Can You Freakin Believe This

It is the rarest of the rare fish here in New England.  In fact, it is so rare that the species is endangered.  I have seen sturgeon caught on tv shows in the northwest and Alaska, but I have never seen one or even know of anyone who has landed one in New England.  Well, the one in a million shot hit me today as I landed one of these prehistoric looking beauties at the CT River while fishing for carp.
I was fishing bottom using a hair rigged combo bait of maize and artificial corn. All of a sudden one rod started banging, and then the fish started running.  I grabbed the rod and as soon as the fish was hooked it came up from the bottom and shot out of the water like a missile in a spectacular leaping jump.  At that point, I knew I had a sturgeon.
I was off a high wall and got the fish close, and used a bridge net to lift the fish onto the shore.  I quickly popped out the #6 hook that was just barely in the fish's lip, had someone snap a few photos and within seconds, the fish was ready for release.  I didn't get a weight or measurement since I wanted to get the fish back into the water as soon as possible. I leaned way over and down the wall to drop the fish as close to the water as possible. I am happy to report this endangered fish was released in good shape and swam away to the delight of a growing crowd that was watching me.
Note that there is no open season for sturgeon in New England and it is against the law to possess one of these.  If one is caught by accident such as I did today, it should be released as soon as possible.
Luck plays a big role in fishing and this was one of the luckiest and rarest catches I have ever made.

I landed this rare sturgeon while fishing for carp today at the CT River.