Very informative Sturgeon video

After attending the latest, Next Adventure 101, I've gotten stoked over fishing for Sturgeon, a fish I thought I had no interest in (thanks a lot Nat, Michael and Jeff). So today, I went to Youtube to find some rigging information and while this video is from a guided powerboat, it is very informative and covering baits, weights, proper care and shows a ton of gorgeous fish being landed. It's about twenty minutes long, so have some time to sit back and enjoy.

Thanks for sharing that. 

I really want to try sturgeon fishing. 

I like doing C&R fishing,  but I also am really curious as to what sturgeon is like to eat. 

Nate mentioned that it can get pretty loaded up with what ever pollutants are on the bottom. 

What locations would you guys consider eating them out of? 

Columbia is safe. Want to try next week anyone? Open seat available on IslandHoppa.

iHop


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"Safe" is a very relative word.  Check out this site for all the health advisories for fish consumption in Oregon.    http://public.health.oregon.gov/HealthyEnvironments/Recreation/Pages/fishconsumption.aspx#lower

I like doing C&R fishing,  but I also am really curious as to what sturgeon is like to eat. 

Sturgeon is just plain delicious.  Smoked sturgeon, grilled sturgeon, canned sturgeon.  It's like a slightly dry swordfish.

That said, too much can be bad for your health.  I usually keep one a year.  Probably makes it taste all the better for its scarcity.

-Spot-

I personally think Sturgeon is one of the tastiest fish in the NW.  I eat some fresh (one meal out of each fish) and then smoke and can the rest.  I make sure to remove all the dark fat and trim any of the yellow bits too.  I look at it as a level of exceptable risk.  I eat between 3 and 5 fish a year and would guess the level of toxicity on par with things like farmed shrimp , Twinkies or hot dogs, things people eat daily without a second thought.  Like a good cigar or bacon, sturgeon is just to good to pass up every once in a while.

That is a great video, thanks for finding and posting it CastIronTrout!

I have only eaten sturgeon at restaurants a few times, but it was quite good each time. I am not sure if I would keep a keeper or not. Sturgeon move a lot so a fish caught in the Columbia may have spent most of its time in the Willamette (and vice versa). I would imagine that catching a barely legal around Astoria is the "cleanest" you can get.

Mostly I just love the feel of such a big fish trying to turn my kayak into a bobber

The Columbia has a net fishery for Sturgeon in addition to the allowed Sturgeon by-catch from the salmon net fisheries on the Columbia.  Much of this fish ends up on the tables of nicer local restaurants.  Fungunin may be able to enlighten us as to the percentages of wild vs farmed sturgeon, and where they originate from, that make it to our local markets/restaurants..     

I get most of my "eating" sturgeon out of local coastal bays..

I assumed that the sturgeon I ate was just out of the river. Since I only want to have sturgeon for a couple of meals a year keeping a whole sturgeon it is too much meat and some would go to waste (as opposed to my waist). I am happy to just occasionally get it at a restaurant and let the fish I do catch go.

Sturgeon is great eating fish! Meaty dense, some compare it to lobster, smokes REALLY well too.
With that said it is the only fish that I prefer the farmed to the wild variety. This is two fold: One i just don't trust anything that has been on the bottom of almost any industrial river for 10-40 years.* The other is I think they are just a crazy cool fish that I would rather release and catch again.
PP- sorry I don't have any %'s for you but I'll ask around.

*- Guys I am not saying that you should not eat wild sturgeon. One meal a month will not hurt a healthy adult. I wouldn't feed it to small kids and pregnant women, but that is more for the same reason I don't drive 90 with kids in the car. Probably not going to hurt them but why take the chance. Enjoy but enjoy sparingly. 

Good perspective Fungunnin.  Well said.   

I assumed that the sturgeon I ate was just out of the river. Since I only want to have sturgeon for a couple of meals a year keeping a whole sturgeon it is too much meat and some would go to waste (as opposed to my waist). I am happy to just occasionally get it at a restaurant and let the fish I do catch go.

Wild and farmed surgeon are both served in restaurants. If it is on any type hard printed menu assume it is farmed.

... Like a good cigar or bacon, sturgeon is just to good to pass up every once in a while.

Dude, you will not get the health benefits of a fine cigar until you are smoking about 1 a day.  Kind of like the vitamin.

I have never worried about eating any fish I caught and kept.  If I was not willing to eat it, and eat it often, I'd not keep it.  There are plenty of more significant life risks than sturgeon poisoning.  Wear your seat belt and don't slip and fall in the bathroom.