'CATCH OF A LIFETIME': Massive, 100-year-old river monster caught in Detroit
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Publishing date:May 04, 2021 • 1 day ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jennifer Johnson poses with a massive lake sturgeon caught in the Detroit River.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jennifer Johnson poses with a massive lake sturgeon caught in the Detroit River. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
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There was nothing fishy about this fish tale.
Scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month hooked into a monster — a 6-foot-10, 240-pound lake sturgeon estimated to be at least 100 years old — during their annual study of the Detroit River’s sturgeon population near Grosse Ile in Michigan.
The biologists were stunned at the size of the sturgeon, one of the biggest every caught in U.S. waters.
“We’re trying to protect this fishery,” Justin Chiotti, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, told the Detroit Free Press. “Everybody is always catching a huge sturgeon. Everybody catches a 100-pounder. But a fish this size, is very, very rare to catch.”
Three scientists caught the sturgeon on April 22 while doing their survey. Up to that point, the only thing they’d managed to hook was a five-gallon bucket, they told the Free Press.
“It took all three of us to heave her over the side of the boat,” said Paige Wigren, who was working with Jennifer Johnson and Jason Fischer. “And just for reference, the largest fish Jenny and I have seen was 123 pounds.”
Once they landed the sturgeon, the trio tagged the fish with a microchip, measured and weight it, snapped a couple of photos, then released it back into the river. The scientists believe the sturgeon was in the river to spawn.
“It was the catch of a lifetime,” Wigren said. “I don’t know what else will happen in my career to top this.”
Wigren told the Associated Press she thought to herself, “Yep, this is going to be a real good fish story.”
Sturgeon, once prolific in the Great Lakes, are considered endangered in Ontario. Chiotti estimated just 6,500 can be found in the Detroit River.
people.com
torontosun.com
Author of the article
ostmedia NewsPublishing date:May 04, 2021 • 1 day ago • 1 minute read • Join the conversation
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jennifer Johnson poses with a massive lake sturgeon caught in the Detroit River.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Jennifer Johnson poses with a massive lake sturgeon caught in the Detroit River. U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Article content
There was nothing fishy about this fish tale.
Scientists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service last month hooked into a monster — a 6-foot-10, 240-pound lake sturgeon estimated to be at least 100 years old — during their annual study of the Detroit River’s sturgeon population near Grosse Ile in Michigan.
The biologists were stunned at the size of the sturgeon, one of the biggest every caught in U.S. waters.
“We’re trying to protect this fishery,” Justin Chiotti, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, told the Detroit Free Press. “Everybody is always catching a huge sturgeon. Everybody catches a 100-pounder. But a fish this size, is very, very rare to catch.”
Three scientists caught the sturgeon on April 22 while doing their survey. Up to that point, the only thing they’d managed to hook was a five-gallon bucket, they told the Free Press.
“It took all three of us to heave her over the side of the boat,” said Paige Wigren, who was working with Jennifer Johnson and Jason Fischer. “And just for reference, the largest fish Jenny and I have seen was 123 pounds.”
Once they landed the sturgeon, the trio tagged the fish with a microchip, measured and weight it, snapped a couple of photos, then released it back into the river. The scientists believe the sturgeon was in the river to spawn.
“It was the catch of a lifetime,” Wigren said. “I don’t know what else will happen in my career to top this.”
Wigren told the Associated Press she thought to herself, “Yep, this is going to be a real good fish story.”
Sturgeon, once prolific in the Great Lakes, are considered endangered in Ontario. Chiotti estimated just 6,500 can be found in the Detroit River.
240-pound sturgeon caught in Detroit River among biggest ever recorded in US
The scientists estimate that the fish hatched in the Detroit River sometime in the 1920s, when Detroit was the fourth largest city in America.
freep.com
Lake sturgeon
fws.gov
240-lb. 'River Monster' Fish Caught in Detroit 'Has Been Roaming Our Waters Over 100 Years'
A crew from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Alpena, Michigan caught the large lake sturgeon on April 22 while they were surveying the Detroit River's sturgeon fish population
people.com
'CATCH OF A LIFETIME': Massive, 100-year-old river monster caught in Detroit
There was nothing fishy about this fish tale.