A news story from earlier this week caught our attention so we started doing some research to bring the whole thing into perspective. The story is about a 240-pound lake sturgeon caught in the Detroit River on April 22, 2021, by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The announcement was posted on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Facebook page.
This magnificent creature is believed to be 100 years old and over 6 feet in length. According to the post “this fish is one of the largest lake sturgeon ever recorded in the U.S.”
So that prompted us to look into Canadian lake sturgeon records to see if they grow any bigger north of the border, maybe an opportunity for some much-needed bragging rights. Low and behold here’s what we found.
According to Nature Canada we can proudly declare ourselves (those of us north of the 49th parallel ) the official home of North Americas biggest lake sturgeon. It was from the Roseau River in Manitoba and tipped the scales at an astonishing 185 kg or 407 lbs. It measured 4.6 meters or just over 15 feet long and was believed to be 150 years old.
But even closer to home is a story that we posted on May 28th of 2020 about a giant lake sturgeon caught in Lake of the Woods which is even larger than the US fish in today’s story.
Here are some interesting lake sturgeon facts:
- Lake Sturgeon are considered living fossils.
- This fish is the only freshwater Sturgeon found in Canada.
- Males of the species can live up to 55 years, females 150 years.
- Oldest recorded lake sturgeon 155 years of age from Lake Huron.
- Lake Sturgeon eat both plants and animals.
