Former NHL player's monster catch inspires Missouri woman to reel in 1,200-pound sturgeon

The Missouri woman decided to book a sturgeon fishing trip in British Columbia after reading about NHL defenseman Nick Leddy catching a monster fish with Canadian outfitter Sturgeon Slayers back in 2024.She figured it sounded like a pretty cool vacation activity.This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners.

If you sign up or place a wager, FOX News may be compensated.This content was created by a team that works independently from the FOX newsroom.CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE FROM OUTKICK OUTDOORS"I saw that article and thought, that would be really cool to do sometime," Eckert told FOX 2 in St.

Louis."Just something different to do on vacation rather than going to the beach or whatever."Katharine Eckert was inspired to book a trip with Sturgeon Slayers after reading an article about NHL defenseman Nick Leddy.

(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)What she didn't expect was to reel in an 11-foot, 4-inch white sturgeon estimated to weigh between 1,100 and 1,200 pounds— a catch her guide believes could be the largest freshwater fish ever caught by a woman.Eckert, who lives in Maplewood, Mo., was fishing the Fraser River near Chilliwack, British Columbia, with her boyfriend, Justin, and Sturgeon Slayers founder Kevin Estrada when she hooked into the massive fish.The ensuing battle lasted about 40 minutes."I remember thinking, 'My gosh, this is really hard,'" Eckert told FOX 2."Once we got it closer to the boat, seeing it come out of the water a little bit, and realizing, 'Oh, we have something really incredible,' ...

I was in shock, but also grateful for the experience."According to Estrada, the sturgeon measured 60 inches around its body near the pectoral fins and a whopping 70 inches around its belly."Katharine's sturgeon was just as fat as the longer fish caught a week earlier by the men," Estrada told Wired2Fish, referring to another giant sturgeon his company had helped land.That fish measured 11 feet, 8 inches and was also estimated at...