Tried my luck on the Nestle Quik river yesterday and some guy told me how his son caught a sturgeon down below Fred Meyer the day before. I tried not to laugh but another guy backed up his claim that there are quite a few large ones that make their way up every now and then. Weird.......

That is a new one on me.....

I've been fishing the Puy since I was about 7 (25 years). Dad much longer. Fished the old Hiho hole (aka by fred meyers) for years until they shut gates down. Never heard nor seen a sturgeon. Not saying it's not possible. But never heard of it. Maybe they were newbies and caught a big bullhead and thought it was a sturgeon??? Weirder things have happened. Had a guy fishing in December show me this very LATE silver he caught. I had to inform him it was a big native steelhead. LOL. Some guys have no clue.

Stranger things have been caught in the PEW. Anyone remember [headlines] when a plunker caught a bucket with a head half cemented in it? That must have been 12 years or so... It was at the mouth of Clark's Creek.

Downriggin'

I once hooked into a pair of blue jeans in the Puyallup. They put up a pretty good fight in the current. Fortunately, there were no body parts in them. As far as Sturgeon go, it is conceiveable that one would wander up the river. Wasn't there one in Lake Washington a few years back?

OK, time to spill the beans. Yes there are sturgeon on the puyallup. My buddy in the fisheries down there during test fisheries has landed several. One trip they got five, from 30 inches to OH MY GOD! KEEP IT OUT OF THE BOAT! Somewhere around ten foot or so. The next week got 6, all small. All fish turned loose except one, 55 inches. It weas bleeding from the gills. I keep waiting for the poor plunker who gets the shock of their life when that ten footer inhales the bait. Most of these fish come and go. Last year there was a dead one in Clarks Creek. BTW, I caught my first sturgeon on the White river in 1991. It was about 4 inches long. I thought it was a bullhead at first then looked closer and saw the markings. So maybe there is a spawning stock there.

I wouldn't be suprised if there's a small population of sturgeon in most WA rivers.

They are in all the tribs.of the Puyallup the White(Stuck).Carbon and even South Prairie Creek.My uncle showed me how to fish on the Puyallup in the mid to late 60's. We fished all of these places and I saw a 6ft sturgeon in South Prairie Creek I got scared and screemed for my uncle.When he saw what it was all he could do was roll on the ground laughing at me!!! I thought it was a SHARK!!!!

Saw one caught out of the nasty in the summer of 98 or 99, about 4 ft. right above the mounts road bridge, if they arent broodstock...they are probably just wandering around. I personally don't know much about them.

Yeah, just like big jim said, a couple of years ago a 4 foot sturgen was found dead in the low waters of the clarks creek, just below the fish hatchery.
There was only about 5-6 inches of water flowing from the hatchery because it was this time of year, low water level's.

Speaking of low water levels on the Puyallup.
Went by there yesterday, the water was nearly gone, and the fisher's where waiting for the time to change and wait for the kings to roll in.
The water level was even low on the white when i past by in sumner.

I was fishing the point on the PU in 1975 when a guy hooked the carcass of old Kyle Mountainchief. He'd fallen in the Stuck up by the Riverside Tavern about 3 days prior. Pretty bad show.
Grumpyr