'Elusive once in a lifetime fish': Kenora Ont., fishing guide encounters massive sturgeon on Lake of the Woods

'Elusive once in a lifetime fish': Kenora Ont., fishing guide encounters massive sturgeon on Lake of the Woods

Source: CBC News

5/25/2020

A fishing guide in Kenora Ont., had the catch of the lifetime while on the hunt for largemouth bass on Lake of The Woods last week.

What started off as a slow day ended with a surprise when Coel Forsyth's fishing line started to "go sideways." At first he thought he had caught a six-pound largemouth, then he saw the large body of a fish making its way to the surface of the water.

"So the next thing I thought was maybe a muskie, I've never seen muskies in this lake before but there's always rumours that they're there, or a giant pike. But I kind of got closer and soon realized it wasn't either," Forsyth explained.

The catch of the day turned out to be a nearly 200 pound lake sturgeon, a fish that is rare to find in Kenora's Lake of the Woods area.

In under 30 minutes, Forsyth had "the largest freshwater fish" he had ever seen to shore, where he could carefully release the fish. He received help from his girlfriend and a friendly "cottager" nearby.

"My knees were definitely shaking when I saw this thing," Forsyth said. "There's realistically no possible way I would have caught it if I hadn't had... the heaviest setup you could have for bass fishing. So if I was fishing with any spinning set there's zero chance I would ever caught that fish."

He described the fish as being rough like sandpaper but slimy, and it appeared to have "battle scars" from its estimated 100-year lifespan.

Lake of the Woods

Sturgeon, Lake

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