Sturgeon fishing at Swan Island, Monday 12/2?

I'm planning to go sturgeon fishing at Swan Island on Monday, December 2. Anybody want to hook up with me?

I will!

Count me in!

I'm in as well. 

It was an awesome trip.  Great to meet you guys.

If anyone knows how to flip those pictures, I take constructive criticism really well.

If anyone knows how to flip those pictures, I take constructive criticism really well.

Go into your photos, edit it so it’s upright (if it is skip that step) then crop it just a fraction of an inch. Repost it

The sturgeon fishing was kind of slow on December 2, but we caught several sturgeon in the 5-6 foot range, and at one point three of the four of us had fish on.  And the sturgeon were jumping like crazy by the dry dock, which was fun to watch. Helium Head got dragged into a log boom and then taken for an extended tour of the basin by a sturgeon, and one of the guys from Seattle caught a fish which was so big that it partly straightened out his hook and escaped. A huge scary sea lion cruised through the basin a couple of times in the morning, but fortunately didn't interfere with our fishing.

Looks like a great time! Glad you guys were able to find some quality fish.

I hate to be "that guy" but I've been seeing a lot of pictures this winter showing large sturgeon out of the water. The ODFW regulations are not ambiguous about this: oversized sturgeon must not be removed from the water in whole or in part.

After seeing some of the pictures from the sturgeon social I am legit concerned that they're going to close the area for sturgeon. Let's all try to do our part to follow the regs and hope this resource stays available to us.

Looks like a great time! Glad you guys were able to find some quality fish.

I hate to be "that guy" but I've been seeing a lot of pictures this winter showing large sturgeon out of the water. The ODFW regulations are not ambiguous about this: oversized sturgeon must not be removed from the water in whole or in part.

After seeing some of the pictures from the sturgeon social I am legit concerned that they're going to close the area for sturgeon. Let's all try to do our part to follow the regs and hope this resource stays available to us.

The exact language of the regulation, on Page 26 of the current regulation book, is "Sturgeon over 54 inches in fork length cannot be removed totally or in part from the water." I never pull sturgeon of any size partly or entirely into my kayak, but I do raise them to the surface with my feet so I can photograph them. The fish are mostly floating in the water. Do you think that this violates the regulation? I don't want to injure any sturgeon or violate the regulation.

Looks like a great time! Glad you guys were able to find some quality fish.

I hate to be "that guy" but I've been seeing a lot of pictures this winter showing large sturgeon out of the water. The ODFW regulations are not ambiguous about this: oversized sturgeon must not be removed from the water in whole or in part.

After seeing some of the pictures from the sturgeon social I am legit concerned that they're going to close the area for sturgeon. Let's all try to do our part to follow the regs and hope this resource stays available to us.

The exact language of the regulation, on Page 26 of the current regulation book, is "Sturgeon over 54 inches in fork length cannot be removed totally or in part from the water." I never pull sturgeon of any size partly or entirely into my kayak, but I do raise them to the surface with my feet so I can photograph them. The fish are mostly floating in the water. Do you think that this violates the regulation? I don't want to injure any sturgeon or violate the regulation.

I personally do not think that violates the regulation. I was referring mostly to the first picture in the thread, and some of the pictures on Facebook from the sturgeon social.

And honestly I'm not trying to "call anyone out" - I think a lot of people aren't aware of the rule, and I'm just concerned we're going to get negative attention.

Captain thanks for being “that guy” and reminding us of the regulations. I appreciated it because I had forgotten.

I wasn't aware of that regulation either.  Lesson learned, and you won't see that again from me. 

If anyone is wondering why that's a regulation it's because fish organs aren't made to support their own weight with gravity. Taking them out of the water causes damage to the organs especially in larger fish. The rule is aimed at reducing the release mortality and likely allows you to fish for these fish more often after all the numbers have been crunched.

I personally do not think that violates the regulation. I was referring mostly to the first picture in the thread, and some of the pictures on Facebook from the sturgeon social.

And honestly I'm not trying to "call anyone out" - I think a lot of people aren't aware of the rule, and I'm just concerned we're going to get negative attention.

I would error on the side of caution on this.  "Totally or in part" is pretty unambiguous.  Even I understand it.