe I will get up there next time, when I am 60, same goal in mind..
Missed this video the first time around. I was elk hunting then. Very cool!
My one and only sturgeon experience produced a 12 footer and a 10 footer the same morning, and my wife landed an 8. I let her fight the 10 for a bit too. The next day we both struggled to get out of bed. Amazing to see such a giant jump, with you on the other end.
Those are giants Lou! In BC they measure from the fork of the tail to the tip of nose. Is it the same way where you were? I know my guide was saying some operations in BC were advertising 10' plus, but were actually measuring from tip of tail. All measurements in BC are from the fork. Amazing fish, and one I would like to go for again.
Amazing and great to see the catch and release. What an experience. Congrats.
Nice footage guys. Great experience!
I worked on the Columbia River white sturgeon research project with USFWS Cook Lab for 6 years and for the Portland Dist. Corps of Eng. at the dams for another 14. I watched Stellar's sea lions catch and kill sturgeon that size in the Bonneville Dam tailrace during the spring chinook runs. Incredible sight to see. I landed one 9 footer that we estimated to be around 250# plus, while fishing in Bonneville pool one spring day in May. We also caught 9 others between 46" and 72". most of them keepers. Not much compares to their table quality, except maybe AK halibut. Got pics somewhere, I'll dig them out and post hopefully soon.
Rattling_junkie, in WA and OR they measure from tip of the nose to fork of the tail. We were fishing below Bonneville and that week there were a bunch of giants in that stretch. When I was fighting the big one, several other boats were following us around because it was obvious I had a jumbo. When it jumped, it was fairly close to the boat and turned horizontal in the air. With the sun shining on it, it looked like a Buick. I, my wife, our guide, and the guys in the other boats yelled "Whoa" at the same time when it cleared the water. That moment is frozen like a snapshot in my mind.
Amazing animals. Hopefully they won't be seriously devastated by the sea lions at Bonneville
Cool video thanks for sharing, those giants can really stretch the string !
Jaq, no more were poached for cavier than killed by sea lions. Several breeding adults were found dead, stripped of roe while I was living there...in Bonneville pool, and below that dam. There were quite a good number of springers killed by CA sea lions, Chinook salmon that is, though, every spring run. We also picked up a lot of 'ghost' gill nets while bottom trawling, lost by tribal fishers when they broke away from their floats. Many were still fishing, and were full of surgeon remains, notochords and skin. Large kills sometimes.
Yes, I felt pretty lucky. Will never duplicate it. It took an hour and a half to land each of the bigger ones, on 70 lb test. All three of them jumped. Our guide, a now retired old time legend in the Columbia sturgeon community, said his personal best was a 17 footer that the DNR measured (they were watching him when he fought it up and down the river) and said it was the biggest one they had personally measured in that stretch of river, although they used to grow over 20' before Bonneville was built. TrapperKayak will know much more about that.
Springers below Bonneville in the early 2000s....now that was the sh!t !!
I would have to say I am not buying the 20' surgeon theory. The biggest one ever documented that I heard of (saw old time picture of) was a 17' one in the Snake River. I would seriously doubt there any known to be that big now. I guess it's possible but highly unlikely. Anything over 12' is a behemouth, and rare. They have been aged close to a hundred years old though.
