A Missouri fisherman recently reeled in a massive lake sturgeon on the Lake of the Ozarks.
Officials said the fisherman, Troy Staggs, was originally trying to catch paddlefish, The Kansas City Star reported Thursday. The Missouri Department of Conservation said in a Facebook post Staggs spent 47 minutes trying to reel the 50-55 pound fish into his boat.
Staggs quickly photographed and measured the massive fish at 56 inches long, The Kansas City Star reported. Staggs released the fish per regulations, as the lake sturgeon is an endangered species in Missouri.
Fisherman reels in massive 4-and-a-half foot endangered lake sturgeon at Lake of the Ozarks https://t.co/a0mltn9yLJ
— KSDK Sports (@KSDKSports) April 21, 2022
The heavy lake sturgeon pales in weight compared to a 131-pound catfish recently caught in Mississippi. A shark caught off the coast of Ireland recently clocked in between 400 to 500 pounds but was dwarfed by a massive 832-pound tuna caught off the Floridian coast.
Officials estimate the lake sturgeon caught by Staggs to be near 30 years old but the species can live over 100 years and takes around 25 years to reach adulthood, according to The Kansas City Star.
Missouri Department of Conservation has maintained recovery efforts for the endangered species since the 1980s, The Kansas City Star reported. (RELATED: Fisherman Makes A 1-In-100 Million Catch By Reeling In ‘Cotton Candy’ Lobster Off Coast Of Maine)
Officials described lake sturgeon as “bottom-feeding predator-scavengers specially fitted for life in the swift currents of our big rivers” and play a role that “cannot be duplicated by other fish,” the outlet reported.