Sturgeon retention still on!

[troutmasta]

F.Y.I Friendy Forum Folks, sturgeon retention is open year round above Willamtte falls! Ive caught many keepers in the past. Put in at Wilsonville or Newberg and go get a gator.*
a lot of folks pass up the opportunity so I figured I'd just drop a reminder by.-

2013 ODFW regs:

2. Willamette Falls upstream to Hwy 20
bridge located at Albany
• See Health Advisory on page 20
• Open for adipose fin-clipped Chinook salmon and adipose fin-clipped steelhead all
year.
• Open for coho salmon all year.
• Retention of white sturgeon allowed all year.
• Use of bait allowed.


* pretty sure you still only get two per year, period.

 

[bass]

Great post

I was about to be flabbergasted that they had re-opened it in the lower river.

Might soon be time to resume my search for an elusive upper Willamette sturgeon. Just a C&R search since I am happy with my present number of appendages and don't really need want to grow any new ones

 

[Modest_Man]

Even if legal to retain please practice catch and release on these fish.

 

[Lowell Life Fisherman]

this means there will be no closed sturgeon retention days for the remainder of the year above the falls??????

 

[troutmasta]

this means there will be no closed sturgeon retention days for the remainder of the year above the falls??????

That is correct-

 

[fishtales]

I'd love to learn how to catch a sturgeon above the falls. Is it easy?

 

[troutmasta]

Not as easy as the 205 bridge but its the same thing. Find a deep hole and throw in some bait!

Ive seen some pretty large oversizers caught out of newberg. There is some deep water out of rogers landing in Newberg.

 

[fishtales]

Okay, I know of a few slots near there that are pretty deep. I might give it a try next week.

 

[plumb2fish]

All it takes to deter me from keeping a sturgeon above the falls is the health advisory.....fun to catch yes....good to eat....not so much

F.Y.I Friendy Forum Folks, sturgeon retention is open year round above Willamtte falls! Ive caught many keepers in the past. Put in at Wilsonville or Newberg and go get a gator.*
a lot of folks pass up the opportunity so I figured I'd just drop a reminder by.-

2013 ODFW regs:

2. Willamette Falls upstream to Hwy 20
bridge located at Albany
• See Health Advisory on page 20
• Open for adipose fin-clipped Chinook salmon and adipose fin-clipped steelhead all
year.
• Open for coho salmon all year.
• Retention of white sturgeon allowed all year.
• Use of bait allowed.


* pretty sure you still only get two per year, period.

 

[troutmasta]

I personally have eaten sturgeon and salmon from the upper river. If you think about it its just as clean if not cleaner than the lower river. The lower Willamette has the same advisory and that is where a lot of sturgeon and salmon are retained.
Just saying, Migratory fish are in the water briefly and sturgeon store toxins in thier fat that is why it is crucial to remove it all.
To each thier own I guess-

 

[Modest_Man]

Have you seen the settling ponds from SP Fiber Technologies in Newberg? Nasty. Once it's treated it's dumped right into the river right there at Roger's Landing. Just upstream a couple miles Canby dumps in their treated sewage. Albany dumped in about 350,000 gallons of untreated sewage with the heavy September rains too, this happens every year. I wouldn't eat any resident fish below Albany personally (I work on the Willamette from the mouth to the McKenzie confluence - it does get better as you go upstream) The Willamette sturgeon above the falls are considered resident as they don't pass the falls.

Salmon on the other hand, eat away.

 

[Moe]

That water moves though, the fish are in the **** for a day at most. I understand that some may not like it but as tm said just cut thr fat away, only white meat don't eat the red part under the skin and you're fine... cook thoroughly. I don't see a problem

 

[troutmasta]

You can see that sturgeon aren't given as one of the "migratory" fish species that are safe to eat.

This post was intended to remind folks that sturgeon can be retained, (kept, killed, eaten) above the falls.

I understand you work on the river, ODFW has folks that do as well and the warning that the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife put out says:

Women past the age of childbearing, children older than 6 years and all other healthy adults may safely consume up to one 8-ounce fish meal per week.

Sturgeon can be eaten in moderation- (just like tuna, and many other types of marine life)

1200- were retained last saturday below the falls.

Your opinion is noted, and just as I finished my last post-

To each thier own I guess.

 

[bass]

I'd love to learn how to catch a sturgeon above the falls. Is it easy?

So far for me it has been impossible I tried about 4 or 5 times last year without catching a sturgeon. I plan to try again this winter. Personally, I am not interested in retention, but I am never opposed to anyone taking their legal limit of any species. I liked the upper river because it was beautifully peaceful place to go to last winter. Of course I would not mind the serenity being interrupted by some sturgeon.

 

[bass]

Do you know if the sturgeon are able to reproduce above the falls? Are the only fish there the stocked fish or is there some reproduction. I think they stopped stocking 10 years ago, but they may be incorrect. If that is true then I guess if anyone is catching small shakers then that would indicate reproduction.

 

[Modest_Man]

From what I remember they're able to but very limited. I sat in on some presentations on them over a year ago so my memory is kind of spotty. The fisheries biologists were also not sure if they made it above the falls historically or if they were all planted.

Next time you fillet a fish weigh out what an eight ounce portion actually is. I know when I eat fish I eat two to three times as much in a sitting.

 

[Moe]

There's this asian dude that takes like 20-30 carp home out of the Willie everytime I see him. I'm pretty sure he's eating all that fish. If I could understand a word he says I'd ask if he's noticed any health problems since e started eating them out the Willamette

 

[bass]

There's this asian dude that takes like 20-30 carp home out of the Willie everytime I see him. I'm pretty sure he's eating all that fish. If I could understand a word he says I'd ask if he's noticed any health problems since e started eating them out the Willamette

That dude was a Swedish lady before he started eating those fish

 

[bass]

From what I remember they're able to but very limited. I sat in on some presentations on them over a year ago so my memory is kind of spotty. The fisheries biologists were also not sure if they made it above the falls historically or if they were all planted.

Thanks!

I grew up in Pittsburgh which had a lock and dam system on the three rivers there and the lock workers would tell me that they often locked huge carp through the locks. I would assume that when the lock at the falls was working sturgeon could swim up through there. Now that the lock is closed I would assume that this path is closed.

 

[Moe]

That dude was a Swedish lady before he started eating those fish

Lmfao