How big and how old can lake sturgeon grow?
One lake sturgeon on record lived to be 154 years of age and another tipped the scales at 310 pounds. Both these records were from northern states in the early 20th century and few, if any, such fish exist today. Unfortunately, little was recorded about the Coosa River population of lake sturgeon but they probably did not live as long or get as large as northern fish due to the warmer waters. Biologists have found a few old pictures of Coosa drainage fish in which the fish appear to weigh up to about 40 pounds. What do lake sturgeon eat? Sturgeons are primarily bottom feeders that find their food by smell and touch. Food consumption studies indicate lake sturgeon feed on almost anything they can find, which includes invertebrates, insect larvae, crayfish, worms and mollusks. While these studies found that sturgeon eat some fish and fish eggs, they were not a large component of the lake sturgeon diet. Most food consumption studies found that food items were typically eaten in proportion
