Sturgeons are fascinating fish. They can live for up to 100 years, ranking among the world’s longest-lived fishes. Sturgeons are also among the largest freshwater fish in the world. Many species of sturgeons can attain massive sizes. For instance, the beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) can reportedly reach over 20 feet long and weigh over 3,000 pounds. The kaluga sturgeon (Huso dauricus) can grow to 18.5 feet and weigh over 2,200 pounds. For such a large fish, it isn’t surprising that anglers have sometimes gotten lucky with an incredibly large catch. But how big is the largest sturgeon ever caught? Read on to find out.
The Largest Sturgeon Ever Caught
The largest sturgeon ever caught is said to be a beluga sturgeon that weighed 3,463 pounds.
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Guinness World Records has no official record for the largest sturgeon ever caught. However, the following fish is mentioned on their list of the largest freshwater fish. A number of sources list a female Beluga sturgeon captured in the Volga Delta in 1827 as the largest sturgeon ever caught. It weighed a reported 3,463 pounds and measured 23 feet 7 inches in length.
However, there is a more recent catch for a white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) that has been reported. In July 2012, a retired couple caught, tagged, and released what experts believe was a century-old sturgeon. Michael Snell, a 65-year-old Englishman, caught a massive 12-foot-4-inch-long white sturgeon while fishing on the Fraser River in Chilliwack, British Columbia. It was estimated to have weighed 1,100 pounds. The girth, measured just below the fish’s pectoral fins, was about 53 inches wide. This makes it one of the largest sturgeons ever caught and one of the largest catches on record in North America.
According to the International Game Fish Association (IGFA), the official all-tackle world record sturgeon was in the 37kg/80 pound class. The white sturgeon weighed 468 pounds. It was caught in Benicia, California on July 9, 1983 by angler Joey Pallotta III.
How Was The Largest Sturgeon Caught?
One of the largest sturgeons ever caught was a white sturgeon that weighed an estimated 1,100 pounds.
©Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife / CC BY-SA 2.0 – Original / License
Angler Michael Snell was on a fishing trip with his wife, Margaret, on the Fraser River when he caught this massive sturgeon. The river is no stranger to monster fishes. In fact, Mr. Snell and his wife had caught a five-foot sturgeon during a two-day fishing trip on the same river sometime in 2009. The couple vowed to return and did so three years later.
Around 1:30 p.m. on July 16th, Mr. Snell’s rod dipped, signaling a bite. What followed was an hour-and-a-half-long struggle to reel in the white sturgeon. They gradually brought the fish in and maneuvered their boat down to the shore.
The couple soon realized they might have caught a record-shattering sturgeon. They measured and tagged the fish at the shore with the help of their professional fishing guide, Dean Werk. Mr. Werk, Werk, who has been a professional fishing guide on the Fraser River for 25 years, said this was undoubtedly the biggest sturgeon he had ever seen.
Other Large Sturgeon Catches
White sturgeon fishing is catch and release.
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As mentioned previously, sturgeons can live for a very long time and can grow very big. So massive sturgeon catches are remarkable but not entirely surprising. Since the 2012 catch, several other impressive sturgeon have been caught in the Fraser River and other bodies of water.
Former NHL star Pete Peeters caught a massive white sturgeon in August 2021. Working with his friends, the retired goalie reeled in an 11-foot sturgeon with an estimated weight of about 890 pounds. Like Snell’s record-breaking catch, Peeters also caught this fish on the Fraser River.
In 2018, angler Chad Helmer caught what may have been a record-breaking albino sturgeon on the Fraser River. Mr. Helmer noted that his family has fished the river for over 40 years and they had never seen a fish like this before. It was estimated to weigh around 1,000 pounds. It measured 11 feet and 2 inches long.
However, the Fraser River is not the only place where monster sturgeons like these can be caught. The Snake River in Idaho is another location notable for white sturgeon catches. In August 2022, Greg Paulsen and his wife, Angie landed a 10-foot-four-inch sturgeon in the C.J. Strike Reservoir.
In 2020, fishing guide Ryan Rosenbaum caught a 500-pound monster sturgeon in another part of the Snake River. The fish was estimated to be 10 feet and 5 inches long. Rosenbaum had caught and released the same fish four times over five years.
Why Isn’t There an Official World Record for the Largest Sturgeon?
Kaluga sturgeon are highly prized for their roe, or caviar.
©Tatiana Belova/Shutterstock.com
Sturgeons are the most threatened group of species on Earth. Although many large white sturgeons have been caught and released all over North America, the last official record by the IGFA is from 1983. The record is now effectively unbreakable due to strict conservation regulations. As the fish are now protected, they cannot be harvested.
Larger species endemic to Europe and Asia are also endangered. Both beluga and kaluga sturgeons are listed as critically endangered by the IUCN. Despite their long lives, females generally spawn only once every 2-5 years. This, coupled with past overfishing, habitat loss, and poaching puts the species at risk of extinction.
Fishing for sturgeon is banned across much of their native range. All countries in the Black Sea and Lower Danube regions have banned sturgeon fishing. Laws mandate anglers return any sturgeon they catch to the water. This makes it impossible to measure the catch with an official scale and have it certified. As a result, we now rely only on photographs of fishermen with their catches and estimated measurements.
