A 9-year-old Tennessean boy seeking to catch a fish bigger than his two sisters had previously caught hit the jackpot when he reeled in an 80-pound sturgeon that was 25 pounds heavier than him.
Coye Price, who weighs 55 pounds, made the catch of a lifetime at Old Hickory Lake around the Spencer Creek area in 25 feet of water while attempting to catch a big catfish, according to the Nashville Tennessean.
His sister Caitlin, 11, had recently caught a 39.8-pound striped bass and his other sister Farrah, 8, had caught a 58-pound blue catfish a while ago. So it was Coye’s turn.
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Using skipjack herring for bait, Coye hooked the sturgeon in the main river channel and it took him 15 minutes before landing the fish. It was weighed (the exact weight was 79.8 pounds) and released.
“Coye had been saying, ‘Man, I don’t have nothing on these girls; I’ve got to catch a big fish,'” Coye’s father Chris of Bethpage told the Tennessean. “So not only did he catch a bigger fish than they had, but sturgeon are rare, which is the other cool part about it.”
Sturgeon are prehistoric fish that have existed since the Triassic period from 208 million to 245 million years ago. They are also referred to as “primitive fishes” because their characteristics have remained relatively unchanged since the earliest fossil record.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency reported that lake sturgeon populations have dramatically declined and are listed as endangered in Tennessee. They can grow to over 8 feet, weigh up to 300 pounds, and live 150 years.
Photos from Chris Price via the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
