Question.............Answers
| Does a short or long sturgeon leader catch more fish...? |
Answer: A short leader tends to catch more fish because it keeps the bait on the bottom.
| Why do you use a wire leader to catch sturgeon...? |
Answer: A wire leader is used because sturgeon frequently role and twist themselves in the line and their scutes may cut or fray your line if using mono or Dacron.
| What are the red beads for...? |
Answer: To separate the hooks.
| How many Hooks can you legally use on a Sturgeon Leader...? |
Answer: Legally 3 hooks can be used.
| Are two hooks used to hold more bait or hook the fish better...? |
Answer: Both...two or three hooks will hold more bait, which makes your fishing trip cost more, but they will also increase the chance of hooking the fish and landing your catch. Be careful of the second and third hooks when removing the hook from the fish...!
| Why are sturgeon hooks such funny shaped things...? and do they work better...? |
Answer: Kale style hooks are used so that more grass shrimp will fit on the hooks. But, for mud or ghost shrimp, regular octopus style hooks are fine. I do not believe you hookup any better with either a kale or octopus style hook.
| How many grass shrimp should you put on a hook...? |
Answer: As many grass shrimp as you can fit on the hook or hooks.
| What are Ghostshrimp...? and are they hard to see...? |
Answer: Ghostshrimp are Crangon Franciscorum...(sand shrimp). No they are not hard to see.
| Are Mudshrimp related to Crawdads and which makes better bait...? |
Answer: No, Mudshrimp are softer shelled and make for a better bait than do Crawdads.
| How do you put a Mudshrimp on your hook...? and will it stay there...? |
Answer: You hook a Mudshrimp through its thorax and tie it on with string to make it stay there.
| Should you wash the mud off a Mudshrimp before fishing with it...? |
Answer: No, the current will do it for you and besides maybe mud is chocolate for the sturgeon.
| If you run out of Grassshrimp, should you stop fishing or use the anchovies...? |
Answer: Use the Anchovies, Sturgeon also like them.
| What happens if you catch a bullhead instead of a Sturgeon...? |
Answer: Use it, as you have an outstanding striper bait and sturgeon also like them.
| Should you mix your baits for variety...? |
Answer: I like to use grass shrimp on two hooks, and put a mud or ghost shrimp on the third hook.
| How much weight should I use...? |
Answer: Just enough weight to stay on the bottom with your bait. This depends on the current. Use more weight when the current is faster. Also, when the current is faster, it helps to use a shorter leader.
| What happens to the bait when the current is swift...? |
Answer: The bait may lift off the bottom. When the current is very swift, I add a sliding barrel weight to the leader just behind the hooks.
| Should you go home if your favorite bait shop only has frozen bait...? |
Answer: No, go fishing. My first sturgeon was caught on frozen grass shrimp.
| How much money do I need to take to the bait shop...? |
Answer: Depends on what you are going to use for bait and how many anglers there are in your fishing party. I like to use herring , so $5.00 per angler. My wife likes Grasshrimp and ghost shrimp, so $10.00 takes care of her. But, we fish mostly in the Carquinez straits, Suisun Bay and the Napa river. If I were fishing in the San Pablo I would buy twice as much bait.
| Why...? |
Answer: How much bait you use can vary drastically depending on what is biting. If the Mitten crab and small feeding fish are abundant, you will need twice the amount of bait you are used to bringing. Check your bait every 20 minutes.
| What is Roll Mop...? |
Answer: Pepper says, "Roll Mop is pickled Herring sold in most deli sections of your Supermarket." Use a two hook leader about 12" long with a sliding sinker setup. Use enough weight to just stay on the bottom. Attach a worm on both hooks and then push the hooks through the Roll Mop and use thread to hold the whole thing together. Face the skin of the Herring on the outside. When it is all together, it looks like a 4" to 6" long stick with a worm protruding from each end.
Now the next hint is questionable. Pepper says to spray the inside and outside of the Roll Mop with WD-40. It seems a lot of Sturgeon Fisherpeople use WD-40 in the Columbia River area. Follow your area's guidelines when thinking about spraying oil based products into your area's waters.
Pepper fishes the Columbia River above the McNary dam. There is this Honey Hole that on good day puts out keepers like flies on stink. It is not uncommon to catch 10 to 12 footers from these holes.
| How can you tell if your Sturgeon is Male or Female? |
Answer: We can only determine the sex of a sturgeon when they are within about 6 months of spawning and then only when they are on, or migrating to the spawning ground. This means we are reliable, say, when sturgeon are in the Sacramento River upstream of Walnut Grove, or we see females in the fall of a year immediately before the year they are going to spawn. We use the term, "abdominal distention"....females have considerably more girth and appear to be swollen. Males on the other hand, have the same slender appearance throughout the reproductive cycle, the do not swell up with milt as do striped bass (however on the spawning grounds, the stomach can be massaged and some milt will be exuded).
Males probably spawn every other year or so (some may spawn annually) and females spawn about every third or fourth year and until the year prior to spawning, appear just as slender as males. Usually in the bays, there is no reliable way to sex sturgeon without making a small incision and examining the ovaries or testes (Microscopically).
UC Davis has worked with the "CDFG" in the past. They gained sex information on sturgeon by making a small (1 inch) cut in the belly of sturgeon, taking a small piece of tissue, then suturing up the cut and releasing the fish. Back in the lab, they would examine the tissue to determine the sex of the fish and determine the maturity of its eggs and or sperm.
UC Davis examined 855 sturgeon in San Francisco Bay between 1986 and 1989. Overall, the sex ratio was 48% males to 52% females (statistically, this is not different than a 50:50 mix). They did find some differences when size was considered though. For fish less than 46 inches, they found that males made up 74% of the catch (remember, these fish were taken in San Francisco bay and were sexually mature fish....not juvenile fish as would be found in Suisun Bay and the West Delta....and that males mature at a smaller size [about 38 to 40 inches] than females [44 to 50 inches]). However, for fish larger than 61 inches, 74 % of the sturgeon were females. The reason for this is that females live longer than males.
This age-sex structure has some similarity with human beings....there are about 95 girls born for every 100 boys....yet if you look at the number of people alive over 80, women far outnumber men. We don't know about the sex ratio of hatching sturgeon, but females live longer.
On possible reason that female sturgeon outlive males is that males spend much more time on the spawning ground....not only more years (every other rather than every fourth) but that they tend to stay there longer each season. Females leave immediately after spawning once, while males after spawning once may stay upriver looking for another chance. If you assume feeding conditions are much better downstream in the Bay, the females are feeding better for more of their lives.
In answer to inquiring anglers: If the sturgeon appears fatter then average and is over 50 inches long, it is probably a female which will spawn during the next spring. Also if it is longer than 65 inches, there is mare than an 80% chance that it is a female, regardless of body shape.
The reference for this paper is: Chapman, F. A., J. P. Van Eenennaam, and S. I. Doroshov. 1996. The reproductive condition of white sturgeon, Acipenser transmontanus, in San Francisco Bay, California. Fishery Bulletin 94(4)628:634.
| How do you take care of and clean a fish after it has surrendered? |
Answer: How to care for and clean a sturgeon will vary with its size. Remember the size limitations for the area you are fishing. If it's the San Francisco Bay area, the minimum size you are allowed to keep is 46". The maximum size you are allowed to keep is 72". If the Sturgeon is out of that size range, take its picture and then release it back to the water!
After you decide to keep the sturgeon, the first thing to do is to bleed it while it is still in the water. Tie a rope through its gills and let it hang in the water. Then, slit it open around the gills and let it bleed. after that, bring it into the boat for safe keeping. But, keep it cool and wet.
Cleaning Sturgeon at home or at the docks is done somewhat like a catfish is cleaned.
Note: Don't confuse a small sturgeon with a large Catfish.
1. Cut the Sturgeons skin into 2" strips, from behind the head, down to the tail area.
2. Remove the strips by pulling the skin off with pliers. You may have to cut under the Diamonds to help remove them as you pull the skin down the length of the sturgeon.
3. Remove all the Fins.
4. Cut behind the head to sever its spinal cord (notice the shape of the severed white cord...its round).
5.Cut around the tail down to the White Cord (without cutting the Cord) and then twist the tail until the Cord pops or breaks loose. Now pull the tail outward and the Cord will come out of the spinal column.
6. Remove the guts from the sturgeon and clean the cavity area.
7. Cut off the Sturgeon's head.
8. Cut up the flesh for storage, smokin, deep fryin, and eatin.
9. Save the sturgeon's egg's and send me an e-mail, and I'll make'em into caviar and send you back half of 'em.... SturgeonMan
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