For the three Albertans fishing in the Fraser River, it was the biggest white sturgeon they had ever set eyes on.

It only took about 10 minutes from dropping anchor in the river near Chilliwack until they felt a bite.

Calgary resident Terry Jacobson said landing the huge sturgeon on Tuesday was an sa国际传媒渋ncredible dreamsa国际传媒� come true.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檝e fished my whole life and never hooked anything that enormous,sa国际传媒� Jacobson told The Progress.

He and a couple of buddies were on a guided fishing trip with , when the fish rocketed right out of the water behind the boat.

sa国际传媒淚 said, sa国际传媒極h my god, itsa国际传媒檚 a monster,sa国际传媒檚a国际传媒� Jacobson recounted. They got a good look at it when it breeched the water.

The sturgeon measured 11 feet long, with a girth of 62 inches around, estimated to weight about 800 pounds.

Jacobson had been on many catch-and-release sturgeon trips with Sturgeon Hunter before, and this time, he was determined to bring in one of the very biggest of the big ones, with buddies, Tom Kirk, and Alex Kirk.

He said he was excited about the prospect, especially after Kaye told him he was sa国际传媒渁bsolutely destinedsa国际传媒� to catch it. He started believing it after everything went a little haywire, and the fish was still on the line.

Sturgeon Hunter guiding company owner Steve Kaye said he had to pull out sa国际传媒渆very trick in the booksa国际传媒� to land the fish.

sa国际传媒淚t was a once in a lifetime fish sa国际传媒� there is no other way to describe it.sa国际传媒�

And it was quite the chore getting it to shore. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. A reel broke. The line got snagged. Then it got caught on a log jam.

Kaye said at one point he had to cut the line and retie it to a new reel and rod. With any two of those incidents typically it would have been game over.

sa国际传媒淚t was one of the biggest sturgeon I ever saw,sa国际传媒� Kaye told The Progress.

He figures hesa国际传媒檚 caught a whopping 15,000 sturgeon in his career as a guide for over 25 years.

sa国际传媒淎 very small percentage are this size,sa国际传媒� Kaye said. sa国际传媒淲e very rarely hook them, and when we do hook them, we very rarely land them.sa国际传媒�

An 11-foot fish is sa国际传媒渟pecial,sa国际传媒� and Kaye himself has caught one that was 11.2 feet. They catch lots of 8-footers, but most are 5.5. to 7.5 feet. But 11 feet is exceptional.

sa国际传媒淭his fish was exceptionally bulky,sa国际传媒� he said. The only thicker one hesa国际传媒檚 ever seen was at the end of salmon season. Not at the outset of the season like this.

The care and attention taken to revive the fish and make sure it was handled properly before releasing it back into the water was also admirable, and reassuring, Jacobson added.

sa国际传媒淓verything was so well done, so nice, it couldnsa国际传媒檛 have been better.sa国际传媒�

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jfeinberg@theprogress.com
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