Sturgeon Time

[Billfish715]

It's getting to that time of the year when sturgeon begin showing up in Raritan Bay and the surrounding areas. They are most often spotted when they breach and leave behind a loud splash and accompanying wake. They just show up unexpectedly and often startle an unsuspecting angler. What makes them breach is anyone's guess although I have seen them in and around bunker schools in the bay. Many of the sturgeon I've seen have been in the area of Chapel Hill Channel. The link below asks for your cooperation in reporting any sightings. It's almost impossible to capture a picture of a sturgeon as it breaches but if you are able to get a picture of a sturgeon (dead or alive), send it in with the information on the form. Keep your eyes open.

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/fgw/sturgeon_reportform.htm

[BobbyK]

I've been told it is the females that breach to shake out their eggs.

[Gerry Zagorski]

They stack up like chord wood west of Chaple Hill Channel every spring ... Years ago when we first started fishing for Stripers at night, we got spooked a few times. Nice calm quiet night drifting along with some eels and CAPOW! A big thud and splash right next to the boat... What the hell was that??

Brother Joe actually hooked one Fluking several years ago around 25 pounds. Tasted like Chicken, just kidding it was released ;)

[BigRock44]

we see them here in the hudson river with some regularity all summer long. they breach on occasion and seem to break the surface when they get startled by a running boat.

this is a recent article of a 14-footer located on sonar further upriver:

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/14-foot-atlantic-sturgeon-fish-hudson-river-endangered-species/

[bulletbob]

We have big Lake Sturgeon swimming just 1/2 hour from my house.. There has been a major effort to restore them to cayuga lake and its working, but is VERY slow.. They have been at it 25 years already.. Cayuga lake was FULL of them, and they were slaughtered mercilessly... A few times I have been watching my color depth finder on Cayuga and get massive images that have had me shaking my head wondering what the hell am I looking at???
They could be 100 pound Carp i suppose, but I always thought they were Sturgeon. They were never eradicated, but their numbers were extremely low.
They started rebuilding the population in the mid 90's..
. Idiots around here will catch them and run them out to their pickups to take home to eat, although getting caught would mean a massive fine.... The DEC nets some each fall and they are healthy and doing well... I won't live long enough to see them totally restored.. Probably take 100 years for that..
NY DEC is stocking them in many suitable waters around the state...

https://www.lifeinthefingerlakes.com/return-lake-sturgeon/

bob