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[roeman]

Out fishing last night, seen a couple of guys floating down a sturgeon.  Watched for a while, floating beside them they said it was a big fish, guessing well over 10', who nows never seen it on shore.  Anyways, on the way to try and beach it got hung up on something  in about 20' of water.  They tried for a while to get it off with no success.  So, 20' of water with line going out at an angle, maybe 40 - 50' of line out, they went to cut the line at the reel.  Tried to convince them to lock up the drag and break the fish off at the hook or swivel.  They ended up cutting the line at the reel. 
Now, there is a stugeon with 40 - 50' of line hung up on the bottom.. I am hoping the fish can get untangled from the snag and hopefully someone else hooks it soon to free it up from the line..
So, my question.. Will this hook ever rust out of the fish.  Always hear rumors, but mostly in the ocean the hook will rust out.  Not too sure about these big hooks in fresh water....

[Terry D]

This is appalling.  I only hope they were using a barbless hook so at least the fish has a chance of working it out.  Most hooks should corrode away, given time, unless they are using stainless which is unlikely.

[Every Day]

Well first of all good luck breaking braided line and probably a 50 or 100 pound dacron leader.
I would also assume since it is just line (since they cut it) it should very easily just slide around the snag.
Only problem is the fish will be carrying around a big weight but if it is as large as they said I'm pretty sure it can handle it.
The drag of the water as well as the weight will probably pull the hook out of the fish's mouth quickly, especially if barbless.

[Sam Salmon]

Well first of all good luck breaking braided line and probably a 50 or 100 pound dacron leader.
I would also assume since it is just line (since they cut it) it should very easily just slide around the snag.
Only problem is the fish will be carrying around a big weight but if it is as large as they said I'm pretty sure it can handle it.
The drag of the water as well as the weight will probably pull the hook out of the fish's mouth quickly, especially if barbless.

Most weights are fished as sliders above the leader so will be the first thing to end up on the bottom.

In the end fishing is a blood sport even C&R and short of jumping and trying to follow the line down to the bottom there's little that could be done in a situation like that.

I would have cut the line and tied it off to the boat and moved away slow hoping to tear it loose from whatever it was caught on underwater but there's no guarantee that wouldn't hurt the fish somehow.

[kingpin]

the fish should be ok, it may have come off after it was snagged up... the hook will rust away too

[oni_kage]

Yeah if they were fishing low impact rigs (most do) with a slider for the weight it should be okay. It is easy enough to loose a sturgeon with a barbless hook hehe so it will most likely slide out.

But awesome of you for taking your time and caring... Lot of apathetic fishermen these days

[oni_kage]

Speaking of catching and releasing sturgeon. I caught a 6 foot sturgeon today and I managed to get it in to shore within 15 minutes. But when trying to release it, it started to go on its side. I walked into the water and it took another 15 minutes of slowly moving it back and forth before it swam off itself. I have never had this happen to me before as they usually they swim off in 2 or so minutes. I wonder why it did this? perhaps the water temperature? Any ideas?

I did not touch the gill area and it was hooked in the mouth.

[RA40]

In 15 years of guiding on the Fraser , I have never found a sturgeon with a hook in it's mouth. I would think that this was not the first time this has happened to a sturgeon or angler. Like said above, the weight will come off first and the fish should be able to swim away pretty much immediately.

Sometimes we get sturgeon that go lathargic when releasing, they don't seem to know they are free and lay on their sides. Once we give them a little wake up call they will swim away fine. Not sure why this one didn't but you usually don't have to work them back and forth like a salmon. Either way, you did the right thing in helping it get started again.

Water temperatures are expected to start cooling this week so we should be through the worst of it by the weekend.

[DionJL]

As long as the hook was barbless, like it should be, it will probably fall out relatively quick. Well before it would start to rust.

[oni_kage]

In 15 years of guiding on the Fraser , I have never found a sturgeon with a hook in it's mouth. I would think that this was not the first time this has happened to a sturgeon or angler. Like said above, the weight will come off first and the fish should be able to swim away pretty much immediately.

Sometimes we get sturgeon that go lathargic when releasing, they don't seem to know they are free and lay on their sides. Once we give them a little wake up call they will swim away fine. Not sure why this one didn't but you usually don't have to work them back and forth like a salmon. Either way, you did the right thing in helping it get started again.

Water temperatures are expected to start cooling this week so we should be through the worst of it by the weekend.

I hooked one with an exisiting hook deep inside its mouth and it had the leader hanging out of the gills. I tried to removed the hook but I couldn't so i just cut the leader as close to the hook as possible and removed it.

[typhoon]

I have also caught dinos with hook and leader in their mouths.
One had an immense 12/0(??) barbless hook that had no rust on it - looked like the fish had been re-caught within a week.
Fought like a wet towel, though.

[Sandhead]

I love catch sturgeon... but in the right mind would use a barbed hook one of those? retention is illegal on the fraser and with a barbed hook it's going to be a absolute pain in the rear releasing one of those.... I'd much rather deal with a debarbed hook...

[fintail1]

Sturgeon are pretty much the toiughest fish in the fraser and can survive injuries as serious as a broken back, ive seen fish that are so beat up its a wonder that they are still living, that fish will be fine if he's made it this far

[RA40]

Those fish that you caught with hooks in them were probably hooked not too long before you caught them and I would guess that was during prime fishing season in the fall when fishing pressure is high and feeding is heavy. I would highly recommend that all you sturgeon anglers use 130 to 200 lb line to reduce breakoffs on large fish. The Best Handling practices suggests 100 lb min which I think is not enough. I have broken off fish on hook sets with 100lb braid.

[oni_kage]

Using 100lbs+ plus is fine for boat fishing. But from shore it really complicates things as the diameter is too thick reducing line capacity and also increasing line profile in the water. I use 80# and 130# tuff line on two penn 320gt2's and with the 130# I need 16 oz to hold bottom even with the slightest currents. Also the thicker line does not cast as far, partially due to using so much weight.