Sturgeon Possession Limits

July 21, 2011

Question: I enjoy sturgeon fishing and regularly go down to the Bay for a two-day fishing trip this time of year. How many can I have in possession? Let’s say I go to San Pablo on a Friday, catch a legal-size sturgeon, tag it and then take it back to my truck to put in an ice chest. Can I then fish on Saturday and catch and tag another sturgeon? If so, upon returning to my truck I would then have two sturgeon in my possession. I believe there is a yearly limit of three, but what is the possession limit up to those three sturgeon? (Mike G., Rio Oso)

Answer: No more than one daily bag limit (one sturgeon) may be taken or possessed at any time, even if the animal is frozen or otherwise preserved (CCR Title 14, section 1.17).

While you're here... While getting my replacement sturgeon tag I told the lady about having caught undersized released sturgeon. She filled it in under kept sturgeon (even with it saying 32"...) I politely told her it needed to be changed. She printed out another one and began filling it in. This time she filled it in under released sturgeon with reward disk. Getting irritated I just left. Is this going to be a problem come reporting time?

I doubt it will be a problem.  As long as you still have your tags the rest of the info is really more for DFG purposes.  When you return at the end of the year probably just attach a letter to let them know of the mistake.