80# St. Croix Sturgeon

Found this on Kare11 website. Anyone know the story?

Eric

http://www.kare11.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=264885

HOLY FRICKEN HANNA

So where do you keep a 72″ Sturgeon until morning to get it to a scale.

That’s a hog! Nice to see he’s not killing it. Can’t blame him on wanting an official weight in case his “bathroom scale” is 10lbs off. Be cool to see a new record.

Kinda looks like he has it roped off at the dock a Beannies…??? Hope the fish makes it!

-J.

Its a big fish.. I dont know if its as long as he says…

But tied to a rope for hours, hauled to the bait shop for a weight, and trying to release it?!?

Thats a dead fish. A true waste because he guy obviously doesnt want to keep it.

I hope the warden got wind of this and handed him a ticket or 2!

well, I can see where this would make some mad, but he could’ve just clonked in the head with a mallet instead.
yes, maybe same outcome, but at least he’s trying.

Incredible Fish!

WOW

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well, I can see where this would make some mad, but he could’ve just clonked in the head with a mallet instead.
yes, maybe same outcome, but at least he’s trying.

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I agree in a sense… But I cant make much sense of any fish laying upside down on the bottom in front of a boat launch/dock where they tried to revive it.

If your going to keep it, keep it.If not, snap the picture and throw it back. I would feel differently if this was something that would fit in a livewell, or anything that has good life sustaining qualities. A dead tired sturgeon tied off to a rope for hours.

I appologize, but I really dont like it. I would have rather seen a good picture in the newspaper of an immediately released fish.. or even hanging on a rope from a tree branch I guess to be consumed later? It just seems like a very high probability that fish is not going to survive.

I hope I am entirely wrong.

Where are you guys getting the details? I don’t see anything in the story about how he is/was handling the fish.

You dont see the rope in the picture Mike?

You cant tell what its tied to on the fish, but I suspect its through the gills and out the mouth. It might be tied around the body somehow.. but I doubt it.

I saw some guys try this with a muskie up in Canada once. They wanted to keep it on a stringer tied to the dock ‘until their friends got there’. It probably lived for about an hour before it was just laying on the bottom dead.

This is kind of a tough one to call. On the one hand, you are proud of what you caught and want it to be a big deal, but on the other hand, you want to be a sportsman and keep it alive. Did he think he was contending for the state record when he kept it?

I can see maybe running to a landing to get a quick picture and even then you are taking a big chance of killing such a trophy. If there is a lesson to be learned here is to always be prepared! A camera, measuring tape, and scale should be a part of everyones tackle bag.

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Where are you guys getting the details? I don’t see anything in the story about how he is/was handling the fish.

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Looking at the photo, it appears that is the 94 bridge over his shoulder. That would put him on the dock at Beannies. I know they usually have a spring scale hanging outside the shop. That probably gave him the early weight.

Edit: Maybe someone has time to call down there….

http://www.boatingatbeanies.com/baitshop.html

-J.

What was the point of holding onto the fish until the next morning? Its obviously not a record breaking fish so i don’t see the point besides being able to say it wieghted 80 lbs versus 70-75 lbs. But taking the chance of killing or injuring such a trophy fish? Just my .02

I can see how someone who hasn’t dealt with a fish that big might do crazy things. My question to everyone is (and this has come up plenty of times). If your unofficial weight is a pound or two shy of the record do you do what he did?

As I was typing this I just thought of something. If he didn’t have a “tag” he was illegally possesing that fish, so I’m with Dave, perhaps a ticket is order.

Remember, you can’t catch a 50+…..then go get a tag from the bait shop

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but I suspect its through the gills and out the mouth.

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If you click on the video, you can see the fish is roped off throught the gills….. I did not get the audio to play, just the video. Definately looks like Beanies.

-J.

How many times did he lift it vertically to show people? Did he not see the post about how NOT to hold a fish?

Nice fish, but I’d rather see that a quick picture was taken, then released.

