Molly
09-02-2008, 07:27 AM
http://a123.g.akamai.net/f/123/12465/1d/media.canada.com/5b6e4c44-1c52-4892-9c05-6cb84120e9ce/sturgeon_big090108.jpg
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.
It's measurements were epic - 318 kilograms, 3.2 metres long and 1.4 metre in girth, estimated its age at between 70 and 80 years old.
"Fraser River sturgeon are the largest fresh water fish in the world and they are the second heaviest (behind the beluga sturgeon)," 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 - 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.
It's measurements were epic - 318 kilograms, 3.2 metres long and 1.4 metre in girth, estimated its age at between 70 and 80 years old.
"Fraser River sturgeon are the largest fresh water fish in the world and they are the second heaviest (behind the beluga sturgeon)," 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.