Footage showing a giant sturgeon leaping next to a fishing boat has garnered millions of views as it showcases the power and grace of these so-called living dinosaurs.
The accompanying footage, captured during a Yves Bisson charter on British Columbia’s Fraser River, shows the nearly 10-foot sturgeon breaking the surface during a ferocious attempt to shake the hook before rolling over and diving out of sight.
Bisson, who runs Yves Bisson Sturgeon Co., stated this week via Instagram:
“This was an insane jump right beside the boat. Unbelievable this video already has 55M views on TikTok and will most likely be my most viewed video of the year soon.”
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Bisson told FTW Outdoors on Thursday morning that the TikTok viewership had since grown to more than 57 million. (Click here to watch the TikTok version.)
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The footage is popular, obviously, because of the size and prehistoric appearance of the sturgeon. White sturgeon date back 200 million years and are often described as living dinosaurs.
Viewers obviously noticed the bony plates on the sturgeon’s body as the fish rolled over to embark on another run.
Bisson Told FTW Outdoors that the fish was tagged and released as part of ongoing research of white sturgeon on the Fraser River. It measured 9 feet, 10 inches, boasted a girth of 54 inches, and weighed 550 pounds.
Bisson states on his website that sturgeon are “the world’s largest and most powerful freshwater fish” and that his clients occasionally battle fish weighing nearly 1,000 pounds.
Recreational sturgeon fishing on the Fraser River is strictly catch and release.
