Official 2013 AOTY thread.....

Sturgeon fishing in WA is very limited, and they use Columbia River sturgeon as a reason for closing sturgeon retention in the puget sound.  I know a few people have targetted Sturgeon in WA, but I don't think there has been any success. 

Are twelve 1/2 pints left in my panty the last personally caught and smoked Sturgeon I'll eat??

OK, we all know you're an awesom fisherman and all.  But you might want to rethink that storage method.

I've had no complaints so far

There are no openly listed rule changes regarding sturgeon on the wdfw website.  Of course that amy mean nothing.

Are twelve 1/2 pints left in my panty the last personally caught and smoked Sturgeon I'll eat??

OK, we all know you're an awesom fisherman and all.  But you might want to rethink that storage method.

Having personally sampled Pelagic's smoked, jalapeno sturgeon, I'd have to say that his storage method hasn't had a negative impact on the finished product.  Besides, it makes him look like a porn star.   

-Spot-

Are twelve 1/2 pints left in my panty the last personally caught and smoked Sturgeon I'll eat??

OK, we all know you're an awesom fisherman and all.  But you might want to rethink that storage method.

Having personally sampled Pelagic's smoked, jalapeno sturgeon, I'd have to say that his storage method hasn't had a negative impact on the finished product.  Besides, it makes him look like a porn star.   

-Spot-

So is this PP's "Live Nutz" recipe?

-Allen

Amen, PP. I bought the most expensive yak Hobie sells and being retired I got to fish a fair amount. Both Spot and Lingbanger left me in the dust paddling and always out fished me (so much for Beginner's Luck).

I love this sport and thank all of you for the many great new friendships and good times together. I know better than to expect to be a factor in AOTY but I plan to enter to challenge myself to learn more, meet new friends, make great memories and support NWKA. To me competition is about challenging yourself and AOTY is exceptionally well thought out to provide an ultimate kayak fishing challenge. The skills required to plan, target, catch, measure and photo a big fish from a kayak are considerable. My recent Drift Boat experience reinforced my appreciation for the expertise of our members who achieve results most other fishermen only dream of.

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Sturgeon fishing in WA is very limited, and they use Columbia River sturgeon as a reason for closing sturgeon retention in the puget sound.  I know a few people have targetted Sturgeon in WA, but I don't think there has been any success.

Oh, there's been success alright. Not by me, but i'll give you a hint. He's the same height as me

Pics or it didn't happen!

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Sturgeon fishing in WA is very limited, and they use Columbia River sturgeon as a reason for closing sturgeon retention in the puget sound.  I know a few people have targetted Sturgeon in WA, but I don't think there has been any success.

Oh, there's been success alright. Not by me, but i'll give you a hint. He's the same height as me

Andre the Giant?

-Allen

Sturgeon fishing in WA is very limited, and they use Columbia River sturgeon as a reason for closing sturgeon retention in the puget sound.  I know a few people have targetted Sturgeon in WA, but I don't think there has been any success.

Oh, there's been success alright. Not by me, but i'll give you a hint. He's the same height as me

Andre the Giant?

-Allen

Howard?

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Haha... Do you guys not remember Zee's avatar where he was holding the mouth of a massive, 200lb-range dino?? That was caught in WA! Course he'd rather die then tell you where. Believe me, I've tried

IIRC fishnut caught a slot limit one. When they were legal for retention. Now it's all CnR I think.

If it's legal to CnR a fish, why is it not eligible for AOTY? WA has three notable saltwater CnR fisheries: wild steelhead, sturgeon and salmon (puget sound has a summer CnR salmon season, I think to support charters)

If it's legal to CnR a fish, why is it not eligible for AOTY?

It's a tough question.  I know there are many slot limit fisheries where I would love to enter oversize bass or trout that are still open to CnR.  In the case of sturgeon I'd worry about the amount of extra stress put on an oversize while trying to measure in the water.  When the slot limit size was open to retention most of them were measured dead on the beach.

If CnR sturgeon is on the table I think all CnR species should be eligible.  With that said I think it's too risky for a depleted species and the rules should stay as they are.

My personal opinion is that its a bad idea to keep fish (any fish) required to be released out of the water for extended periods of time while a contestant tries to get an accurate measurement and multiple photos.  Its a fairly common occurrence particularly for big sturgeon.  Fish porn junkies fight them to exhaustion then drag them to shore,  handle the hell out of them, then have a full on look at me photo session. If a species is not open to retention, with few exceptions, I don't target them directly.  I put faith in the resource managers decision to limit their take and thus I make every attempt to reduce my potential negative impact on them.   I think sturgeon can handle basic (hook,land quickly and release boat side after a quick pic)  C&R fishing fine, but fighting a mature fish (AOTY is about big fish right) to the point where it rolls over so you can accurately measure it from a kayak or take it to shore to measure is a another story.

My personal opinion is that its a bad idea to keep fish (any fish) required to be released out of the water for extended periods of time while a contestant tries to get an accurate measurement and multiple photos.

Exactly.  I might add that in many cases, removing the fish from the water to get a valid measurement is illegal.  It's one of those areas that we said to ourselves, why do it and why put a fish at greater risk of mortality.  And the rule is just a lot cleaner if you apply it the way we do (if you can legally take it home and eat it, you can enter it in AOTY).

-Allen

I'd like to officially welcome the committee.  Lee, revjcp, and Noah have volunteered to help out.  Their charter is basically the following:

1) Decide on any rules updates for 2013.
2) Act as judges on any entries that are suspect.

-Allen