The Land of the Giants: Sturgeon

This is a dedicated thread for discussing article: The Land of the Giants: Sturgeon

I must say I am impressed with 'ow 'ard you lot are. This article has been running for a week now and had zero comments. Whatever does it take to impress you guys? Mekong stingrays on the waggler?

Perhaps I am in a minority but catching fish as big as those Sturgeon holds no attraction for me

Well, you may not be unique but I really can't understand that attitude at all.

At what size does a fish stop being attractive to you as an angler? Would you be interested in catching them if they were say 10lb, 20lb or 30lb?

To me, these huge fish are the stuff dreams are made of, a lifetime's angling ambition realised even. To experience a fish so powerful that it can strip line from a clutch that you can't even pull line from yourself, a 100 yards of it, then launching itself into the air before crashing down and doing it all over again, and again is, to me, the ultimate angling experience .

In my humble opinion, when any fish leaps out of the water while attached to my line its about as exciting as it gets, sadly Ive only experienced it in the U.K., but to have something bigger than myself do this must be heartstopping. My only points of reference for this occurence has been on t.v., to read a mere mortals account is at the very least interesting.
Travelling the world, seeking new challenges is not my bag, although I did mention to Liz that when I catch a Sturgeon from the Thames I'd drop it round to Buck House. Despite spending this season targeting Liz's fish all Ive caught is nuisance species, apparently thats what speci hunters call species they do not want to catch.

I think we must consider the reasons why we go fishing; and here I can only speak for myself.

If fishing was purely about experiencing the fight of an enormous fish, then after you had had this experience you might not acheive anything more from our sport. I have hooked fish which have given me some tremendous scraps yet have not given me that elation and sense of satisfaction which is part and parcel of successful angling.

Why is this? Why is it that a lot of anglers view the capture of huge exotic fish with no interest whatsoever?

I think the answer here is that the majority of anglers want to read about the sort of fishing they can do themselves. Only a small amount of anglers have the where-with-all to visit these exotic venues, and even if they do, physical impairment might make these captures "pie in the sky".

I can say this because in the past I have caught a few monsters of my own. And do you know, I don't really remember these captures.

The memories that come back repeatedly are those of big roach caught on the float and
wild brown trout caught on the fly.

And captures made when a problem has had to be solved.

True angling pleasure is proportional in many ways to the size of the problems that were overcome in catching the fish.*

And talking of exotic species, more of them have been caught by people who's bank balance compensates for what skill they might not possess.

* I am talking here about angling problems, not the inability to afford a holiday in the Florida Keys.

I know for myself, if the opportunity arose for me to fish for fish of this size, i would gladly accept their offer. However, i am in no rush to save up my money just to do so, i am more than content to go fishing here in the UK on my local waters, just so long as i get to go fishing.

To summonise, Yes, i would give it a go. No, i am in no hurry to try it.

Geoff ,I do not have an attitude,I posted on here because you asked what it takes to impress us out here and as the thread was not receiving any attention .
there is a reason why would not pursue Huge fish but it would not be appropriate to post it on here.

I wasn't suggesting you had an "attitude" Slime, I was using the word in it's old-fashioned sense.
Last week I was zandering on the Trent. To catch 3 inch livebaits in a tributary ditch was a major challenge, took me ages to fool a couple. Far more skill went into catching those baits than the predators they were eventually used for. One discipline is as valid as another, it's all fishing but for me the bigger fish have to be the final target.

Sorry, I got the wrong end of the stick Geoff ,I can understand the attraction in catching monster fish and done properly as in the interesting Article you wrote thats great .nuff said ..good luck

geoffmaynard said:

I wasn't suggesting you had an "attitude" Slime, I was using the word in it's old-fashioned sense.
Last week I was zandering on the Trent. To catch 3 inch livebaits in a tributary ditch was a major challenge, took me ages to fool a couple. Far more skill went into catching those baits than the predators they were eventually used for. One discipline is as valid as another, it's all fishing but for me the bigger fish have to be the final target.

Click to expand...

And there is nothing I like more than targeting a few big fish. But it's all relative isn't it?

An angler who only has for example tench to say 5 lbs available and becomes adept at catching them is no less a tench angler than the other guy who has access to, and catches southern gravel pit tench which reach 10 lbs on a regular basis.

Some of the very best roach anglers I have ever met in my life have never caught a 2 pounder, and because of circumstances, they are not likely to get a 2 pounder - ever.

A few wise words there Ron ..must be the new tablets :wh