Caught a RARE fish today at the Falls!!!

[JD7.62]

Shovel nose sturgeon!! The fish was about 24" and BEAUTIFUL. I didnt want to harm the fish to take a picture out of the water and as I was trying to grab the phone to take a pic she came loose. Oh well, it was a real treat to an otherwise crappy day. Caught a couple 12-14" saugar, several cigar sized saugar, and buffalo out the ying yang, surprisedly the drum left me alone!

Anyhow just thought I'd share, any one else caught one lately?

[FlyLie]

JD2.62
:Congrats JD2 for catching one from JARASIC PARK (sp?) and THANKS for sharing. This fish is interesting and new to me. Have heard of Sturgeon, but didn't known we had them here in KY! To bad you didn't get a pic, but understand. So, having read your post, I had to do a little GOOGLE to see what this "shovel nose" creature is all about. Here's what I found:

PART 1 IS A LITTLE HUMOR THAT ONLY THE BIO GUYS WILL UNDERSTAND, but that's all right, It is good food for thought and perhaps our local fisher guy HURRICANE BOB has some insights on the creature as well.

PART 2 tells the story on a level which I (think???) I understand. You will need to go to PART 2 ande click the link to read PART 2.


INTRODUCTION, PART 1
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Sturgeon \Stur"geon\, n. [F. esturgeon, LL. sturio, sturgio,
OHG. sturjo, G. st["o]r; akin to AS. styria, styriga.]
(Zo["o]l.)
Any one of numerous species of large cartilaginous ganoid
fishes belonging to Acipenser and allied genera of the
family Acipenserid[ae]. They run up rivers to spawn, and
are common on the coasts and in the large rivers and lakes of
North America, Europe, and Asia. Caviare is prepared from the
roe, and isinglass from the air bladder.

Note: The common North American species are Acipenser
sturio of the Atlantic coast region, A.
transmontanus of the Pacific coast, and A.
rubicundus of the Mississippi River and its
tributaries. In Europe, the common species is
Acipenser sturio, and other well-known species are
the sterlet and the huso. The sturgeons are included in
the order Chondrostei. Their body is partially covered
by five rows of large, carinated, bony plates, of which
one row runs along the back. The tail is heterocercal.
The toothless and protrusile mouth is beneath the head,
and has four barbels in front.

THE REAL STORY...PART 2 (CLICK ON LINK BELOW READ STORY ABOUT FALLS OF THE OHIO)

http://kentucky.realelibrary.com/_ke...the%20Ohio.pdf

[FlyLie]

JD2, a little more GOOGLE and I think I got your picture for you....See link below:

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/9...%20by%20BZ.jpg

[HURRICANEBOB]

perhaps our local fisher guy HURRICANE BOB has some insights on the creature as well

