A teen fish whisperer made the catch of a lifetime this week when he reeled in a legendary 650-pound sturgeon named Pig Nose that has haunted the waters of British Columbia for decades.
Nick McCabe, a 19-year-old guide with River Monster Adventures, caught the fish Tuesday night in the Fraser River. He released it after taking several photos to document the historic catch.
According to McCabe’s coworker Jeff Grimolfson, Pig Nose earned his distinctive nickname 40 years ago, when he damaged his nose in an accident.
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“This fish has been the talk of fishing and sporting goods shops for years,” he told Global News. “As the legend lives on, you’d be in a sporting goods shop and you’d hear, ‘My buddy was sure he had Pig Nose on the line.’”
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Pig Nose measured 10 feet and two inches long and five-and-a-half feet around. He’s believed to be around 80 years-old.
The largest sturgeon on record was a beluga female captured in the Volga Delta in 1827, measuring 7.2 m (23 ft 7 in) long and weighing 1,571 kg (3,463 lb). Most sturgeons are anadromous bottom-feeders, migrating upstream to spawn but spending most of their lives feeding in river deltas and estuaries.
So how did McCabe manage to catch such a big-ass fish? “He is the sturgeon whisperer,” Grimolfson said.
