Century-old sturgeon named ‘Ghost’ caught in B.C.’s Fraser River

Some anglers are celebrating a record-breaking catch in the Fraser River near Lillooet this week.

A Chilliwack-based fishing charter company that specializes in Fraser River sturgeon has landed the largest fish in its history.

River Monster Adventures says a group fishing just south of Lillooet on Monday was able to reel in a massive sturgeon that had become something of a legend among the company’s team.

The nearly 3.1-metre (10′2″) fish is known as “Ghost,” because it has “ghosted” the company’s anglers for more than a decade.

“Over the years, we believe we’ve caught glimpses of him, either on our sonar or possibly breaching, but actual sightings have been extremely rare,” said Jen Shareski, of River Monster Adventures, in an email to CTV News.

“As far as we know, no one else has ever caught Ghost before this.”

The crew fishing that day included two repeat clients, a deckhand and a captain, who spent more than an hour reeling in the fish with “a total team effort,” Shareski said.

Jeff Grimolfson, the company’s owner, told CTV News via Zoom Wednesday evening that “panic set in” when the anglers realized they had hooked such a large fish.

“It was like, ‘Holy – we have the opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t mess this up,’” he said.

Grimolfson said his company has led more than 3,500 fishing trips on the Fraser River, leaving him somewhat surprised that his team hadn’t reeled in Ghost before.

On previous trips, the company has caught other large sturgeon, including another “absolute monster” of a fish named Pig Nose, he said.

“We all thought that Pig Nose was the one, you know, the largest fish in the Fraser River, for close to 10 years,” Grimolfson said. “We were like, ‘That’s as big as they get,’ until Ghost showed up.”

Shareski said Ghost is “easily identified by his curled dorsal fins,” which are a rare feature and indicate the fish is “very old.” She estimated Ghost’s age as “over 120 years.”

Despite its advanced age, the fish did not have a tag, which is one of the reasons River Monster Adventures suspects it has never been caught before.

“We are strictly catch and release, and we’re proud to be part of the sturgeon conservation tagging program,” Shareski said. “Before releasing Ghost back into the river, we tagged him and recorded all the relevant data to support ongoing conservation efforts.”

According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, white sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in Canada, and they’ve existed relatively unchanged for millions of years.

In a critical state of decline in some parts of B.C., the bottom-feeding fish is among the wildlife protected under the Species at Risk Act. Species living in the Nechako River, Upper Columbia River, Upper Fraser River and Upper Kootenay River are all protected by the federal act.

The Fraser River Sturgeon Conservation Society says white sturgeon can live well over 150 years, and can grow up to six metres in length.

• Read more: What is killing the giant sturgeon of B.C.’s Nechako River?
• Huge sturgeon caught near Lillooet, B.C., for likely the first time in its 110-year life