Originally Published by CBC News, August 14, 2015
A Manitoba fisherman has quite a story to tell after he reeled in a massive sturgeon that’s estimated to be two metres long.
Bob Wood, 62, says he went with a friend to Pine Island Lodge, about 32 kilometres up the Winnipeg River from Point du Bois, Man., to fish for pickerel on Tuesday morning.
“I thought I had a snag and lo and behold, it was not a snag. I thought it was going to be a big jack,” Wood told Joff Schmidt, guest host of CBC’sUp to Speed program, on Friday afternoon.
“All of a sudden, this great big fish just jumped right out of the water and I said a few choice words.… ‘What was that?!’ And the guide who was with us, he said, ‘That is a monster sturgeon.'”
Wood said his the guides estimated that the fish weighed 85 to 100 pounds and was between 90 and 100 years old.
After trying for 45 minutes to reel the sturgeon in, Wood and the guide made some rough measurements, took some photos and released it.
He said at no point during that 45-minute battle did he ever think of giving up.
“I’m a bound, determined man. If I want to get something in the boat or do something in my life, I get it done,” he said.
A note to avid anglers, in case you’re wondering: Wood said he used a jig with half of a night crawler on a 10-pound braided red power line with a Shakespeare 96 per cent graphite rod and a Diawa reel.
Wood said the sturgeon is his biggest catch in the 50 years he’s been fishing. Neither he nor people at the lodge had ever seen such a big fish in the area.
“I’ve fished in a lot of places in the world. I’ve fished down in the Caribbean, down in Australia and everything,” said Wood.
“For a freshwater fish, this has got to be a highlight of my life. Like, I’ll never do that ever again. They said it was a one in a million.”
Photo submitted by Bob Wood.
