From a fisherman, I can tell you I think it's real. I have caught sturgeon many times. My biggest was 6.5 feet about 285 pounds. However, I have seen
stergeon caught that we nearly ten feet.
And dresscode for fishing is whatever you are comfortable in.
Holding a stergeon out of water is like holding driftwood. Water does more than half the work. They do not thrash about, and can actually live out of
water for over a half hour. Therefore, this guy may have been holding the fish long enough to get partially dry.
Also, if anyone has ever caught one of these, you know well that once you land it (if fishing from shore and can't back a boat up to it) you are
exhausted afterwards, and generally have someone unhook the fish for you. My 6.5 footer took me 1 hour 45 minutes to land. I was exhausted. So a
friend unhooked it, then I waded out into the water. He was holding the head of the fish up, and I stuck one arm under it and brought the other over
the top. Since the top arm had not been wet, it did not appear wet in the photo. (wish I still had it to post, was lost in a move about 5 years
ago).
Another thing to remember is that these are fairly fatty fish with quite oily skin. They have no scales, so it only takes a few second for them to
stop dripping from the head if the head is elevated above the rest of the body. The water will flow instead, from their head down their belly to the
waterline, rather than dripping from the head.
Hope that clears a few things up and gives you a second look at this amazing stergeon photo. But that man a beer.
[Edited on 21-8-2003 by ImAlreadyPsycho]