Tag: white sturgeon

Juveniles tip off the law, leads to jail, $6,750 in fines for poachers

White sturgeon in Scappoose Bay in Oregon is catch-and-release only, but three men thought they could get away with keeping five.

White sturgeon in Scappoose Bay in Oregon is catch-and-release only, but three men thought they could get away with keeping five.

Unfortunately for these perpetrators, some much younger—and wiser—than them had an eye on them.

What the juvenile sportsmen witnessed were the men in a boat catching a white sturgeon and not releasing it. So, they contacted the poacher tip line of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and reported what they saw and where they saw it.

The tip led to wildlife troopers monitoring the area, a slough off the Columbia River north of Vancouver, and after two days of surveillance, trooper Scott Bernardi and senior trooper Justin Morgan approached the men at a dock where they had moored their boat.

At first, the three men denied catching any fish. But when the troopers pulled up two lines they saw tied to the dock, they found four live white sturgeon, ranging in size from 5 to 7 feet. The troopers discovered a fifth live white sturgeon when inspecting the boat.

The incident occurred in 2022 but ODFW just issued a press release Monday about the repercussions.

Julio Duran of Salem pleaded guilty to take/possession of a giant white sturgeon (a Class C Felony) and take/possession of four oversized sturgeons (Class A misdemeanors). He also pleaded guilty to fishing without a fishing license. He served 20 days in the Columbia County jail and owes $5,000 in restitution to ODFW and $500 to the Turn in Poachers TIP reward program. He was given 36 months probation and a three-year fishing ban. He also forfeited the fishing rods and equipment, presumably including the boat, used during the crime.

Jose Plascencia of Dayton pleaded guilty to fishing without a fishing license and must serve either 10 days on a Columbia County work crew or 80 hours of community service. He received 24 months of bench probation, and must pay $750 in restitution. His fishing privileges were suspended for three years.

Axel Guell of St. Helens pleaded guilty to angling without a fishing license and must pay $500 in restitution. He is to serve 24 months of bench probation and is prohibited from fishing for three years.

“This poacher [Duran] spent 20 days in jail over the holidays in hopes of changing his behavior [sic],” Morgan said. “Luckily, the quick-thinking juvenile sportsmen were able to report what they witnessed to the Oregon State Police, through the TIP line, and we were able to apprehend this individual and release the large sturgeon back into the bay.”

The juveniles were awarded $500 each for reporting the poachers.

Fortunately, the other four sturgeon were also released alive back into the bay.

“White sturgeon fisheries in the lower Columbia and Willamette rivers can currently generate between 30,000 – 40,000 angler trips annually, which contribute millions in economic benefits,” the ODFW stated. “In recent years, lower populations of the slow-growing fish preclude taking one home for a meal.  But anglers can still catch and release the massive fish, which provides the thrill of the experience.”

Generic images of white sturgeon courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Giant river monster’s ‘insane jump’ takes Internet by storm

Footage showing a giant sturgeon leaping next to a fishing boat has garnered millions of views as it showcases the power and grace of these so-called living dinosaurs.

Footage showing a giant sturgeon leaping next to a fishing boat has garnered millions of views as it showcases the power and grace of these so-called living dinosaurs.

The accompanying footage, captured during a Yves Bisson charter on British Columbia’s Fraser River, shows the nearly 10-foot sturgeon breaking the surface during a ferocious attempt to shake the hook before rolling over and diving out of sight.

Bisson, who runs Yves Bisson Sturgeon Co., stated this week via Instagram:

“This was an insane jump right beside the boat. Unbelievable this video already has 55M views on TikTok and will most likely be my most viewed video of the year soon.”

Bisson told FTW Outdoors on Thursday morning that the TikTok viewership had since grown to more than 57 million. (Click here to watch the TikTok version.)

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The footage is popular, obviously, because of the size and prehistoric appearance of the sturgeon. White sturgeon date back 200 million years and are often described as living dinosaurs.

Viewers obviously noticed the bony plates on the sturgeon’s body as the fish rolled over to embark on another run.

Bisson Told FTW Outdoors that the fish was tagged and released as part of ongoing research of white sturgeon on the Fraser River. It measured 9 feet, 10 inches, boasted a girth of 54 inches, and weighed 550 pounds.

Bisson states on his website that sturgeon are “the world’s largest and most powerful freshwater fish” and that his clients occasionally battle fish weighing nearly 1,000 pounds.

Recreational sturgeon fishing on the Fraser River is strictly catch and release.

