# Sturgeon sighting on oconee



## Big PaPa Butch (Sep 22, 2015)

Hello from Big Papa Butch.
I recently went on a canoe / kayak trip with two other friends from the river bridge in Milledgeville Ga. to Hwy 57 in Toombsboro we took 4 days. the first day out I saw a huge fish in shallow water and I thought it was a Sturgeon, I have heard that one was caught years ago up by the dam but I personally have never seen one in there. well as we continued on the trip we ended up seeing 4 more large Sturgeon with no mistake they were close to my canoe and in shallow water, they ranged from 3ft up to 6 ft or more, one that came up pretty close was nearly half as long as my 14ft canoe. How exciting this was to experience, we are all older guys from 57 to 63 all Military Veterans and just enjoying life as best we can and this was awesome. I hope you enjoy this story and maybe you can be on the lookout  too.


----------



## willie1971 (Sep 22, 2015)

That's cool.  Have you spoken with any biologists in the area?  I thought I saw some like that in the river, but surveyors said it was unlikely,  and probably gar or carp.


----------



## Big PaPa Butch (Sep 22, 2015)

No I have not spoken with anyone at this time but i will when i have a chance. I am very familiar with gar and carp, also they were so close to me that there could be no mistake as to their identity. If you get down there especially this month you may get lucky and see them. i just saw them between sept 14th - 17th.


----------



## fish hawk (Sep 23, 2015)

Years ago while fishing the Altamaha around the Paradise/ Penholloway creek area catching a glimpse of a leaping sturgeon was not a uncommon site.


----------



## EAGLE EYE 444 (Sep 23, 2015)

I vaguely remember back in the 1992-1995 range, a guy   caught what turned out to be a sturgeon in the Oconee River rapids area in the east side city limits of Milledgeville and I think that it weighed about 110 pounds or so.  I remember seeing a photo and also reading the story about it back then in the newspaper.  I believe that the guy didn't know what he had caught originally as he just knew that it was a monster of a fish that looked prehistoric.

I tried googling for any information about it but I couldn't find anything on it.


----------



## trad bow (Sep 23, 2015)

I saw the sturgeon caught back in the nineties in the back of a black fellows car. By then the meat was ruined. I have seen one other caught below the Sinclair dam in the tailrace around 2001.


----------



## Big PaPa Butch (Sep 23, 2015)

Thanks for all the replies, they are there and it would seem in great numbers judging by the ones I saw on the trip down the Oconee river. we take this trip every year if anyone would like to join in next year.


----------



## Southernhoundhunter (Sep 23, 2015)

They are quite plentiful in the Altamaha, would make sense that they're in the Oconee


----------



## cddogfan1 (Sep 24, 2015)

I saw one once in the shallows on the Oconee river in Dublin.  Was about 3 foot long.


----------



## Big PaPa Butch (Sep 26, 2015)

Its just amazing that as much time as I have spent on that river that I have not actually seen them until now! I guess September must be a migratory month?


----------



## mrowland96 (Sep 30, 2015)

Me an ODR saw several in the Ocmulgee north of Macon, search Ocmulgee Sturgeon on YouTube. It's awesome to see prehistoric fish making a comeback. The one in the video was every bit of 6-7' long. Saw one that was closer to 9' as well.


----------



## 61BelAir (May 25, 2016)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm new here and just catching up on stuff.   Interesting to read local threads like this.  
I am hoping to make the Milledgeville to Balls Ferry (Toomsboro) trip with kayaks and canoes soon.    4 days?    We haven't been and were hoping to make it in a full 2 days.   Might have to rethink that now.     

I know of one about 6' long caught approximately 1 mile south of the river bridge in Dublin about 10 years ago.


----------



## T-N-T (May 25, 2016)

61BelAir said:


> Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I'm new here and just catching up on stuff.   Interesting to read local threads like this.
> I am hoping to make the Milledgeville to Balls Ferry (Toomsboro) trip with kayaks and canoes soon.    4 days?    We haven't been and were hoping to make it in a full 2 days.   Might have to rethink that now.
> 
> I know of one about 6' long caught approximately 1 mile south of the river bridge in Dublin about 10 years ago.




Plan around 15 river miles a day to keep it more leisurely.  anything over 20 will be busy. 

Maybe someone will be along to correct me if I am wrong.  But I did close to 24 or 25 miles in one day and it was a long day.


----------



## Big PaPa Butch (Jul 19, 2016)

It doesn't take four days but we were taking our time and camping. Going again this September. Bought a new camera hope to get some photos of the sturgeon this time.


----------



## 61BelAir (Jul 20, 2016)

Big PaPa Butch said:


> It doesn't take four days but we were taking our time and camping. Going again this September. Bought a new camera hope to get some photos of the sturgeon this time.



Will this be a mid-week or a long weekend kinda trip?


----------

