A rare, giant white sturgeon, estimated to be 63 years old, was netted in Lake Ewauna on March 14 and then released.
Oregon state game officials said the fish was 8 to 10 feet long and might have weighed 400 pounds.
The sturgeon was snagged in a net meant to catch suckers for transport to Upper Klamath Lake, where they spawn. Buoys holding a 300-foot net began moving into Link River, against the current, signaling something big had been caught.
Sturgeon were planted in adjacent Upper Klamath Lake in the late 1950s, but they didn’t multiply. They’ve not been caught in Lake Ewauna until now.
Giant sturgeon are common in the Columbia River and lower stretches of the Klamath River, but white sturgeon are rare.
The largest white sturgeon caught on record, in British Columbia, was 12 feet long and weighed 1,100 pounds. They’re known to reach 20 feet and up to 1,800 pounds.
Read the Associated Press story.