LAKE OF THE OZARKS – A fisherman in Missouri just lately had the catch of his life.
Troy Staggs holds up his 50 to 55 pound catch on the Lake of the Ozarks.
In accordance with the Missouri Division of Conservation, Troy Staggs reeled within the 50-plus-pound fish after about an hour lengthy battle.
Staggs made positive to report measurements and weight.
The fish, was estimated to be about 30 years previous and measured 56 inches lengthy.
“After I bought it up just a bit bit additional, I seen the bone. And I had simply snagged one three years in the past. That very same week, three years to the day. And once I seen the bone on the tail, I knew precisely what it was, it was a sturgeon,” Staggs stated.
In accordance with the MDC’s Fb publish, it was the sixth lake sturgeon reported from Lake of Ozark since 2016.
“As a substitute of snagging the fish, [the man’s] fishing sort out wrapped round its tail! It took him 47 minutes to carry the fish to the boat, the place he took a fast measurement, snapped a number of footage, and launched the fish again into the lake,” the publish stated.
This is not Staggs first sturgeon catch.
He additionally caught a sturgeon in 2019, that means he has two of the final six catches.
“By no means in my life, after I bought the primary one, I by no means thought I would ever catch one other one, particularly the scale of that one,” Staggs stated.
Lake sturgeon can dwell to be over 100 years previous and attain over 200 kilos, MDC stated.
They’re Missouri’s longest-lived animal and the state’s second-largest fish. MDC stated it started stocking lake sturgeon within the Eighties and continues to inventory them to assist get better the state-endangered species.
Sturgeon turn out to be adults at round 25 years and transfer into tributary streams to spawn. This makes them extra seen because the fish ceaselessly spawn in shallow water, MDC stated.
The general public is inspired to report any lake sturgeon captures or sightings to native conservation brokers or by calling the lake sturgeon restoration chief at 573-248-2530.