A retired English couple vacationing in British Columbia has become the envy of fishermen everywhere after reeling in a nearly four-metre-long sturgeon on the Fraser River.

Michael Snell was on the water near Chilliwack Monday with his wife Margaret and a fishing guide when he saw his rod tip dip into the river.

The 65-year-old set his hook and, with help from his wife, began a marathon battle with the massive creature that lasted a full hour and a half.

“I said to Margaret, ‘Hang on to me, hang on to my belt! I don’t want to go swimming!” Michael told CTV News.

The couple says it took time to realize the scope of their catch, a white sturgeon measured at 3.8-metres-long and 1,100-lbs. that’s believed to be one of the largest ever nabbed in North America.

“Eventually it starts to tire and you bring it up to the surface and we saw the head,” Michael recalled. “You suddenly realize that’s not a small fish, that’s not a medium size fish – that’s a bloody great monster.”

The fish was far too big to land, but guide Dean Werk of Great River Fishing Adventures helped the couple maneuvre the sturgeon and boat to the shore for a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity.

“I thanked the Fish Gods that day,” said Werk, who estimates the fish could be about 125 years old. “I kissed the fish and, truly, we were blessed to be able to experience this.”

“You have about a two per cent chance of landing a fish this big because so much can go wrong.”

Werk said in his 25 years guiding on the Fraser River, he’s never seen a sturgeon so big, despite tagging almost 50,000 of the species.

The Snell’s fish wasn’t tagged, Werk added, suggesting it might never have been caught before.

Margaret, who has been going fishing in B.C. with her husband for three years, said the magnificent creature was stunning to behold.

“It is extraordinary. Perhaps you’ve heard of Loch Ness in Scotland,” Margaret said. “Well it’s possible perhaps a sturgeon lurks there because [they’re] such an unusual fish.”

Michael said he was happy to tag the sturgeon and release it back into the Fraser for someone else to find.

“The best thing about this is when you put the fish back in the water, it’s OK. It gives its tail a flick and swims away and you say, ‘Thank you, fish.’”  

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Penny Daflos