Former Vezina Trophy winner reels in the largest sturgeon in modern history (w/pictures)

Former NHLer and 1982-83 Vezina Trophy winner Pete Peeters knows a thing or two about big fish, having played against the likes of Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux during his NHL career - but what happened on August 15th, 2021 gave the term "big fish" a whole new meaning.

Peeters and a group of friends chartered a fishing boat a couple of weeks back for a week-long fishing trip on the Fraser River, near Chilliwack in British Columbia with "Sturgeon Slayers" fishing guide Kevin Estrada.

During the trip, Peeters and his group chanced upon a once-in-a-lifetime encounter with an 11-foot, 6 inch, 890 lb sturgeon - the largest measured in modern history. The pictures are just... otherworldly.

"I couldn't fathom how big these fish were," Peeters said from his home in Alberta. "Even when the fish came up, it was hard to believe."

Peeters reportedly traded off on the rod with friend Jake Driedger to land the monstrous prehistoric fish, which set the B.C. record for the largest ever caught in the province. Estrada, Peeters' guide, has also reached out to Guiness Book of Records representatives to confirm whether or not it is also a world record.

"We were actually in some clear water so we got to see the whole fish," he said. "You don't often get to see them in their full glory it was magnificent to see. I had tears in my eyes. I've been fishing this river since I was 15 years old  We've had some spectacular fish, some very memorable fish over the years, but never anything this big."

According to Estrada, it took the group approximately 25 minutes to land the giant sturgeon and, per pre-existing guidelines, sturgeon larger than 5 feet must remain in the water, so the fishing party had to navigate the giant fish to shallower water so they could jump in for a photo-op.

"Very rarely do you see something that is this big, over 11 feet," Estrada said. "Something this big could take well over 100 years to get to this size. It's a lifetime moment. It's hard to put into words."

Talk about a making a larger-than-life memory.

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