Next Adventure Sturgeon Fishing Tournament

Hey Allen,

I have two kayaks, two full anchor systems and lots of extra sturgeon gear.  I also have a "Santa's Breakfast" to attend at my son's daycare on Dec 11th so I doubt I'll get to use either.     You're welcome to use any of it you want.

I'm hoping to at least make it to the weigh in the afternoon.

Brian

Nate.  FYI.  Someone on ifish.net has posted a rumor he heard from a fish counter...that the sturgeon quota could be filled soon and that retention could be prohibited.  I enjoy CnR so am not worried about meat.  But I thought I would pass along the info.  If you are planning a tournament based on "keeper" fish and conducting a "weigh in", you might want to have a back up plan based on photos, etc...just in case. 

I saw that also, I have been looking around trying to see if there is any validity to it.  Trying to measure and accurately photo a large (min keeper and up) sturgeon is a tough nut on a yak.  Seems a little hard on the fish to expect to keep it out of the water long enough to hit the shore for pics etc. 

I think you really need to consider a support power boat to do measurements or make allowances for CPR (catch,photo,release).  If you interested in the CPR route, you can hand out small laminated cards at sign in with something like a NA logo and an entry number that is required to be included in the photos.

Brian

Except for legal fish, if there are any left, we are planning on CPR with an identifier.  Even for legal fish a photo with identifier will be required.  For larger fish the rules are written so you can use powerboat support to help with measuring.  I am looking into getting a support boat as well.  We should have an official website with the full rules up in a week or so which will hopefully address any more concerns.

I'm not leaning one way or the other just posing the question..  But what is the public/other angler perception of holding a tournament on a fishery closed to retention. Good/bad/indifferent "PR" for the sport of kayak fishing??? What do others think?
 


IMO...Sturgeon are tough and I don't think that C&R  has much of an effect on them what so ever.  However in most cases I personally choose not to target fish closed to retention to ensure zero negative impact on the run/population. My personal take is that if the run/population is not strong enough to support retention then I shouldn't be messing with them. Most of this logic comes from past experience with salmon/steelhead runs and I have never really had to consider it regarding sturgeon until now.

If the "experts" think catch and release is okay, then I believe them.  If we don't fish when only C&R is allowed, in a few years, we'll just be kayakers. 

If the "experts" think catch and release is okay, then I believe them.  If we don't fish when only C&R is allowed, in a few years, we'll just be kayakers.

Sad but true....   

I'm with Pelagic on this one---if the fishery is too weak to support fillet and release, why risk hooking mortality???  Spoken like a true meat fisherman....

Speaking personally here ... I don't like the idea of a tournament on a C&R fishery.  You are adding extra handling of the fish to take pictures, measurements, etc.

-Allen

I'd agree if these fish weren't so robust and if the average sturgeon wasn't caught a dozen times in it's life anyway.
 
So, if the contest is on a C-n-R fishery, are people still shooting for the top of the slot limit or are they trying for the biggest over-size they can find?
 
-Spot-

IMO> Would have to be biggest within the slot limit.  No way to legally (or practically from a yak)  measure and photo an oversize since it is illegal to remove any portion of them from the water.

Sounds like fun. Not in the cards for me for a trip that far but I Hope you guys kill it.
 
Can't let you guys have all the glory, Gonna have to fish down here for a Dino on Saturday, it's 'bout time... Would be nice to have a wingman..

IMO> Would have to be biggest within the slot limit.  No way to legally (or practically from a yak)  measure and photo an oversize since it is illegal to remove any portion of them from the water.

I agree with pelagic.  This could be way too stressful on the big fish and would be a logistical nightmare in either providing PB support or trying to "interpret" photographic proof.
 
-Spot-

You guys bring up some very good points and we are working on a solution.  Right now I am looking into a powerboat and/or seeing if there are any morphometric data for white sturgeon that we can use to estimate the length of over-sized fish.