Sturgeon Galore

It seems at every outing here we always catch a sturgeon. Is this the case with some of you fishing the Missouri River and nearing rivers?

Just now saw this. How many did you get this year?

I can honestly say I have never caught nor seen a sturgeon here on the Miss. Heard the little shovelnose ones are good eating if smoked. I’d like to try it some day but there is no way I could bring myself to keeping one when I’ve been fishing for 15+ years and never saw one.

What were you catching them on? Crawlers?

If you have never seen it, this is a really cool video on sturgeon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmXihGfQXPg

They love night crawlers and so does the gars..the sad thing is I find gars all over the banks here in Sioux City, they’re being treated like carp

Unlike carp, gar really do hurt the fishery quite a bit. They eat every fish in sight. I dont think they should be thrown on the bank but I think the dnr should do something to manage them a little better. Ive seen them just ravage a school of small crappie.

I didn’t know that about gars?

They are a native fish and have their place in the ecosystem. Around here they are way over populated. Gars are just eating machines, anything that moves they will eat. Worms, craws, small fish, shiners, frogs, big bugs, etc. When the water gets low in the summer they go into the backwaters and just eat every fish in sight, by that time the bluegill, crappie, bass, walleye, pretty much all fish have spawned and their fry is an easy target for hungry gar. Of course that is normal for an ecosystem, but when you have tons of gar it is a little overpowering.

Main cause is no commercial or angling market for them, gar are never targeted by commercial fishermen and are usually avoided since their noses will tear up a net with ease.. and hardly anybody angling ever keeps them.

They are a good fish in a balanced ecosystem, but around here it is far from balanced.

With all that being said, I’m still itching to get one on my fly rod! Sharp nosed torpedos!

So they’re like smallmouth bass,,lol.

Thanks Kevin that’s good to know, if you ever want to catch one they are abundant here in the Missouri River.

Yes, they are like any predator. I would say most like a mini musky or a northern. EATING MACHINES.

If you ever want to catch them, tie on about an inch long piece of nylon rope to the end of your line. Fray the last 1/2″. Throw it out and jerk it real quick across the top of the water where you know there are gar. If they hit it you got em, their toothy beaks get caught on the rope. Pretty much the only way to hook them other than to have them swallow the hook.

I don’t target gars, they just end up on my hook

Don’t be afraid to throw them on the bank Mox, they are like Kevin says and do alot of damage. When handeling one never pick one up by the nose because some of thier teeth stick out sideways and will tear your hands up, believe me on this one.

Now I know, it’s just that they look so ancient and thought they should be released..Looks can be deceiving

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Unlike carp, gar really do hurt the fishery quite a bit. They eat every fish in sight. I dont think they should be thrown on the bank but I think the dnr should do something to manage them a little better. Ive seen them just ravage a school of small crappie.

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Biggest load of crap!!!

Gar can only eat what they can swallow. They are very docile also mostly waiting for a meal. Slowly swimming until the opportunity comes by. They eat mostly shiners but as any fish the bigger they get the bigger food they can eat.

As for them tearing up hands with their teeth….good for them! Yanked out of their water to be thrown on the bank. I just lost respect on this thread.

Can only eat what they swallow? Duh. How much do you think a 5′ gar can swallow? I don’t know where you are, but around here in the backwaters it is nothing to see hundreds and hundreds and hundreds in just a few yards. Both longnose and shortnose.

How many 5 foot gar are in your area? Not that common of a size. I just lose respect from the attitude that there are tons of em lets just throw them all on the bank. Sturgeon were almost wiped out in many areas of the world and are still endangered in many. In MN they were almost wiped out and it has taken decades for them to be a normal catch. TX used to be have so many Gator gar that people thought they could never be wiped out but now there are new regs in the works protecting them. Same attitude same problems happen. Have you ever taken time to learn about species before you decide they are a nuisance?

From your other posts I see how positive of a person you are.

Where did you see me say they should be thrown on the bank? I said the DNR needs to manage them.

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Unlike carp, gar really do hurt the fishery quite a bit. They eat every fish in sight. I dont think they should be thrown on the bank but I think the dnr should do something to manage them a little better. Ive seen them just ravage a school of small crappie.

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I do realize you said they should not be thrown on the bank, Mossy did. Gar are not hurting the ecosystem the humans are. Gar help regulate other fish. Carp do compete with other natives so in that sense carp are more harmful to the buffalo, quillbacks, and other natives that forage for similar foods.

I saw a sturgeon today! Floated by dead while I was checking out the river levels. Looked like around 20″ or so.

I know what your saying about throwing gar on the bank. I don’t know what Iowa DNR laws recently say about carp but any rough fish awhile back was not to be returned to the water, the coons Mink ets. will take care of them. Gar in the rivers here don’t really serve much of a purpose so just to make sure they don’t over populate I don’t return them back to the water. I know theres a small microcosim that they probably fit into but they feed on baitfish that other more desireable fish also feed on. Its up to me I guess if I want to feed the coons, mink and Other animals. In the river here theres not alot of big numbers of gar but thier here and some get to 5′ in length. Even if I occasionalyl throw one on the bank it isn’t going to hurt anything. I’ve probably thrown 2 or 3 on the bank in the last 20 years which hasen’t hurt a thing, winter kill has probably taken more then that or Northerns and catfish eating the smaller ones. Anyone who throws a gar on the bank isn’t hurting a thing. Nature which I’m part of takes and gives and doesn’t hurt a thing.