Sturgeon: a boneless prehistoric and mysterious bottom-feeder growing to more than 10 feet long and weighing more than 300 pounds.

This fish has developed sort of a cult following in the Northwest, where it’s the only freshwater fish in the Columbia River that can outweigh the fisherman. I’ve seen people in the stores who, instead of having the barbed-wire tattoo as an arm band they have sturgeon scutes (those armor-like scales down the fish’s back and sides).

Now I haven’t done much in the way of fishing for them, but I have attempted occasionally, but unsuccessfully, to catch a “keeper.”

I recently spoke to John North, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Columbia River Fisheries manager, about the fish and management techniques for the species. Yearly, there is a quota put in place for each of the sections of river between the dams. Anything below Bonneville is managed separately.

ODFW biologists constantly are tagging and monitoring actively breeding fish to get a better feel of the population. The ODFW, combined with the treaty Tribes, work cooperatively on the management and balance commercial and recreational fisheries with separate quotas.

Now aside from the quota limits in place, there also is a slot limit for available size of fish to keep. A slot limit is a limit with minimum and maximum keeping restrictions. The maximum was put there to stop harvest of breeding-sized fish, which is around 6 feet in length. And because there is a quota in place, they added the minimum as a convenience so we don’t all end up keeping tiny shakers, or small fish.

Now that I’ve covered some of the science and biology behind the fish, now comes time to talk about the ways in which people catch them. Commonly, people use a very large, rigid rod with upwards of 80-pound test line spooled on the reel and with large amounts of weight to sink and hold bait to the bottom. Many people have started using railroad spikes as an inexpensive eco-friendly weight.

The law requires anglers to use barbless hooks, so they use elastic thread to attach their bait. The most common types of bait are either roll mop herring (pickled herring), sturgeon candy (pickled squid) and shad diced up into little pieces.

Whether you are a diehard angler or a weekend plunker the sturgeon is definitely a fish to look into.

Ron Farmer is a Hermiston resident and can be reached via e-mail at superbee_hemisrule@hotmail.com.