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Where are you guys getting the details? I don’t see anything in the story about how he is/was handling the fish.

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There is a video link on the story.

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I did not get the audio to play, just the video.

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Same here.

I also think this guy should also get a couple tickets. He must have tag in order to posess this fish. He’s obviously posessing it. A rope thru the gills is good enough evidence to me.

and I bet he didn’t have a tag, or there would have been no such talk of releasing it

I am not trying to bash anyone I guess, but I m bashing the situation hard… I am just really upset the fish was handled like it was. Its a very good nice fish, congrats to the angler for catching it.. but ts also a fish the river is going to take more than 50 years to replace if it is 6′ long, and the angler had no intent to keep the fish(his right to harvest if he had a tag).

Taking it upon himself to string up a fish and trasport it, hold it for several hours roped up and dead tired.. its very disgraceful and unsportsman-like in my strongly overspoken opinion in this case.

If he had a livewell 6.5′ long and the fish was closely supervised, my opinion would be much different.

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If he had a livewell 6.5′ long and the fish was closely supervised, my opinion would be much different.

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Even without a tag???

Without a tag, it doesn’t matter even if the fish was 300lbs, it’s still illegal.

Maybe a guy needs to pick up a tag for one of those “what if” moments.

Plain and simple the fish is illegal. Reminds me of a story I heard the other night about a guy who caught a 38″ musky during a “very famous” ice fishing tourney. It was the biggest fish by far, but clearly illegal to have in possesion.

Well I just saw the video. I am not sure if it is just Monday and I missed the word “VIDEO” right under it, but that’s niether here nor there. After seeing it all I can say that is why bother claiming you are releasing it? If you are a catch and release guy, you don’t do what he did. I mean, did it make him feel better to say he was releasing it? Or did he say that because he had no use for the fish other than to have a picture taken of it and a weight? What’s the point after you tie the rope through the gills and haul him up over the dock by the gills.

Dtro… with a tag, I should have specified that. Even with a tag.. it just shouldnt have happened. It was a very irresponsable thing to do in a *catch and release* act. The last thing I want to see is a news crew every time someone gets a big sturgeon(60″+) as the fish is being brought in to be weighed and released.

I have no issues with someone throwing a bass or walleye in the livewell if that livewell is designed to keep sufficient life sustaining conditions for the fish the entire time its out of the body of water it came from. I think it should be possible to catch and release a record fish.. IF conditions allow under very strict guidelines.. caught during the season within legal boundaries of the regs. Tieing a fish off to a dock doesnt fit in those regs. I dont see anyone getting a hot-tub sized livewell in their boat to possibly transfer a record class sturgeon. This is not currently possible with the way the regulations are et, and I dont know if a permit to transport would be obtainable for that situation(weiging a record).. I think it should be… as long as the fish isnt sitting on a stringer.

It is an awesome fish. I wish he would have let it go. I thought I saw blood dripping out of its gills onto the deck but that might have just been water. I say give em a ticket and make him go to a biology class on how long it takes sturgeon to get that big and why it is important for fish like that to be left to breed (good genetics)

As far as I see it…..

On my sturgeon tag it says it must be tagged immediatly. So he was in the wrong by keeping it in his possesion. I bought a tag last year and never used it, I bought a tag and may not use it once again this year and next year I will get another. Not so much as so I can keep one every year but because I know that this money is used for research and I have much respect for the all fish. I feel sorry for this guy because he is not educated on these fish as many people are not. This year I have taken out quite a few people out fishing and try to educate them how to handle a fish to keep it safe. I also have lots of fishermen ask me about sturgeon and the first and last thing I explain to them is how to handle them.

As Dave said he is not ripping on the person. If this guy is on IDA I would hope that he is not scared away by some of the posts. He made a couple of judgement errors. We all do but unfortunatly his was on a great fish!

Happy Fishing
Aaron Bye

KARE 11 is running the story on the 6pm news.

It’s up next. I thought I might have got the news too late!