sturgeon path of travel

It occured to me while fishing for sturgeon this past wknd that I, as well as my fellow anglers on the boats anchored next to us. Do sturgeon travel AGAINST the current the entire time in order to smell and locate food? Or do they ride the tide and use it to there advantage to swim, smell/sense the food then flip a bitch and go upstream to find it? My brain hurts. What do you think?

I've watched the ones in BPS and they seems to swim around in circles. Yeah that didn't help any. 

I've watched the ones in BPS and they seems to swim around in circles. Yeah that didn't help any. 

I'm glad someone else said it first

like most fish, sturgeon face against the current most of the time. but when they're feeding, they're just actively searching for food.  key for you is to make sure your bait is pointing in the correct direction. 

Sturgeon ride the tide.  They can travel up to 15 miles in a day. I've hooked em both going with or against the current. Thing is to be in the right spot at the right time on the tide.

It occured to me while fishing for sturgeon this past wknd that I, as well as my fellow anglers on the boats anchored next to us. Do sturgeon travel AGAINST the current the entire time in order to smell and locate food? Or do they ride the tide and use it to there advantage to swim, smell/sense the food then flip a bitch and go upstream to find it? My brain hurts. What do you think?

Swim against current and ride the tide, like buh-mmm-bbbbuh said.

So did you get any bites? 

I was thinking most boat guys anchor and cast down-tide, if that makes any sense...

My uncle has always told me salmon FACE the tide and to fish with that in mind. 

Not sure if theres any other way to do it anchored up in a slough

I went last wknd on saturday got 3 between 3 of us. 2 under 1 over. Then monday (yesterday) my buddy went back to same spot and got striper limit and a fat 41incher. All 3 fish sat and yesterdays fish were all caught on strong outgoing along with the other 3 keepers I saw get caught. So im definitely leaning towards there swimming against outgoing tides while they head into the estuaries and sloughs to find food.

I went last wknd on saturday got 3 between 3 of us. 2 under 1 over. Then monday (yesterday) my buddy went back to same spot and got striper limit and a fat 41incher. All 3 fish sat and yesterdays fish were all caught on strong outgoing along with the other 3 keepers I saw get caught. So im definitely leaning towards there swimming against outgoing tides while they head into the estuaries and sloughs to find food.

 you got it

I was thinking most boat guys anchor and cast down-tide, if that makes any sense...

Not sure if theres any other way to do it anchored up in a slough

Never heard of any other way for sturgies.

I'm going to agree and vote for foraging against the current of an outgoing tide.

It's my thinking that high tide washes a lot of invertabrates off their intertidal zones creating a food stream when the tide goes out.

According to others that know a lot more about their habits than me. i've always heard they drift with the tides. Bigger the out go the better. I've also caught 90% of my sturgeon in the last couple hours of a strong out go. Combine it with a big rain prior and you got a good recipe for success. Maybe they criss cross as they drift. Kinda like sweeping the bay bottom.

According to others that know a lot more about their habits than me. i've always heard they drift with the tides.

Same here.  Drift with the current, bait is swept off the flats and into channels with current till it settles, sturgeon vacuum it up as they cruise.  Bait tends to settle in berm areas or humps, I'm sure of the fish find a pocket of food they will work the area back and forth.  This is of course not on a herring bite where I'm sure they roam.

I can't imagine that swimming against the current for an entire tidal swing is an efficient use of energy for such a large fish.  With their dependence on smell I'd think a "cover more ground" approach would be better than holding in one place to wait for it to get to you. 

I wasnt saying they sit against the current in one spot and wait, lol. But think about it, they drift WITH the outgoing tide outwards.then they smell the food thats now above them and have to flip a bitch, go against the current, relocate the scent and go find it it and eat it. And thats just one piece of food, they would be constantly doing u-turns to find what they just smelled/sensed. That doesnt seem effective to me. My finder goes loco with arches on the bottom the classic sturgeon mark ( on the 80hertz setting of course ) the last few times ive been out in the last 3 wks. And they always pass thru my transducer reading traveling the same direction. Im sticking with the against the current approach.

The real sturgeon question is: why the hell do they randomly jump in the air?