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http://bentrods.ca/htmThis from the Globe
Fishermen reel in 300 kilograms more than they bargained forJAMES KELLER The Canadian Press September 3, 2008VANCOUVER -- It took Rod Toth and the four men he was guiding nearly three hours to wrestle a mammoth, 300-kilogram sturgeon to the shores of the Fraser River, and only then did they realize the size of the giant fish they were chasing.
"I really didn't know until the end, but after about an hour and a half, I said, 'guys, we've got something special on here,"' said Mr. Toth, 40, who runs Bent Rods Guiding and Fishing Co. in Chilliwack, B.C.
"They can actually pull the boat around the river."
It was a beautiful day last week for a fishing trip on the Fraser, Mr. Toth said, and the four men in the boat were all out-of-towners, three of them tackling the river for the first time.
They baited their first hook of the day with a piece of salmon and quickly had a bite.
"It actually felt like it hooked up on bottom at first, and then slowly it started to move and off it went," Mr. Toth said.
The men took turns trying to reel up the giant fish, pulling the sturgeon close to the surface only to have it dart back down to the bottom. That went on for two hours and 45 minutes.
"We were all tired," Mr. Toth said. "It's painstaking with that big a fish. It goes on and on.
"When we got it, we had three guys grabbing its mouth and one fellow grabbed its fins and kept it so it could breath water, so we very slowly took it to shore."
It wasn't until then that Mr. Toth and his group were able to get a good look at the prehistoric beast, which at three metres long and 1.4 metres around was the largest fish Mr. Toth has ever caught.
Two other guides who happened to be watching from the beach also helped bring the fish into shallow water, tag it and release it back into the river.
Mr. Toth set a personal record, and for the four men on the tour - two from Vernon, B.C., and two from Calgary - it's a heck of a fishing tale to bring home.
"For a guide, you're always waiting for that fish, so for me it's just excitement," Mr. Toth said.
"Three of the guys, the first sturgeon they'd ever seen in their life was a mammoth. Now when they book again, I've got my work cut out for me."
Sturgeon can live 100 years or more, and can grow as large as six metres long, though most are much smaller than that.
The lower Fraser River is home to an estimated 58,000 white sturgeon, which are listed as a threatened species by the province, and endangered by the federal government.
Recreational sturgeon fishing on the Fraser is only allowed downstream from the Williams Lake River, and the fish must be released.
The tag that Mr. Toth and his group put on their massive catch will help the Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society track the stock's population, which it has been doing since 1999.
The society says the fish are a popular target for poachers hoping to sell the meat and eggs on the black market.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080903.BCSTURGEON03/TPStory/TPNational/BritishColumbia/
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Topic: Bent Rod's Giant Sturgeon-Here's The Pic!!!! (Read 4101 times)