Man catches record-setting, 120-pound, monster sturgeon while ice fishing on Minnesota river

A Minnesota fisherman is likely to have landed the largest fish ever hooked in the state.

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Avid fisherman Darren Troseth fought for more than two hours Saturday with a 120-pound sturgeon on the St. Croix river, MPR News reported.

"As a guy that's caught a lot of these, I've seen many big ones," Troseth told MPR News. "As soon as it appeared the first time, below the hole, my jaw dropped. I'd never seen anything that big before. I knew we were going to have to drill more holes."

He and his friend, John Kimble, eventually drilled five holes in the ice to create an opening large enough to bring the 78-inch-long fish to the surface, according to a video Troseth posted on YouTube.

Troseth hooked the nearly 70-year-old sturgeon using fathead minnows and night crawlers, MPR reported. Troseth is a fishing guide during the summer and has served on fishery panels for the DNR, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.

"I might be done ice fishing," Troseth said in his video before releasing the monster fish. "I don't know if I want to experience that again. That was awesome."

Officials with the state's Department of Natural Resources have received Troseth's application and still must certify the catch, MPR News reported.

"It doesn't surprise me," DNR Fisheries Chief Brad Parsons told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "He knows how to fish sturgeon."

The previous record was a 94-pound sturgeon caught within the last two years, MPR reported. The state's catch-and-release season for river fishing started in 2015.

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