Ogopogo sighting?

LoneWolf_53
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by LoneWolf_53 »

Since when do sturgeon have humps?
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Swoop
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Swoop »

LoneWolf_53 wrote:Since when do sturgeon have humps?
...lol - I know right - clearly it was a camel...
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Robster »

rustled wrote:Today's news story says there's no confirmation of sturgeon in the lake, but I remember talk of the divers seeing them (and being pretty freaked out) when they were building the first bridge. Was that just rumour?
That particular tale has been in circulation ever since the old bridge was built......ask anyone at the fisheries office in Penticton if there are sturgeon in Okanagan Lake, they'll tell you "there are not and if you believe there are, then go catch one and prove it", that's what I was told ?

Its difficult to believe that of the many thousands of hours spent by anglers fishing Okanagan Lake that not a single sturgeon has been witnessed being caught or photographed.
rustled
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by rustled »

Interesting. My husband grew up on Okanagan and at least twice has seen something he assumed was a sturgeon, based having heard the divers had seen them. If those weren't sturgeon, I wonder what he saw?

Would sturgeon be enticed by the kind of fishing most people do? (I've only fished with flatfish lures and willow-leafs with worms intended to catch trout, so I've really no idea what folk are trying to catch on Okanagan.)

But my sense is that today, with all the folk who are ready with their cell phones at all times, we should have something showing us a sturgeon in Okanagan Lake by now, if they are there. Husband pointed out his first reaction when seeing something that unusual wouldn't be to find his camera. He'd be too busy watching it for the few seconds it was visible, actually experiencing the moment. But he's not of this constantly-connected generation. They're at the ready to photograph anything and everything at all times. i suppose that could mean they're busy staring at their small screens while something outside the boat is passing them by. But still.

Years ago, my then-husband caught a seriously deformed fish. Disgusting-looking thing, all bent and crooked. He was so repulsed he followed his first instinct and tossed it back. What a shame! No, not Okanagan Lake, but another big, deep one here in B.C. with trout, char and ling cod. That fish certainly wasn't large enough to give rise to any ogopogo-type legends. But who knows what optical illusions are at play when people watch something big they've never seen before, moving through the waves on a sunny day?
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Snarf
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Snarf »

It would be awesome if somebody created a large, fake semi-floating Ogopogo and dropped it in the lake. Instant tourist attraction!
rustled
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by rustled »

Snarf wrote:It would be awesome if somebody created a large, fake semi-floating Ogopogo and dropped it in the lake. Instant tourist attraction!
Remember those mini-submarines they sold in the back of comic books when we were kids? We used to dream of getting one and doing it up as a sea serpent.
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Hurtlander
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Hurtlander »

rustled wrote:Interesting. My husband grew up on Okanagan and at least twice has seen something he assumed was a sturgeon, based having heard the divers had seen them. If those weren't sturgeon, I wonder what he saw?

Would sturgeon be enticed by the kind of fishing most people do? (I've only fished with flatfish lures and willow-leafs with worms intended to catch trout, so I've really no idea what folk are trying to catch on Okanagan.)

But my sense is that today, with all the folk who are ready with their cell phones at all times, we should have something showing us a sturgeon in Okanagan Lake by now, if they are there. Husband pointed out his first reaction when seeing something that unusual wouldn't be to find his camera. He'd be too busy watching it for the few seconds it was visible, actually experiencing the moment. But he's not of this constantly-connected generation. They're at the ready to photograph anything and everything at all times. i suppose that could mean they're busy staring at their small screens while something outside the boat is passing them by. But still.

Years ago, my then-husband caught a seriously deformed fish. Disgusting-looking thing, all bent and crooked. He was so repulsed he followed his first instinct and tossed it back. What a shame! No, not Okanagan Lake, but another big, deep one here in B.C. with trout, char and ling cod. That fish certainly wasn't large enough to give rise to any ogopogo-type legends. But who knows what optical illusions are at play when people watch something big they've never seen before, moving through the waves on a sunny day?
I spent forty years fishing Adams Lake, the fisheries officials say there aren't any sturgeon in Adams because none have ever been caught that they're aware of, but I've personally been in the upper Adams where the lake is shallow enough to actually see bottom on sunny days (Adams lake averages over 1000 feet in depth) in a 18 foot boat and have had seen things in the water longer than the boat swim past. And many dozens of other people have see the same thing, I don't believe what I saw to be lake trout.
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rustled
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by rustled »

Do you think they may have been sturgeon, Hurtlander? Most of the video I've found shows them from underwater, but this one's from above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8jpMYivtTY.
(NOTE: Language warning for the comments below the youtube.)
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Hurtlander
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Hurtlander »

rustled wrote:Do you think they may have been sturgeon, Hurtlander? Most of the video I've found shows them from underwater, but this one's from above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8jpMYivtTY.
(NOTE: Language warning for the comments below the youtube.)
Yes I believe there's a very strong likelihood what I saw were sturgeon. Its very likely that at some point in ancient history the rivers flowing out of both Okanagan and Adams lakes were able to sustain sturgeon.
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logman
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by logman »

I have been to the bottom of the lake. In and around the old bridge that is. Sorry. All I saw was garbage. lots and lots of garbage. Be proud of the dump we have created.
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by rustled »

logman wrote:I have been to the bottom of the lake. In and around the old bridge that is. Sorry. All I saw was garbage. lots and lots of garbage. Be proud of the dump we have created.
We get that in our channel here. The local dive team goes in annually and does a massive clean-up, which is good of them but I find it sad that it's necessary for anyone to do so. I realize some stuff will get blown in or dropped by accident by the floaters, but I suspect most of it is dumped there on purpose. Blows my mind how many people today think it's somebody's job to pick up after them.

Back to topic, though. It was many years before I saw a grizzly in the woods, but others had seen them so I believed. With sturgeon, there wouldn't be scat and to the best of my knowledge, no one is actively fishing for them here so would that be why we don't have that kind of evidence they exist?

Would sturgeon go for what's on peoples' lines (and the depth they're generally at) in Okanagan or Adams? I can 't find a quick answer to that with Google, so I'm hoping a knowledgeable C'netter will enlighten me.
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logman
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by logman »

I have been to the bottom. I know there are many deep spots in this lake. It is deep, dark and creepy. Not positive about lake monsters.
The entertaining part about the lake bottom around the old bridge was shopping carts,wallets,guns, engine blocks and spare tires. Sorry. Not much of a mystery.
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by django »

rustled wrote: Would sturgeon go for what's on peoples' lines (and the depth they're generally at) in Okanagan or Adams? I can 't find a quick answer to that with Google, so I'm hoping a knowledgeable C'netter will enlighten me.
When fishing for sturgeon the gear, bait and technique are specific to catching that particular fish. Generally your bait is anchored to the bottom because they are a bottom feeder. In the fraser as an example you can fish for salmon all day long then switch to sturgeon and you'll never in my experience catch one while fishing for the other.
I've personally seen large sturgeon in the south Thompson breaching the surface, if they can make it past the Rapids at frog rock then it isn't such a stretch for them to be in kamloops lake, the Thompson, Adams, etc. They'll follow the food which is quite often dead salmon.
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by rustled »

Thanks, django, that answers my question. Cool that you've seen them breaching!
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Tacklewasher
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Re: Ogopogo sighting?

Post by Tacklewasher »

Ditto to what django said.

I've fished for sturgeon (real fun) and fished Okanagan. No way would I catch a sturgeon in the Okanagan (if they are there) with the method I was using.

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