OAP 1/17

Andy (this is the newbie guy who caught a 62" past Sunday) and i met at Mike's at 8am and found out that the shop was not open.  called several places and finally got some grass shrimps from Oak Bait.
arrived at OAP around 9am and met up with Gabriel.  he hit the water first and about 15min later we also hit the water.  Allen was on the water already and we decided to pay our respect to him before some serious fishing.  after a brief chat with him, we sank our anchors close to where Allen was.  about 30 min later Gabriel radioed Allen saying he got a sturgie on the end of his line.  we rushed to Gabriel to find out that he had a big sturgie measured to be over 60".  great work, Gabriel.  after some min of celebration and congrats, Gabriel departed leaving us with some ghost shrimps.
we all decided to stay where Gabriel was.  some min later, i had a pretty good bite thinking this could be a sturgie.  well, it turned out to be a bat ray.  i had another bite and it was a fat bull head. i also got a small leopard shark and another fat bull head.  they were all released back.
Allen left around 11:30am.  around 1pm, i had a bite and this time the force was with the fish.  i set the hook and went for a short ride.  it was a 47" sturgie...my very first sturgie.  it put up a good fight,,,actually a couple of good fights.  i pulled it onto my kayak, and it just went frantic.  it went overboard (i kinda pushed it off the boat) and gave me another good fight in the water.  Finally, Andy showed up to give me an extra hand.
about 30min later, Andy got a bite and it turned out to be a monster...61" fatty sturgie.  i think he has some kinda sturgie magic tricks up his sleeves or something...2 fat sturgies in 1 week.
we exchanged several high fives with congrats to each other.  it was a great day!!!

Paul-

You guys got it dialed in at the airport. Is there a race going on to see how fast somebody can fill out their sturgy card??? Great job

Freddie

Congratulations guys on some nice fish. You guys must be so stoked especially Andy. Big sturgeon are attracted to him.

WTG Paul and Gabriel and of course once again Andy. You guys definitely got that
place dial in for sure. Thanks for taking some pictures Paul. I hope to have the
same luck Monday. I am actually working that day but I am feeling a headache
coming on for Monday.

Jedmo

Hope your eating them real fast or giving them away ! Last I heard the possesion limit was not more than one and that includes what is at home in your freezer . You guys are slaying them , lets keep it legal though ?

Hope your eating them real fast or giving them away ! Last I heard the possesion limit was not more than one and that includes what is at home in your freezer . You guys are slaying them , lets keep it legal though ?

Dan, yearly bag limit is 3, only one per trip may be caught, even if its catch and release between (46-66 inches)

After rereading the F&G Regs it appears there is no possesion limit , only daily and yearly  , so I guess 3 in the freezer is good to go !? Not sure about the C&R rules , need to read some more ! Would seem to me you should be able to C&R on any given day until you finally decide to tag a fish , not really sure as to why you would have to stop fishing after you tag out as sturgeon don't swallow the hook and always seem to survive the fight , plus stripers are present and can be caught on the same set-up/bait . After reading the back of my tag I see " no fishing after tagging for the day " hopefully you can still fish stripers , would be a little slow just sitting , waiting for a fishing buddy to limit . Question ; do you list ALL C&R fish or just keeper size ?

Anyone know how well or if the tag survives if you put the fish back in the water to bleed out , what kind of pen would be best ( water resistant on paper ) to fill the tag out with ? Excuse my ignorance on recent changes in sturgeon regs as I have not fished for them in a couple of years , been trying to finish off what is in the freezer first before I go catch another one .

I have to say I agree.  I have been thrilled to see so many caught, but bummed to zero released.  If you want to fish em fine, but who in the hell needs 3 sturgeon, not to mention all of the nasty compounds sequestered in those things??? 

Congrats, guys, especially on your first dino!

Re: C&R - they're a pain in the neck to clean, too!
Otobepelagic released one today and I believe EWB did as well (not sure, did you keep it?). Ravensblack also caught a nice green, which, of course, he released.

Congratulations Guys. Beautiful day out there!! Sounds like I left a little early but I had already put in almost five hours in a leaky kayak...WTG

After rereading the F&G Regs it appears there is no possesion limit , only daily and yearly  , so I guess 3 in the freezer is good to go !? Not sure about the C&R rules ,

Anyone know how well or if the tag survives if you put the fish back in the water to bleed out , what kind of pen would be best ( water resistant on paper ) to fill the tag out with ? Excuse my ignorance on recent changes in sturgeon regs as I have not fished for them in a couple of years , been trying to finish off what is in the freezer first before I go catch another one .

 The sturgeon regs state,
 Once you have kept and tagged a sturgeon you must stop sturgeon fishing for the day. Once you have kept and tagged 3 sturgeon, you have to stop sturgeon fishing for the year. Not even catch and release fishing is allowed once you have kept 3 fish for the year.

The tags are waxed and hold up good inthe water with regular pen ink, but I have heard of sturgeon being pulled off ropes while bleeding by sea lions..so you might want to keep your catch onboard if you see sea lions in the area.

WE thought we saw a seal head cruising around today. Turns out it was a miami heat basketball.

FYI-the daily limit and the possesion limit are the SAME for all species.

Yep. I released mine today. They live way to long to keep (IMHO). And growing up in the bay area I know what was dumped into the bay 30 years ago (Dad and Grandfather were painting contractors) I have nightmares of what they 'disposed' of and how   

I have to say I agree.  I have been thrilled to see so many caught, but bummed to zero released.  If you want to fish em fine, but who in the hell needs 3 sturgeon, not to mention all of the nasty compounds sequestered in those things??? 

Yep, I caught mine in November, kept it, not gonna keep another one this season (on the off chance that I might actually get another  ),,,but damn it is a good eating fish, nasty compounds notwithstanding.

Dale L