Record sturgeon catch described as ‘exceedingly rare’

A Idaho lake known for bass and crappie fishing is now famous for having produced the state-record white sturgeon.

A Idaho lake known for bass and crappie fishing is now famous for having produced the state-record white sturgeon.

Greg Poulsen, visiting from Utah, landed the nearly 10-foot, 4-inch sturgeon Aug. 5 after a marathon battle at C.J. Strike Reservoir.

White sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in North America, are protected in Idaho and the state only recognizes catch-and-release records.

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The sturgeon released by Poulsen measured 124 inches (10.33 feet). The previous record was 119.5 inches, set in 2019.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which announced the record on Friday, explained that white sturgeon exceeding 10 feet are “exceedingly rare” anywhere but the deep-running Hells Canyon stretch of the Snake River.

Even in Hells Canyon, though, of the more than 4,000 white sturgeon counted during IDFG surveys over the past 30 years, only 10 sturgeon exceeded 10 feet.

“So, yes, they do exist, but these are very rare and special fish,” the IDFG stated Friday.

Sturgeon populations in Idaho have declined sharply from historic levels because of dams, pollution and over harvesting.

The release-only rule has been in place since 1971. But Idaho does list a rod-and-reel weight record for white sturgeon: a 394-pound fish caught on the Snake River by Glenn Howard in 1956.

The state also has record of a 675-pound white sturgeon caught via set line in 1908.

C.J. Strike Reservoir is an impoundment of the Snake River and Bruneau River.

Poulsen and his wife, Angie, and friend Wendy Guess – all from Eagle Mountain, Utah – are pictured posing with the record sturgeon in the water. Hoisting sturgeon even for photos is banned.

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Former NHL star catches huge sturgeon claimed to be a world record

Sturgeon Slayers guide service on the famous Fraser River in British Columbia is “confident” it’s a world record, though it’s debatable.

Pete Peeters, a former award-winning NHL goalie who likes to note he once gave up four goals to Wayne Gretzky in a single game, can now boast of something substantial in the world of fishing.

Peeters and a friend combined to catch what the Sturgeon Slayers guide service is calling “the biggest white sturgeon landed in the world.”

Taking 25 minutes to land on the famous Fraser River in British Columbia, Peeters and Jake Driedger traded off reeling in the massive white sturgeon that measured 11½ feet with a girth of over 4½ feet. It was estimated to have weighed 890 pounds, as reported by The Province. The measurements were confirmed by another guide, Steve Forde of Reel Sturgeon Adventures.

“I couldn’t fathom how big these fish were,” Peeters told The Province from his home in Sturgeon County just north of Edmonton. “Even when the fish came up, it was hard to believe.”

Sturgeon Slayers guide Kevin Estrada admitted to becoming emotional about the catch.

“I had tears in my eyes,” he told The Providence. “I’ve been fishing this river since I was 15 years old…We’ve had some spectacular fish, some very memorable fish over the years, but never anything this big.”

Driedger, left, and Peeters holding up the tail end of the huge sturgeon.

But is it really a world record?

“We are confident it is, but not 100 percent,” Sturgeon Slayers wrote in a blog.

“We have also submitted to Guinness World Records to have them look at it. That takes up to 16 weeks.”

However, in July 2012, Michael Snell landed what was then being called “one of the largest catches ever recorded in North America—a 12-foot white sturgeon weighing an estimated 1,100 pounds,” according to the Anchorage Daily News. That, too, was caught on the Fraser River.

And last month, CTV reported that an 11½-foot white sturgeon estimated at over 800 pounds was caught, tagged and released, as is the protocol on the Fraser River.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Montana’s Madison River is a fly-fishing mecca; these photos help prove it

British Columbia has “no official record” for white sturgeon “considering the size and conservation status of the species,” RecordFishCanada reports.

The International Game Fish Association, the keeper of fishing world records, lists a 468-pound white sturgeon caught by Joey Pallotta III in Benicia, Calif., in July 1983 as the official world record.

So a true world record isn’t likely to be established anytime soon. Nevertheless, the one caught, tagged and released by Peeters and Driedger can be called one of the biggest ever caught, there is no denying that.

It’s definitely a trophy fish Peeters (a four-time NHL All-Star) can brag about—to go along with the Vezina Trophy he won for his goalie play with the Boston Bruins in the 1982-83 season.

Photos courtesy of Sturgeon Slayers. Driedger and Peeters are shown

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