a couple buddies and myself went on an overnight catfishing camping trip on one of the ct river islands. Right off the bat we landed a little schoolie striper.
my buddy landed probably the biggest fallfish ive ever seen. talk about pike bait
after that it was just catfish city
and then we got the biggest surprise of all. one of my firends doesnt have rods big enough for catfish so we were switching on and off catching fish. i yelled to him to take the next one and i wish i hadnt. we saw it jump far out but could tell what it was. when we finally saw it near shore we freaked out and it screamed drag again. definitely the most memorable fish to catch. Behold the Shortnose Sturgeon
now before anybody says anything, myself and the people i fish with have the upmost respect for all fish and making sure they are released safely. when we saw what the fish was we knew they were rare and endangered and had to be quick with getting it back into the water. my buddy who caught it held it while another person unhooked it. i snapped that picture as he was walking it back out to deeper water to release it. i messaged CT fish and wildlife and asked them what the policy was for pictures of sturgeon. they replied "The fish must be released unharmed immediately upon capture. That said if you can get a photo without harming the fish or extending the time it is not released, then use best judgement." I would say we did just that. got the fish back immediately and it gave a really hard kick out into the depths. It was a real privilege to catch and see probably the most rare fish in ct. I hope that other people can respect these fish so they come back with force. id love for them to be able to open catch and release for them
