British tourists reel in four-metre white sturgeon in B.C. river

VANCOUVER – A retired British couple vacationing in B.C. has caught what their guide says may be one of the largest fish ever reeled in on the continent.

Michael and Margaret Snell from Salisbury, England, were out fishing on the Fraser River earlier this week in Chilliwack, east of Vancouver, when Michael saw his rod dip.

After an hour-and-a-half struggle, the Snells pulled in a white sturgeon that was nearly four metres long — about the length of their boat — and weighed roughly 500 kilograms.

The white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish species in North America, can live up to 100 years and is classified as an imperiled species in B.C.

Fishing guide Dean Werk says the giant sturgeon wasn’t not tagged, meaning it has probably not been caught in at least 18 years.

The Snells then released the massive sturgeon back into the Fraser after posing for a few photos.

The last time the Snells were in B.C., they also caught a sturgeon that was about a metre-and-a-half long.