Sushihunter
Active Member
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=c8a76228-aa97-4492-bcd1-28cfffca2547
B.C. anglers catch a fish this big
Matthew Ramsay
Canwest News Service
Monday, September 01, 2008
CREDIT: Handout
Fishermen display the 318-kilogram sturgeon they plucked out of B.C.'s Fraser River
CREDIT:
Handout
VANCOUVER - A hook baited with salmon meat was enough to tempt a 318-kilogram Jurassic monster from the depths of the Fraser River and more than enough to keep a local fishing guide and his clients busy.
Rod Toth was on the river near Chilliwack, B.C., Aug. 27 when he hooked the massive sturgeon. For nearly three hours the five men wrestled to bring the sturgeon to the surface, taking turns cranking the reel, slowly hauling the fish through the murky water.
"We didn't see it until the very end," Toth said. And when Toth's four clients finally laid eyes on the sturgeon, well, some language is best left on the river, said the guide.
"They just went crazy," Toth said. "I don't think we can print some of the words coming out."
With Toth at the helm, the clients grabbed the sturgeon by the mouth so they could hold it to the boat and carefully bring it to shallow water. On shore they tagged the fish, held onto its rough skin for the mother of all fish photos and released the sturgeon.
It's measurements were epic - 318 kilograms, 3.2 metres long and 1.4 metre in girth. For 40-year-old Toth, it was without doubt the biggest fish he's seen in his eight years as owner of Bent Rods Guiding.
He estimated its age at between 70 and 80 years old.
"It's older than my dad," he noted. But it's not the oldest, or biggest fish of its type, said Mary Sue Atkinson of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, a group that began tagging the fish in 1999.
"Fraser River sturgeon are the largest fresh water fish in the world and they are the second heaviest (behind the beluga sturgeon)," said Atkinson. "They're living dinosaurs from the Jurassic age."
The fish can live up to 150 years, grow to six metres and weigh more than of 600 kilograms.
The longest ever caught was 3.4 metres, hooked in 2003. A second fish of the same length, weighing 360 kilograms was caught in 2006.
The fish are listed as a threatened species - still recovering from intensive overfishing in the early 1900s. They're at the top of their food chain and have been known to head out to sea.
The fish will eat just about anything but prefer salmon and oolichan.
One sturgeon was found to have a dead cat in its stomach, said Atkinson.
There are an estimated 55,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River.
© Vancouver Province 2008
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
B.C. anglers catch a fish this big
Matthew Ramsay
Canwest News Service
Monday, September 01, 2008
CREDIT: Handout
Fishermen display the 318-kilogram sturgeon they plucked out of B.C.'s Fraser River
CREDIT:
Handout
VANCOUVER - A hook baited with salmon meat was enough to tempt a 318-kilogram Jurassic monster from the depths of the Fraser River and more than enough to keep a local fishing guide and his clients busy.
Rod Toth was on the river near Chilliwack, B.C., Aug. 27 when he hooked the massive sturgeon. For nearly three hours the five men wrestled to bring the sturgeon to the surface, taking turns cranking the reel, slowly hauling the fish through the murky water.
"We didn't see it until the very end," Toth said. And when Toth's four clients finally laid eyes on the sturgeon, well, some language is best left on the river, said the guide.
"They just went crazy," Toth said. "I don't think we can print some of the words coming out."
With Toth at the helm, the clients grabbed the sturgeon by the mouth so they could hold it to the boat and carefully bring it to shallow water. On shore they tagged the fish, held onto its rough skin for the mother of all fish photos and released the sturgeon.
It's measurements were epic - 318 kilograms, 3.2 metres long and 1.4 metre in girth. For 40-year-old Toth, it was without doubt the biggest fish he's seen in his eight years as owner of Bent Rods Guiding.
He estimated its age at between 70 and 80 years old.
"It's older than my dad," he noted. But it's not the oldest, or biggest fish of its type, said Mary Sue Atkinson of the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society, a group that began tagging the fish in 1999.
"Fraser River sturgeon are the largest fresh water fish in the world and they are the second heaviest (behind the beluga sturgeon)," said Atkinson. "They're living dinosaurs from the Jurassic age."
The fish can live up to 150 years, grow to six metres and weigh more than of 600 kilograms.
The longest ever caught was 3.4 metres, hooked in 2003. A second fish of the same length, weighing 360 kilograms was caught in 2006.
The fish are listed as a threatened species - still recovering from intensive overfishing in the early 1900s. They're at the top of their food chain and have been known to head out to sea.
The fish will eat just about anything but prefer salmon and oolichan.
One sturgeon was found to have a dead cat in its stomach, said Atkinson.
There are an estimated 55,000 sturgeon in the Fraser River.
© Vancouver Province 2008
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
