Sturgeon

	Scientific Name	Acipenser Transmontanus
	Other Names	Pacific sturgeon, Oregon sturgeon, Columbia sturgeon, and Sacramento sturgeon
	World Record	468.00 lbs

Description

White sturgeon is a primitive, bottom dwelling fish. It is characterized by its large body size, large head and mouth, and long cylindrical body. It has four barbels located in front of its large, wide and toothless mouth, located on the bottom side of its head. It has no scales, but scutes along its body for protection. Scutes are actually large modified scales that serve as a type of armor or protection. White sturgeon have 11-14 scutes in front of their single dorsal fin, no scutes behind the dorsal, 38-48 scutes on the side, and 9-12 bottom scutes. Dorsal color is dark to light gray, pale olive, or gray-brown. The white sturgeon's ventral or bottom surface is white. The scutes are lighter than the body in color, and the fins are dusky to opaque gray.

Habitat

White sturgeon relies on streams, rivers, and estuarine habitat as well as marine waters during their lifecycle. White sturgeon prefers to spawn in rivers with swift currents and large cobble; no nest is built. Research indicates that water flow is one of the key determinants of larval survival. In North America , white sturgeons are found from Ensenada , Mexico to Cook Inlet , Alaska . Found in most estuaries along the Pacific coast, white sturgeon prefers estuaries of large rivers. However, it is rare to find white sturgeon in Puget Sound or Hood Canal , Washington .

Feeding Habit

Sturgeon are bottom feeders; they root in the sand and mud with their protrusible mouths, taking benthic crustaceans, molluscs, polychaetes, and small fishes. Sturgeon also have a fantastic sense of smell and taste, they can detected, dead fish and fish spawn for hundreds of meters away.

Age and Growth

The white sturgeon is a slow growing, late maturing anadromous fish. White sturgeon spawn in large rivers in the spring and summer months and remain in fresh water while young. Older juveniles and adults are commonly found in rivers, estuaries, and marine environments. Anadromous white sturgeon most commonly move into large rivers in the early spring, and spawn May through June. Spawning usually takes place in swift current with a rocky bottom, near rapids. White sturgeon can spawn multiple times during their life, and apparently spawn every 4-11 years as they grow and mature. Females can produce from 100,000 to several million eggs each. Older white sturgeon produce more eggs and wait longer times between spawns. Adults apparently broadcast spawn in the water column and the fertilized eggs sink and attach to the bottom to hatch.

Tackle and Methods

There are two ways to fish for sturgeon; from a boat or from shore. Rods and reels used are different for each method. Boat rods are usually shorter, 6-9 ft one piece rods with a level wind reels capable of holding 250- 300 yd's of 60- 100 LB test. Shore rods are 11- 13ft two piece with large spin cast reels. The reason for the longer shore rods in a spin cast configuration is castability, these longer casting rods can launch 12-20 ounces of weight half across the river. Once you've hooked a fish you will have plenty of backbone to fight and land a large fish.

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