sturgeon on the east coast?

[sturgeon crazy]

Does the east coast have any sturgeon in there rivers or estuaries?I have been chasing them for a while on the columbia river with my fly rod and have started to figure things out.I was wondering if anyone over there has had any luck?possibly swap some tactics?
tight lines
SC

[NatickDave]

They definitely have them in the Hudson, and there are some very limited populations in the CT river as well. Federally and/or state endangered around these parts.

ND

[titleguy]

Does the east coast have any sturgeon in there rivers or estuaries?I have been chasing them for a while on the columbia river with my fly rod and have started to figure things out.I was wondering if anyone over there has had any luck?possibly swap some tactics?
tight lines
SC

Have no tactics or experience, but coastal Maine Rivers are rumored to have strugeon, but I do not believe you can specifically target them. The Kennebec, in particular, is supposed to have a good population.

[ChuckD]

landed a big one on the fly up in Maine at the mouth of where a few salt marsh rivers dump out into a bay. He was skittering a crab fly along the bottom and came tight to this thing and an hour and a half later landed and then released a 48" state record on fly-rod sturgeon. Had 2 of his brother-in-laws there that witnessed it.

[JimC]

They're in the Merrimack. We see them all the time in the spring. They often "breach" straight up out of the water. The big ones only get out to their pectoral fins. Pretty cool to see. I know of one guy that used to bait fish for them in some of the deep upriver pockets.

[adson]

there are a lot of them in Maine around the Kennebec.
while staying on Small Point I have seen many.
you will see the small ones shoot straight out of the water all the time off the beaches.
I think most people up there think they are seeing bluefish.

The larger ones can give you a scare when they land near your kayak in shallow water.

[sturgeon crazy]

Interesting to hear that you have sturgeon but not many,if any,people really target them.We have a very strong population in the columbia,land locked above the dams and migrators below the dams.tagged fish have been tracked to san francisco bay to the south and puget sound to the north.basicly every estuary on the north pacific have them to some extent.they are incredible fish reaching huge proportions.It is not uncommon to hear of fish being caught in the 14-16 ft range and 5-8 ft fish are quite common.
These fish can be 300-500 lbs. at full maturity.Many people believe them to be poor fighters because they are bottom feeders but this is simply not true.When hooked they generally jump numerous times and make long runs.Many of the larger fish will be landed 2-3 miles down river when the fight is over.
I have landed 6 fish so far on my fly rod with the largest pushing 5 ft and I'm guessing about 80 lbs.To date I have used sented flies since that is typically how they find there food.I have bein doing my homework and plan to try some new tactics this summer in the shallower areas of our estuaries.My tactics will be as follows.Set up a chumline on a float in an area that will be shallow enough to spot them at low tide.As the tide receeds,it will create a slick to draw the fish to you.Once spotted,a few live sand shrimp will be thrown to get them feeding and then cast my fly infront of them hoping that in the shallow water that they will see the fly land and take.Obviously I'm stealing a few ideas from salt water fishing,but there are no IGFA records for sturgeon on a fly and I need to be able tohook them without scent on my fly.
Hopefully this tactic will work but,if not,they are well worth the pursuit using scented flies.I am one of a very small group of people who actually persue them on a fly as most fly fisherman in the pacific northwest turn their noses up at the idea.
This is a great gamefish that I believe can be targeted with a fly and would recomend it to anyone.It might take a little thinking to figure them out,but I will keep trying.I'll keep you posted.
tight lines,
Sturgeon Crazy

[teflon_jones]

There's a lot of them in the Hudson, but they're protected and you can't specifically target them. I've heard of more than a few passing 10 ft long that took chunk bait fished near the bottom while people were going after stripers.

[uglychild]

Tons in the Kennebec, from the mouth all the way up to Augusta, but they are heavily protected. They are of a smaller variety than you have out west, but they get to pretty decent sizes. I fish the river quite a bit and they are constantly jumping around my boat.

[titleguy]

A short-nosed sturgeon was caught on the Penobscot yesterday by a striper fisherman.

[rockfisherman]

Does the east coast have any sturgeon in there rivers or estuaries?

Interesting story about shortnose sturgeon in the Penobscot in Maine:

http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/2006/nr0608.htm

[franksongo62]

I have caught 3 in the past 20 years jigging for stripers with a large pork rind tail on the jig all were caught near half-tide rock just up river from state ramp all were around 5 ft. length. wish you luck. :)

[sturgeon crazy]

Thanks for all the positive comments guy's!I get nothing but snooty responses from the posting sites here in the west.Hell,my flyfishing passion has alway's bein in the salt,maybe I should jump coasts.
To bad there protected over there,they are a great fighter.If you ever get to the Northwest,you should give them a try.Bring your 12+ weight outfit and lots of backing.
Best of luck on your summer outings,
SC

[albacized]

Have fun with your quest. Just make sure that if you do your fishing in Massachusetts, it's a catch and release game. They are regarded as an endangered species and the fines are big if you get caught with one. I don't know about the other States here in the NE. I too would like to catch one someday although I'll probably never go out of my way to do it.