This river monster may have been 100 years old.
Every year anglers travel to British Columbia in hopes of finally landing the big one on the famous Fraser River. Only a handful will catch what one can truly consider the fish of a lifetime.
One of them is fishing guide Yves Bisson, who recently got the chance to tangle with a true river monster, a 10.5-foot white sturgeon weighing an estimated 600 pounds.
Bisson owns Yves Bisson Sturgeon Co., which specializes in helping give anglers the chance to battle one of these prehistoric monsters. Sturgeon are a type of fish that have been swimming the rivers of this planet since dinosaurs still roamed the Earth. Unfortunately, overfishing had a negative effect on their numbers, and the species is being closely monitored by biologists and conservationists these days.
That's what makes Bisson's catch so unusual. Many of the larger sturgeon have been caught and tagged so scientists can monitor their movements. However, this sturgeon was found to have no tag after it was finally landed.
"We were all amazed as this fish had no tag and had probably never been caught before," Bisson told Storyful.
Bisson made sure to tag the fish and shoot some video before releasing it back into the river to fight again. A sturgeon of this size could potentially be a hundred years old. While Bisson is a guide who sees plenty of big fish, the size of this one surprised even him. The photos and video of the huge catch immediately went viral on social media.
"I have landed over 22,000 sturgeon on my fishing charters and this was one I'll never forget," Bisson told Storyful.
The Fraser River is generally considered the best white sturgeon fishery on the planet. It has produced plenty of big fish, but only a handful over the 10-foot mark seem to be caught each year.
We're guessing Bisson is going to get a lot more bookings this season after a catch like this one.
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