Elk Fishing

i bet they thought they had a giant fish when they were realling that bad boy in

yep, those were posted here a while back I believe.

that is crazy for sure, and a very BIG bull!

What a find huh?

looks scary in the first pic becuz of the water is see through it spooked me! + look how much it's wieghing down the boat!!!!!!!!!! :))

I had them emailed to me a while back, story in the email that i got said they found it floating, said nothing about snaging the bull with downriggers. However they found it talk about a find.

talk about internet gosip------ i got them emailed to me a while back, said it was picked up :)) :)) :)) :)) in the columbia river and dround while trying to attack there boat----------------------------------------------------------------- o.k. i made the part about attacking there boat up, see thats how they get started, it it did say the COLUMBIA river

The bull was shot by an archery hunter in the 710 area on the north side of Fort Peck res,the bull tried to swim across a bay after being pushed and expired in the water,nearby fisherman helped him get it back to shore.

I thought in the E-Mail I got it said the Bull was poached. Not by the fisherman they just found him.

Okay, which is? Poached, Drown while swimming, Arrowed, Floated..........May be he ate some bad "shrooms" and thought he could walk on water like Christ did :)) :)) :)) . Just giving ya'll a hard time. By the way, what kind of bait were they using???????????

Eastern, I have been doin' my standard snoopin' around trying to get the real story behind these great pics but thus far I have found nothing concrete. Here is what I have found out:

1) NONYA's post about it being taken at Fort Peck MT and the other "thought" that it occured in the Hanford Reach area of WA are the two most popular scenarios. Both areas look very similar, have a lot of BIG bulls around, both have early archery hunts, and both are great and very popular fishing destinations. I have personally been to both areas and I cannot tell from the photos (not much land showing) which one it is but I would put money on it that it's one of the two.

2) I have found no such info that it was poached. I get poaching info from both states and thus far it has not appeared. A bull this big would have been reported on.

3) The idea that it was caught with downriggers just doesn't ring true.
Lookin' at the photos, it does not appear to me that thier downrigger is in use and judging from the gear they do have on board I believe they were fishin' by other means.
Not to mention, the bull looks to be in great shape and a fairly fresh kill. It sure doesn't look like anything that would be pulled from the bottom. additionally, they would have to have some serious rigs set up to drag that big boy off the bottom in the first place (i.e. sturgeon rigs).
With White sturgeon/Pallid sturgeon being protected in Montana (Since 1979 I believe) I doubt they had them set up that way. Also, and NONYA may be able to shed more light on this, really the only other fishing inwhich downriggers are used with regularity at Fort Peck is for Chinook near the face of the dam and judging by the fishermen's clothes, it's not the right time of year.
On that note, just about every fishing boat I've seen on the Columbia (The Columbia runs through the Hanford Reach) has downriggers set up. The Columbia is a GREAT sturgeon river and they are not protected like they are in Montana.

I cannot say with confidence that any of the theories are "wrong", nor can I say with confidence that they are "right" at this time. I'll keep lookin' and sooner or later I'll find something more concrete. If anyone has anything such as a Fish and Game report, newspaper article, or testimony I would love to see it. I rather enjoy this "CSI" type work but additional info would always help.

I guess that all shows us how things sure get twisted and turned through E-Mail.

well whatever happened its a shame that meat went to waste , and what a nice bull i wouldnt mind snagging one of them.

Wonder if they had to get a combo hunting-fishing tag.

lol that is a good one

First of all I've spent a lot of time in the CMR around Ft Peck. I don't believe it's FT Peck.

In the 2nd pic, see the trees, To big to be that close to the water. After a few years of low water the mud flats extend 100's of yards to the nearest brush. And the only brushy spots I know of is above the lake on the river and the river is much narrower.

Side note, over the years a lot of wildlife antelope herds, mule deer, and Elk have perished on the wide Missouri, going through thin ice.