An angler in Arkansas recently caught a 46-kilogram “monster” fish, which has made other professional anglers jealous.
The fisherman’s incredible achievement was shared on the official Facebook page of the Arkansas Department of Fisheries, according to the New York Post.
Angler Robert Murphy caught a North American spoonbill while kayaking up the White River, the council said.
The North American sturgeon is on the endangered species list due to declining numbers. This fish has been around since prehistoric times, predating dinosaurs by about 50 million years.
The distinctive feature of the spoon-nose sturgeon is the long sword-like beak, which accounts for 1/4 to 1/3 of the body. Murphy shared: “I used bait to lure the fish, but I didn’t expect the spoon sturgeon to bite the hook.” After about an hour of hard work, Murphy finally brought this “prehistoric monster” to the surface.
The spoonbill that Murphy caught weighed 46 kilograms, just shy of the Arkansas record of 53 kilograms. The largest North American spoon sturgeon ever recorded was about 2 meters long and weighed 72 kilograms.
Despite its “huge” size compared to other fish that live in rivers and lakes, the spoon sturgeon poses no threat to humans. Sturgeon’s favorite food is plankton. Since the mid-20th century, the North American spoon sturgeon has declined significantly due to predation.
They are currently listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
In 2020, the Chinese spoon sturgeon, one of the world’s largest freshwater fish, was declared extinct after more than 150 million years. In recent years, Chinese scientists have been actively breeding, hoping that the spoon sturgeon can breed again in the Yangtze River.
