03-05-2004, 01:24 AM
Since there have been a number of guys trying to find info about sturgeon I thought I would make a post with some general info.
As a general rule of thumb there are sturgeon in most parts of the Snake River downstream of American Falls Reservoir. There is a fishable population of Sturgeon between American Falls Reservoir and Lake Walcott. The Sturgeon between American Falls Reservoir and Lake Walcott were first planted about 15 years ago so the largest ones are only around 6 feet. According the F&G sturgeon in this stretch of the river haven’t and won’t likely successfully reproduced because of the unnatural river flows caused by the dam. Between Shoshone Falls and C.J. Strike Reservoir there is a healthy population of Sturgeon but the largest populations of Sturgeon in Idaho are found downstream of C.J. Strike or around Hells Canyon. Around C.J. Strike and Hells Canyon 8+ foot fish aren’t uncommon. There are also a few rivers north of Boise like the lower Salmon River that have sturgeon in them.
Most sturgeon fisherman are extremely protective about their favorite holes. I am not going to post exact locations of where to fish for sturgeon because it would be like shooting myself in the foot. When you tell others about places friends take you fishing you will loose fishing and hunting buddies faster than the guy that just became a local editor for Fishing & Hunting News. Most sturgeon holes don’t have enough room for more than a few guys to fish at a time. When someone from publications like Fishing & Hunting News give out exact locations these places become very difficult to cast a line into without crowding someone else out. For this reason regulars have learned to keep their mouth shut so they will still have somewhere to fish that doesn’t have a bunch of inconsiderate guys casting over top of their line.
Don’t forget to check the fishing regulations before fishing for sturgeon. Here’s a link to the 2004-2005 fishing regulations and fish stocking info that you may find interesting (make sure you select “sturgeon” as the species and an older date like “since 1967”)
http://www2.state.id.us/fishgame/fish/fi.../index.cfm
http://www2.state.id.us/fishgame/common/...h/fish.htm
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