There is No chance they are That BIG!

I had always heard these stories about monster 9 foot long Sturgeon that frequent the waters of the local dam. I have seen and caught sturgeon up there, but nothing close to what I had heard. Closer to 3 feet. So I brushed it off, just like someone was just trying to convince me, so I would be on the hunt for these enormous creatures.

After a while of not hearing about this again, and clearly not catching or witnessing one of these fish being present in the area, I brushed it off, and went on fishing away.

A few years ago, I had met a man by the name of Dillon. Dillon was a friend of my wife's, and he and I hit it off quite quick, as we both enjoyed fishing more than anything else. After a while of fishing with him, he had started to tell me stories of these monster Sturgeon at the dam. As I did before, I brushed it off, and didn't believe a word of it. Through the last couple of years we hooked into a couple small sturgeon, and I explained to him that this is all we will catch. He told me again, that there are really big sturgeon in here, he confessed of an 8 footer, jumping out of the water like a whale, and the wave was so big, it knocked him over as he stood in the water.

I laughed and agreed, just to avoid argument, but I still truly believed it was all a myth. it was a "Fish Story" like any other....

And then about a year ago..... It happened.

I was Fishing the dam with a worm rig, seeing if I couldn't hook up to some sort of fish, a carp, red tail, maybe a small mouth bass, as this area was plentiful, with almost every fresh water fish imaginable in Ontario at one point in the year or another. Musky, Salmon, Bows, Carp, walleye, and the list keeps going. So I Figured, a worm and a hook, I am bound to catch something. After about 20 minutes of not getting a bite, I decided to move my line, or make sure that my worm hadn't been eaten by a smaller fish. Just as I picked up my rod, I felt tension, so I set the hook.. To my knowledge, I had hooked bottom. so I started to tug and flip, I used the bow and snap technique, Nothing seemed to work. As I was just getting ready to cut the 50 lbs power pro, and rig up again, my line started to move slowly through the rapids. I thought maybe the line had become unstuck, but there was still a lot of tension on the line. I then started to fight back, thinking that maybe it was a huge carp, or one of these 4 foot sturgeon I have caught before. I had fought and fought and fought for going into an hour, and I fought more. My arms were tired, and I wasn't sure what I had on my line. All of a sudden the line stopped moving, and became slack... just then this monstrous Sturgeon came straight of of the water, it's body seemed to go on forever, the fish hit the water, and the line went slack... The fish was gone... I figured after over an hour, the line must have broke, to my surprise, it hadn't... my size 2 eagle claw Circle hook, that I use for carp, Was bent Straight. I sat down, and took a deep breath. I couldn't believe my eyes. That fish had to be close to 10 feet long, and as I have done my research in the past,  a fish that size could way up to 550 pounds and be over 50 years old.

I couldn't believe that I had finally witness a fish that I didn't think was in this area.  I was proved wrong. The only thing that was harder than trying to reel that Fish in.... Was admitting to Dillon that he was right.... it's a man thing.

So the next time someone tells you a story that seems so outrageous, it can't be true, think again, you never know what's lurking in the Deep.