Dinosaur fish.
Sturgeons are often referred to as “living fossils” because their lineage allegedly dates back over 200 million years to the age of the dinosaurs. There are 27 species of sturgeon, primarily found in the large river systems, estuaries, and coastal waters of the Northern Hemisphere. Lake Sturgeon are common in the Midwest and Great Lakes area, and here in Wisconsin, Lake Winnebago holds an annual spearing season (it’s 16 days long but usually ends much sooner once harvest limits are reached) in February.
However, the massive white sturgeon of the Pacific Northwest is where the excitement is at. The largest freshwater fish in North America, white sturgeon are capable of growing over 20 feet long and weighing nearly 2,000 pounds. They are found along the Pacific coast from the Gulf of Alaska down to Monterey, California. They thrive in major river systems like the Columbia, Fraser, and Sacramento rivers where guiding is common and people come from all over the world to try and land a giant. Thanks to strict catch-and-release regulations in many areas, they are a massive draw for sport anglers looking to battle a prehistoric river monster.
And not only do these prehistoric fish look like ancient beasts… they kind of are relative to your average freshwater fish. While male lake sturgeons live an average of 55 years, females have the potential to live between 80 and 150 years.
Instead of traditional scales, sturgeons have thick, coarse skin protected by five rows of bony plates known as scutes. They have a heavy, torpedo-shaped body and a heterocercal tail (where the upper lobe of the tail fin is larger than the lower), which gives them a distinct shark-like silhouette. Located beneath their snout are four fleshy, whisker-like sensory organs called barbels, which they use to locate prey on the dark riverbed. You see these on catfish as well. And while they’re typically bottom-feeders like catfish, sturgeons possess a tubular, toothless mouth that extends outward to vacuum up food from the bottom of the water, expelling excess sediment through their gills.
A Modern Day Record?
There’s been historical accounts of white sturgeon that have reached over 20 feet long, but in modern history, where we know they were accurately measured, a group of Canadian anglers known as the Sturgeon Slayers (known for catching monsters on the Fraser River in British Columbia), claim to have set a modern day record for white sturgeon with a catch that clocked in over 11 and half feet long. Besting their own previous PB of 11-feet, 6-inches from 2021, this behemoth was 11-feet, 8-inches. Sturgeon are typically measured from the tip of the nose to where the tail forks… not the total length of the tail. An English couple caught a 12-foot white sturgeon on the Fraser in 2012, but it’s unclear how that fish was measured.
They shared their excitement in an Instagram post:
“New Record White Sturgeon. We are thrilled to bring you the first few photos of this historic moment. This fish represents the success of conservation and the health of our sturgeon fishery here in British Columbia. Incredibly, we beat our own record from 2021 which our good friend Pete Peeters landed with Bryant and Barry Bowtell and Jake Driedger.
This fish measured 356cm fork length with a 153cm pectoral girth and was untagged! Just like the 2021 fish, we tagged this fish and after a few pictures was safely released. Returning corporate guests from Diamond Truck Centres, led by Anders Sorensen and Travis Meiklejohn connected with a fish they didn’t expect. Guests Shawn North and Elvis Penton angled the fish with both boats coming together for this historic photo.
For Jay and I, it was a moment we may never experience again as guides. We were truly humbled and privileged to see and touch something this spectacular. We will have a clip releasing next week and we are working on something special with Fargone which we will bring to you in the coming weeks. We would like to thank all of our loyal guests for allowing us to do what we do. We are coming up on 20 years, and none of this is possible without you.
To our partners. You support our ongoing efforts to put conservation first and advocate for a healthy and abundant world class fishery. Your belief in what we are doing gives us the ability to raise the bar Sturgeon Slayers. Thank you everyone. I don’t know what else to say.”
The catch of a lifetime.
Here’s a look at the previous best from 2021:
