Reeling in a once-in-a-lifetime sturgeon

The fun things that excite people about fishing for these prehistoric fish are, how old their species is, and how big they get. They are a once-in-a-lifetime, bucket list type of catch. 

When you hook into big sturgeon, hold on tight! They will fight your line in unpredictable ways. It’s the classic battle between man and fish. These Sturgeon can live up to two hundred years, and grow up to 11 feet long. White Sturgeon reside in the Snake, lower Salmon, and Kootenai Rivers of Idaho. There are 27 known species of sturgeons worldwide, nine of which are endemic to North America.

My best experience was helping my friend catch sturgeon while checking my other fishing pole. That 3.5 footer hit the sucker meat I brought and my friend was able to catch his first sturgeon.

My first sturgeon fishing trip was on the Snake River up in Bliss. We went guided fishing for White Sturgeon. We were with my dad’s friend and my friend at the time. It was also my friend’s introduction to sturgeon fishing. He caught a seven-foot Sturgeon in a new fishing hole we discovered. It took at least an hour to reel it in. I, on the other hand, was snagged on something making things very difficult. I had to break my line. Then I picked up a clam skewered the meat on a barbless hook, and ended up catching a five and a half foot Sturgeon! 

About four years later, when I was done doing chemo and radiation therapy after I had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, my dad took me sturgeon fishing up to Bliss with my uncle, my cousin, my brother and my dad’s friend. We were having a hard time catching sturgeon that day. We went to different spots. Up the river, and on my third cast, something hit my bait of “Sturgeon Feast†on smelt. I pulled and reeled, but it stayed on the bottom for a half-hour not wanting to budge. My cousin gave me time off because I was tired. Finally, when I give it some more tension it started to come off the bottom. Another half-hour later this giant seven-foot six-inch sturgeon was alongside our 15-foot boat. I was so happy to catch something so prehistoric, and old. 

In the 1930s the construction of dams isolated White Sturgeon and reduced their food resources such as Lamprey, Steelhead and Salmon. This, combined with no regulations on harvesting Sturgeon, severely reduced sturgeon numbers.  

In the mid-1970s, Idaho Fish and Game had come up with a catch and release policy. Idaho Fish and Game regulations for Sturgeon say they must be released unharmed. You must have barbless hooks or non-offset circle hooks. No dragging them up on the bank for a picture. After they are caught you need to revive the fish with locomotion to run water into their gills. Never tie fish by the tail because they like to thrash around. You want to reel them in as fast as possible to reduce their stress. The whole purpose is to make sure they are released with the maximum chance of survival.  

I would choose a fishing spot wisely, where you won’t lose all your fishing line if you are bank fishing. It’s different if you’re in a boat. Make sure you are ready to follow the sturgeon as it unspools the fishing line. You need at least 50-pound fishing line. Try this article, How to fish Sturgeon: 7 steps.

Some of the best bait to catch White Sturgeon with are Columbia smelt, clams, nine-inch rainbow trout, sucker meat, minnows, nightcrawlers, pickled squid and squawfish. 

The best fishing spots to catch sturgeon in Idaho falls are John’s hole by the falls, Freeman park, behind Gem Lake Dam, and in Shelley below Gem State Pond. 

Sturgeon are not an easy catch. You always need to try different fishing holes. Many people ask, “why catch a fish to release it?” My answer is, they’re a once-in-a-lifetime catch, and they’re prehistoric. Why not go catch amazing fish?