Sturgeon footage

[TnRiver46]

I was walking the banks getting shad for bait and this behemoth just appears and chills there forever. Even when it left it would come right back. You can see all the big threadfin flashing around it 

 

[GreenPig]

Cool!

[AlabamaSpothunter]

That's incredible, had no idea they lived in TN.   

 

Why in the heck are you not fishing for those things? 😁

 

Sturgeon and Muskie are the two fish I've wanted to catch since I can remember. 

[ATA]

8 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sturgeon and Muskie are the two fish I've wanted to catch since I can remember. 

make plan, come here and I invite you to a trip to catch them, Just get here bro

[AlabamaSpothunter]

Mighty awesome of you @ATA, what a dream that would be.   

 

 

[gim]

34 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Sturgeon and Muskie are the two fish I've wanted to catch since I can remember. 

There is a very limited season here on the Rainy River (MN-Canada border) in the spring for lake sturgeon.  One of these years I am going up there for it.  Those fish were  decimated to the brink of extinction and they have made an incredible comeback.

[Scott F]

I fish the Menominee River on the Wisconsin/Michigan border that has quite a few sturgeon. We frequently see them while floating in shallow water often right next to or under our kayaks. It can be quite unnerving as these 6 foot long fish will jump clean out of the water unexpectedly sometimes right next to the boat. I’ve never fished for them and I’m unaware of the regulations. But, a big glob of night crawlers fished on the bottom with heavy tackle is what is normally used. Friends of mine have hooked into smaller 3’-4’ fish on spinning tackle and it took over 45 minutes to get them in. 

[AlabamaSpothunter]

I blame North American Fisherman club for my odd fetish over wanting to catch PNW Sturgeon and Yankee Muskies 😁

 

Can't be the only one who had a NAFC membership growing up.   I was member of that and BASS as a kid.  

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

Mighty awesome of you @ATA, what a dream that would be.   

 

 

I’ve caught two, I don’t know if it’s legal to catch them on purpose 😂 . it was quite temping with it sitting in front of me for 15 minutes 

 

we stocked the fingerlings when I was in college, guess im getting old cuz that thing was huge

 

they put a transmitter in one and it swam from Knoxville to Louisiana 

 

also, we have musky. All your hopes and dreams only 4 hours north

[AlabamaSpothunter]

That's too cool dude, I've loved every second I've spent on the TVA, a large part is because of the diversity of catch, always bycatch too.   I can't imagine if I tried to target all these other species.  

 

Fishing below those dams with live threadfins is like playing the lotto with the $1mil Jackpot being a 5+ SM, and the win another ticket being a Sauger 😁

 

That thing would have spooled you in about 30seconds anyways 🤣

[Tennessee Boy]

Sturgeon are fascinating to me.  They live 50 to 60 years average and can live 150 years.  They don’t spawn until they are 15 to 20 years old.  A huge one was caught on Old Hickory a few years ago that was probably older than the lake itself.  
 

Thanks for posting the video.

[gim]

8 hours ago, Tennessee Boy said:

They don’t spawn until they are 15 to 20 years old.

That’s why they were almost decimated here. Replacing one takes so long before they can start reproducing.

 

I helped Cabelas stock their aquarium many years ago and one of the most fascinating fish in there was about a 70 inch lake sturgeon. Prehistoric living and swimming fossils to say the least.

 

Some species migrate in and out of freshwater and get get enormous. I think the white sturgeon in the Pacific Northwest is one of those.