Guidelines for Measuring White Sturgeon

White Surgeon are a catch-and-release only species, take great care to handle them properly so they are unharmed and can continue to grow even larger.
White Sturgeon are large enough that additional photos and specific measuring techniques are needed to accurately verifying your catch-and-release record. Please follow these guidelines so that IDFG can document your catch! Remember to keep the sturgeon in the water at all times and along with one photo with the anglers, take at least 2 photos documenting the length. See instructions and the example photos to the right.
 
How to measure your sturgeon:
  1. Keep the fish in the water (Example 1).
  2. Gently roll the sturgeon belly up, and use a tape measure stretched across the belly (Example 2).
  3. Start the tape measure at the tip of the nose (Example 3).
  4. Pull the tape tight so it is straight to the tip of the tail (upper lobe). Avoid twisting the tape (Example 4).
 
Please submit multiple photos.

Several photos are needed to verify the total length of these special fish! Since sturgeons are so long, at least 3 photos are needed. Please submit at least 2 measuring photos with a center reference point at the pelvic fins, and at least 1 photo with the anglers.

Photos should be of high enough quality to zoom in and verify numbers on the tape measure. Otherwise, IDFG will not be able to verify your record.

  1. Provide a photo of the angler and the whole fish together. (See Example 1)
  2. Front half of fish showing  the tape measure from snout to the pelvic fins (Photo Example 4)
  3. Back half showing tape measure from pelvic fins to the tip of the tail.
Keep the sturgeon in the water
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Example 1. Provide a photo of the angler and fish. Remember to keep your sturgeon in the water!
Carefully position sturgeon belly up to measure
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Example 2. Gently roll the sturgeon belly up, and measure total length across the belly.
Start measurment at snout
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Example 3. Start the tape measure at the nose (snout) of the sturgeon.
End measurement at tail tip
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Example 4. Pull the tape tight so it is straight to the tip of the tail. Avoid twisting the tape.
Use pelvic fins as a location point for measurement
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Example 5. Pelvic fins are the last pair of fins before the tail. Take at least 2 pictures to verify the length using the pelvic fins as a reference in each photo. Picture 1 - from head to the pelvic fins and Picture 2 - from pelvic fins to the tip of the tail.