I really don't know that much about this fish other than that the shovelnose sturgeon, Scaphirhynchus platorynchus, is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to the United States of America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail." Switchtail refers to the long filament found on the upper lobe of the caudal fin (often broken off as adults). Shovelnose sturgeon are the most abundant sturgeon, found in the Missouri River and Mississippi River systems, and the only commercially fished sturgeon in the United States of America (Pflieger 1997).
The sturgeons of the family Acipenseridae have bony scutes along the sides and back and four barbels on the underside of the rostrum. A total of 25 extant species of sturgeon are recognized, including 17 within the genus Acipenser. Sturgeon are distributed around the northern part of the Northern Hemisphere (holarctic distribution) and have marine, freshwater, and anadromous members. Sturgeons, including the shovelnose, are highly regarded for their flesh and their roe, from which premium grades of caviar are made (Barton 2007). The scientific name Scaphirhynchus, Greek, means "spade snout," and platorynchus, Greek, means "broad snout." The shovelnose sturgeon is characterized by a long slender filament on the upper lobe of the caudal fin. They have a flattened rostrum (modified snout) that is also shovel shaped. There are four fringed barbels on the ventral side of the rostrum that can be found in a straight line, which is equidistant from the mouth opening to the tip of the snout, unlike pallid sturgeon. The belly of the shovelnose sturgeon is covered with scale-like plates, which is another distinguishing factor from pallid sturgeon whom have primarily scaleless bellies. Coloration of the shovelnose sturgeon ranges from a light-brown to buff with a white belly (Pflieger 1997).
The shovelnose sturgeon, as its distribution represents, is impacted very little by turbidity. The Missouri River and the Mississippi River systems tend to carry high sediment loads. Here the sturgeon inhabits the open channel or main channel areas of the large rivers. It lives on the bottom, often in areas with swift current and sand or gravel bottom. As with many riverine fish species, the shovelnose sturgeon does not have a restricted home range and may travel long distances (Pflieger 1997). The shovelnose sturgeon feeds on the bottom, using its highly protrusible mouth to **** up its food. The diet is comprised mainly of aquatic insect larvae, consisting principally of mayflies, true flies (Diptera), and caddisflies. The sturgeon also feed on crustaceans, worms, and small fish (Carlson et al. 1985;Held 1969). As a result to bottom feeding it is a host to the glochidia (larvae) of several species of freshwater mollusc, including Quadrula pustulosa (Pimpleback), Obovaria olivaria (Hickorynut) and Lampsilis teres (Yellow sandshell). It is the only known host to the hickorynut mussel. A typical sturgeon's life history includes a migration from feeding grounds to breeding grounds in large rivers. During spawning, behavior changes and swimming near the surface occurs. Females do not spawn every year and spawning chronology is not readily evident. Spawning takes place over gravel in fairly swift water. Eggs hatch after 3 to 5 days, and the larvae--about 1 cm long-- drift downstream to suitable rearing areas in the river (Barton 2007). Carlson et al. (1985) found that growth of the shovelnose sturgeon is relatively slow, at 21.3 inches (54.1 cm) in five years.
The roe of the shovelnose sturgeon is marketed as "hackleback" caviar. As old world sources of Caspian and Black Sea sturgeon caviar have become endangered, roe from shovelnose sturgeon and paddlefish have recently become commercially important.[3] The flesh of the sturgeon is widely considered a delicacy, especially smoked sturgeon. Poaching of the shovelnose sturgeon is becoming a problem, as they must be 8–10 years old before spawning can occur, and females are only gravid once every 3 years. There is some interest in marketing the shovelnose sturgeon as an aquarium species.

AND THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THAT.........

[FlyLie]

Thanks Bob, I knew you would come through on this one....but females only once every 3 years??? Don't know if this is good or bad...If it could be extracted then maybe there are medical applications.

[Monarkman]

Watch this from Ky Afield if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6s2PKukgqio

[steve douglas]

great info guys!

[ryan_ekubass]

nice job on catching a relic.... and good thinking on the way u treated the fish... some people would have taken it out of the water and handled it for a bit and probably taken it to the local bait store for pics and eventually it would have costed the fish its life.... that species has weathered the test of time....

[OhioRiverCatfisher93]

Shovel nose sturgeon!! The fish was about 24" and BEAUTIFUL. I didnt want to harm the fish to take a picture out of the water and as I was trying to grab the phone to take a pic she came loose. Oh well, it was a real treat to an otherwise crappy day. Caught a couple 12-14" saugar, several cigar sized saugar, and buffalo out the ying yang, surprisedly the drum left me alone!

Anyhow just thought I'd share, any one else caught one lately?

Congrats on the catch man, I caught about 7 or 8 last year when the water went wayyyy down.

We went Friday and caught between 4 guys close to 100 fish.
Spoonbill,Saugar,Drum,Asian Carp,Carp,Catfish,Shad,Skipjack. etc...

The Game Warden was down there and he said, " If anyone catches Asian Carp, we want you to kill them and throw them back in the water".

Overall a Great Day

Going again Monday Tuesday and Wednesday!!!

[Jbyrd]

Friend of mine caught one out of buck creek back in april. That is on lake cumberland ........

[JD7.62]

Well holy hell! Me and the bro in law went to the Falls today and he caught one! This one went 18-20". We took some more time with this one and marveled at its beauty and let her go safely.

Is this a crazy fluke or are they coming back and a sign of the improving conditions of the river?

[JD7.62]

Does any one know if we can keep these fish? Since they are a smaller species Id love to have one in a fish tank (I have BIG fish tanks so no worries there). Ive been looking online and found nothing so far.