kennebec sturgeon???

[3 on 3 off]

went fishing in the kennebec recently with my son and noticed this rather large fish busting out of the water. now when i say large im talking at least a 5 or 6 ft! no joke i couldn't believe my eyes. at first i thought a really big stripper but after observing this thing multiple times i noticed it had a pointed snout kinda like a sturgeon. does anybody no anything about this or was i just seeing things.

[fishless12]

Yep sounds like a sturgeon to me! We see them at the mouths of the Scarborough and Saco Rivers, too.

[Stripersurg]

Yes, the vast majority of large single fish breaching on the river will be Sturgeon.

[Bowdoin boy]

I lived on Merrymetting bay growing up 40yrs ago.And i spend every spare moment on the water and use to see Hundreds of them jumping out of the water.You could see silver streaks coming out of the water all over the river.Some were pretty large 5-10',my Neighbor caught one fishing on bottom it was 6' really neat looking fish..I dont think they run up those rivers like you use to see them.its funny 40 yrs ago that river was the most polluted River in the country and I use to catch tons of fish..

[Keepah Seekah]

yup, it was a sturgeon. can watch them breach like that all day long off the augusta baot ramp, and up in waterville.

[rg732122]

They are quite fun to watch here in Sidney. Seems like it would hurt though, some make a good SLAP! when they hit the water 

[trucker]

I think my wife and I ran into one at the mouth of the saco river as we were trolling we had a really hard hit folded the rod right over and with the 15 second fight it strip the line so fast as it ran and broke the 40lb braided line with ease I assume that is what it was.

[PIKE FISHERMAN]

The few times I went striper fishing from shore (Augusta), I saw a few surface, and are definately a cool looking fish. Some were 30-40' away.

[StingingLips]

does anyone try to catch them?

[rg732122]

I have heard of people trying to catch them yes. But it isn't a good idea seeing how its illegal to have one on the line. As soon as you have one on you must cut your line. It would be one heck of a fight tho 

[3 on 3 off]

hmm wonder if there any good to eat just kidding

[Yukon Steve]

Oh yeah!! It's atlantic sturgeon. We got quite a show at the mouth of the saco last thursday, busting out of the water all around us. Pretty cool watching prehistoric fish

[toguefisha]

I lived on Merrymetting bay growing up 40yrs ago.And i spend every spare moment on the water and use to see Hundreds of them jumping out of the water.You could see silver streaks coming out of the water all over the river.Some were pretty large 5-10',my Neighbor caught one fishing on bottom it was 6' really neat looking fish..I dont think they run up those rivers like you use to see them.its funny 40 yrs ago that river was the most polluted River in the country and I use to catch tons of fish.

Seeing as how they can live over one hundred years old, the big ones you saw 40 years ago were probably born way back before the river was that polluted.  The ones that you are seeing now would have been ones born during the age of pollution, hence why there is less of them.  I bet twenty years or so from now you will once again see vast more fish.

[tbfisherman]

 Hi

 A sturgeon is a very slow growing fish and is 25 years old before it spawns for the first time.
 Pretty sure the jumping out of the water has something to do with loosening the eggs to spawn.
 They do lay millions of tiny eggs for the size of the fish.
 
Bob

[PIKE FISHERMAN]

I wonder how good the fishery would be if the state opened a season??

I understand the risks as they are slow to re-populate, but it's VERY popular in some sates, and they seem to manage OK.