UPDATED 3 p.m. with more clarificaiton.

FISHING -- National Park Service officials released information Tuesday about cleaning sturgeon on Lake Roosevelt that could get anglers in hot water.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife police say the remains of Lake Roosevelt sturgeon cannot be dumped in deep water after being cleaned on the lake because sturgeon must be brought off the reservoir whole so slot limit measurements can be confirmed.

Only sturgeon between 38 inches and 63 inches fork length can be kept. Fish outside that slot limit must be immediately released if caught.

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation officials sent a release saying the fish-cleaning stations at park boat launch areas were not designed to handle the heavy cartilage structure of sturgeon.  The release said that Washington Fish and Wildlife officials recommended that the sturgeon be cleaned on the lake and the remains dumped in deep water.

Not so, says Madonna Luers, WDFW spokeswoman. Anglers need to bring them off the lake intact and then clean them or take them home, she said.

Bill Baker, department fisheries biologist in Colville, said a person could clean sturgeon at a fish-cleaning station and then take the remains back out in the lake to dump in deep water.

Following is my original inaccurate story based on Tuesday's media release. The part about cleaning fish on the lake is wrong.

FISHING -- The white sturgeon anglers have been catching with high rates of success in Lake Roosevelt's newly created fishery are big, tough critters -- and they're causing problems at fish cleaning stations, National Park Services officials say.

"Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area’s fish cleaning stations were not designed to handle the skeletal mass and scutes of the white sturgeon," officials said today in a media release.

"Even though the sturgeon skeleton is made primarily of cartilage, the bony plates (scutes) along their back are thicker and harder than other fish species ... Our fish cleaning stations, located at Spring Canyon, Keller Ferry, Fort Spokane, Porcupine Bay, Hunters, Gifford Ferry and Kettle Falls, are better suited for the softer bones of other fish species such as trout, kokanee, bass and walleye."

Successful sturgeon anglers are being asked to clean and dispose of the fish remains in deep water before they leave the lake, or at home.

If you plan on deep water disposal of fish remains, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials recommend dumping the fish parts in at least 25 feet of water and away from developed areas such as boat launches and campgrounds.

Do not dispose of any remains in shallow water or along the shoreline because this creates unsanitary and unsafe conditions for visitors and wildlife, NPS officials say.

On May 27, fishing for white sturgeon at Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area was opened for the first time in years. Survival rates for juvenile sturgeon produced in hatchery programs started around 2000 are much higher than anticipated. As a result, there is a surplus of these fish available for harvest from Lake Roosevelt.

The limit is one a day and two a season, with special rules for size and gear listed at online, https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/erule.jsp?id=1975.

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