Something Prehistoric and Different

[Big Sky]

Now here's something a guy doesn't catch every day. This is a pallid sturgeon. They are classified as endangered. We were fishing for catfish and sturgeon, but the sturgeon we were fishing for are the more common (not endangered) shovelnose sturgeon. My partner caught a couple of the shovel nose. I still haven't caught a shovel nose, but I'm going to give it another try tomorrow. Anyway I thought you guys might like a look at these strange looking fish. One other interesting thing is that mine had a little tag inserted just under the skin on the nose. It had been tagged by fish and game. I've never caught a tagged fish before. Kind'a cool.

Here's me with the pallid sturgeon.

Here's my fishing partner with one of the shovelnose sturgeon he caught.

Oh and before the sun went down the scenery was pretty darn pleasant.

 

[Festus]

Very, very cool.

 

[mtlion]

Nice fish, I think you got them backwards though...

 

[noharleyyet]

Cool fish...and rainbow.

 

[mtlion]

Nice fish, I think you got them backwards though...

Ah, I see you fixed it. The pallid you are holding was born in a hatchery and the color of the tags in the nose denote what hatchery and year.

I volunteered to tag them prior to release for 3 years straight, could have possibly handled that one.

 

[1_pointer]

Very cool fish. I'm not sure which species, but I snagged two while casting for paddlefish just outside of Glendive one year.

 

[DRAFTSTUD]

Not bad eating if the Beer is cold..............John

 

[nmelktrout]

That is an awesome catch right there. Too cool.

 

[Big Sky]

mtlion, yeah I caught my mix-up about 2 seconds after I posted it while re-reading it. Anyway it had a red tag. I just got off the phone with fwp. I've sent them a photo and they said they might have someone call me for more information. Anyway this whole tracking/tagging stuff is interesting to me. I think it's cool you got to work with the fwp tagging fish.

 

[mtlion]

mtlion, yeah I caught my mix-up about 2 seconds after I posted it while re-reading it. Anyway it had a red tag. I just got off the phone with fwp. I've sent them a photo and they said they might have someone call me for more information. Anyway this whole tracking/tagging stuff is interesting to me. I think it's cool you got to work with the fwp tagging fish.

Cool, let me know what you find out. They should be able to tell from a photo.

 

[mtlion]

Not bad eating if the Beer is cold..............John

I really like shovelnose. Do it just like catfish battered and fried. Cold beer doesn't hurt!

 

[What Map]

Great fun, how did you fish for them? Bait?

 

[dihardhunter]

Very cool catch. Good to see those little guys. Sturgeon have fought a long, hard battle to stay around.

 

[big28hunter]

Awesome catch!

 

[Big Sky]

We'll head head out again this afternoon to give it another try. Nothing wrong with a lazy afternoon on the river bank drowning worms. I will get back to harassing trout later in the week, this afternoon I'm going to work on my tan and relax.

 

[Ben Lamb]

A buddy of mine was on a quest to catch a sturgeon on the fly. We figured a large san juan worm dunked in rotten fish would do the trick.

Super cool fish.

 

[double_a85]

The coloring under the nose is actually a type of plastic called elastomer. Colors distinguish age class, stocking location, and depending on the direction of the line if it was a spring or fall planting. These are injected into the snout with a needle.

Another marking used was the removal of a single scute (the sharp scales on the side of the fish).... i.e 3rd left or 2nd right helped identify years as well.

Also most pallids that were big enough, also had a PIT tag inserted in them back by the dorsal fin. Each had an individual number unique to the animal... some info "tagged" with that number and fish included year class, location stocked, parents information, and time of year stocked.

I worked on the Yellowstone for 3 years and a big part of my job duties were dealing with pallid sturgeon. What an amazing fish for sure!

 

[Big Sky]

Well I have still yet to land a shovelnose. My partners girlfriend landed a nice 10lbs shovelnose sturgeon last night. It was the only one caught. I cleaned up on catfish though so it was a good night.