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[roeman]

The optics of a rope around a fish tale with one or more anglers pulling on it while the fish is thrashing is not very good.

These fish are remarkably calm handled correctly once in shallow water.  

So, which one is it, a fish at the beach thrashing around or remarkably calm.  

Does a rope around the tail take off more slime than 3 guys holding a 7 footer standing straight up with the fish rubbing against therer waders and jackets.  Lets talk about the same thing.  

A guide has clients paying $700.00 a day, motel rooms, flight to get here.  Oh, we are not going to fish here because this is where the fish hang out, lets fish over here where maybe we will catch a two footer..  


Obviously we are not talking about protecting the sturgeon, just keep it open until there is no more fishery.  Give up a little to keep the future fishing available.

[wizard]

Roeman, this is just my opinion but a fish that is large enough to justify a rope around it's tail  should not be lifted out of the water.  I prefer to just kneel behind the fish in a foot of water or so for a quick pic.  So slime loss isn't an issue there...And like I said before, I don't use ropes, so this is just a guess, but when a sturgeon is trying to get back into the river with guys holding onto a rope on it's tail, it's going to obviously try it's darndest to get away.

This is how I approach beaching a large fish.
-get high on bank to gain leverage and lead fish into shore head first. This may take a couple tries. Once fish is in shallow enough water, keep maximum pressure on the rod/line as to not let fish turn back into river.  Your partner then steps over fish near it's shoulder and reaches two hands under it's pectoral fins to scoot the fish into shallow enough water to manage the fish.  Keep between the fish and river, never drag the fish onto shore.  swing it's tail parallel to shore, still in the water.  Take some measurements, take your quick pics, unhook and let go...shouldn't take long, and if fish decides it's going to thrash (which is rare from what I've found) then so be it, and it can get back unharmed. 
No rope necessary, no lifting the fish (if it's of "big" size).  You still get a great pic.

[buckjr]

Well roeman, kind of a ridiculous statement you have made. You've obviously spent some time on the water so I'm sure you've encountered situations like this. Like most fishing situations, fish will act differently when being handled. Many factors could attribute to this and those who spend any amount of time handling these fish know that each fish can and will act differently. No different than a salmon or steelhead. Some are calm and can be manipulated easily, others not so much.

As for the removal of slime, you've already justified my point, three guys holding a fish and handling it appropriately will definitely remove slime. But when done correctly, no harm done. The OPTICS, as i mentioned, of people struggling with a fish on a rope is not good, does it remove slime as well... yes. As i stated before, we know the fish can handle it, its about keeping this simple. If someone cannot figure out how to effectively manage a large sturgeon at the shore without using a rope, they should really be evaluating why they took the fish to the shore in the first place.

As for "not talking about protecting sturgeon, just keeping it open until there is no more fishery", you really need to educate yourself before you you make an outlandish comment of this nature. Those like myself, my co workers and other volunteers, have spent thousands of hours fishing sturgeon, tagging every fish we catch to gather critical  knowledge on this particular fish. I've been involved with the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society for many years . if anyone knows how important this resource is, it would be someone who spends as much time utilising it as we do.

I invite you and everyone else to educate themselves a bit further by checking our the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Societies website. Tonnes of info and if you really want to help, donate some cash.........but I'm sure you've already done that right!

[roeman]

As for "not talking about protecting sturgeon, just keeping it open until there is no more fishery", you really need to educate yourself before you you make an outlandish comment of this nature. , donate some cash.........but I'm sure you've already done that right!

Not sure what you mean by the first point.  Is there not a meeting coming up next year about sturgeon fishing with SARA, not sure about the initials.  For a while now FVGA has meetings to discuss sturgeon fishing.  Why would they do this if there was no chance with the fishery being closed.

As far as using a rope, I still feel a rope will cause less harm to a fish than no rope in most cases of taking a fish to the beach for pics.
If fisheries makes a request not to use a rope then I won't.  We will know soon, the meeting is coming up soon.
As for donating cash, what is the point of bring that up, It is great when people give up their time for fishing, hunting or what ever they are interested in.  But if you have to bring it into a discussion, well, maybe that is your problem.  

[buckjr]

[quote author=roeman
Obviously we are not talking about protecting the sturgeon, just keep it open until there is no more fishery.  Give up a little to keep the future fishing available.
[/quote]

No problem here, just a concerned fisherman who is passionate for the phenomenal resource we have. When my ethics and motives are questioned, when little knowledge is known about the situation, i have an issue.

As for donating cash, every little bit helps! Tags and tagging supplies don't come cheap, and ultimately the tagging program is what has kept this fishery open and continues to provide critical knowledge on these fish. Theres alot of people enjoying this fishery now, and still only a small portion giving back to it. That's all.  

So lets here some more input from the veteran sturgeon anglers!!!

[gofishing]

FYI,

SARA = Species At Risk Act

Yes, the meeting is coming up to decide the fate of sturgeon fishing in the lower and middle Fraser River is in 2012.  The meeting set to review these guidelines is in approx. 2 weeks.  
Thank you ALL for your comments and the frank discussion.  As noted by this and other discussion areas not everyone has the same view about what the guidelines should and shouldn't include.  

It will truly be a unique and difficult task to come up with a set of guidelines that everyone can agree with 100% as shown by the posts here.  In any event, whether you totally agree with them or not, your support of those same final guidelines will be required and needed if this wonderful fishery is to remain open for the long term.  

The one common thing that everyone has in common in that we truly love and respect for both this fishery and this fish.  My sincere hope is that we can eliminate the need for steadfast "rules" and achieve our goal by just having a set of clear guidelines and that they be promoted through various mediums to educate all anglers about this unique fishery.  

Thanks again,

Stewart

[gofishing]

FYI,

SARA = Species At Risk Act

Yes, the meeting is coming up to decide the fate of sturgeon fishing in the lower and middle Fraser River is in 2012.  The meeting set to review these guidelines is in approx. 2 weeks.  
Thank you ALL for your comments and the frank discussion.  As noted by this and other discussion areas not everyone has the same view about what the guidelines should and shouldn't include.  

It will truly be a unique and difficult task to come up with a set of guidelines that everyone can agree with 100% as shown by the posts here.  In any event, whether you totally agree with them or not, your support of those same final guidelines will be required and needed if this wonderful fishery is to remain open for the long term.  

The one common thing that everyone has in common is that we all truly love and respect for both this fishery and this fish.  My sincere hope is that we can eliminate the need for steadfast "rules" and achieve our goal by just having a set of clear guidelines and that they be promoted through various mediums to educate all anglers about this unique fishery.  

Thanks again,

Stewart