Local boy catches 600 pound sturgeon on fishing trip with dad in Canada

BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA -- A 9-year-old boy from New Jersey netted an incredible catch on June 29 - a 10-foot-long white sturgeon that weighed an estimated 600 pounds.

Keegan Rothman was fishing with his dad in Canada when he made the catch.

According to the Globe and Mail, the 9-year-old only weighs 80 pounds, but he gave a fierce two-hour battle on British Columbia's Fraser River with his dad, Dan.

"It was so hard to hold onto the rod. I thought the fish was going to pull me into the water," Keegan said, according to a press release. "I'll never forget this -- this is the best trip of my life!"

The fish reportedly measured at 10 feet, 1 inch, and had a girth of 50 inches.

It was one of the largest fish that the Rothmans' guide, Ben Trainer, had seen in that particular area in his 11 years as a professional guide and also from fishing there all his life.

The fish was released after a photo was taken with it. It is estimated by Trainer to be about 75 years old.

"We have helped to collectively tag more than 61,000 white sturgeon since 1995, and scanned an excess of 122,000 tagged sturgeon, which have been caught and released," Trainer said in a press release.