Shovelnose sturgeon fry?

Does a 1"-1.5" shovelnose sturgeon fry look enough like an adult that you can tell what it is?

I was camping with some friends on the Kansas river this weekend between Wamego and St Marys. I scooped up a bucket of river water to put out the campfire. When the sediment settled, I noticed a small 1" fish swimming in my bucket. I watched it for a while trying to figure out what it was. It sure looked like a miniature shovelnose sturgeon. I scooped it up in my hands and put it back in the river.

I've been wishing to catch an adult one of those for a couple years now, but have not been successful. Kind of an insult to my fishing abilities if I just scooped up a bucket of water and there was one in there...:yikes

P.S. The catfishing was slow. Good thing we brought hot dogs, or we would have starved.rotfl

I don't know what a little one looks like. But I can tell you that fishing in the smoky hill river use enough weight to keep you out in the middle of the river on the bottom and use either a dead minnow or a worm almost always results in a annoying sturgeon. I would assume it would work in the Kansas River as well

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Originally Posted by drakewoodie

I don't know what a little one looks like. But I can tell you that fishing in the smoky hill river use enough weight to keep you out in the middle of the river on the bottom and use either a dead minnow or a worm almost always results in a annoying sturgeon. I would assume it would work in the Kansas River as well

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Annoying?:yikes C'mon, man! Any fish bite is better than no fish bite, right? :biggrin

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Originally Posted by Fish Taxi

Annoying?:yikes C'mon, man! Any fish bite is better than no fish bite, right? :biggrin

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I would rather catch no fish the have those things eating up all my bait

Used to catch them below Bowser Damn in Lawrence, strange looking fish. Do not remember catching any of them over 18 inches long.-----WORMS.

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Originally Posted by Fish Taxi

Does a 1"-1.5" shovelnose sturgeon fry look enough like an adult that you can tell what it is?

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Taxi,

Small sturgeon are quite distinctive looking so that is probably what you saw.

Here's a video on pallid sturgeons that shows some pretty small fish in the Milford Hatchery and they look as 'pretty' as their adult counterparts!

http://youtu.be/qAz_EcLoXf0

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Originally Posted by Craig Johnson

Here's a video on pallid sturgeons that shows some pretty small fish in the Milford Hatchery and they look as 'pretty' as their adult counterparts!

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Craig!;) Today was the last day of school for my daughter, so with any luck we can catch a biggun tomorrow morning!

Her first grade class just took a field trip to Milford hatchery and nature center on Tuesday, but the only fish she could remember seeing was the catfish. I wish they would have sent her home with a bucket of saugeyes for Lake Wabaunsee.:rolleyes: But, alas, there were no souveniers...

Also, I just want to tell you a big THANK YOU for answering all these questions on your forum. I am especially notorious for asking you some very oddball questions, and you always take the time to give me a thorough answer. My hats off to you, sir.Thumbs Up

Well, we gave 'em heck for a couple hours on the Kansas River. Three channel cats, a BIG softshell turtle, and 0 sturgeon. We got bites almost immediately on every cast, but 20 nightcrawlers only produced 3 fish and the turtle. There must either be a ton of little catfish on our stretch of the river, or we found some gar or something else unhookable...

It WAS my first ever softshell turtle, so that was kind of cool, although I was a little anxious while unhooking it! The hook was stuck through a fold of neck skin, and his mouth was uncomfortably close to my fingers during the unhooking process.

My daughter had a fun time, but the gnats were pretty relentless. When the bait ran out, we didn't mind calling it quits!

Still on the hunt for a sturgeon...

Friday, 6-8-12, 3 more hours sturgeon hunting on the Kansas river with 0 sturgeon.:Doh: Probably should have spent the day crappie or saugeye fishing, but I'm too stubborn to give this up.:deadhorse