Monday January 12, 2026
Active NorCal —
For anyone who’s been lucky enough to take a trip to Shasta Lake, you’ve surely heard of the legend of giant sturgeon sitting on the bottom of the lake. I have to admit, the legends even freaked me out as a kid. With modern-day photos and videos, we’ve actually seen some of these fish reach up to 500 pounds. So why the heck do they get so big? That’s actually a story that’s 75 years in the making.
Sturgeon are an ancient species of fish that have been known to grow to 12 feet long at up to 3,000 pounds (the record sturgeon weighed in at 3,463 pounds. These distinct look fish live most of their lives feeding at the bottom river deltas near the ocean, like the Sacramento River delta, and swim upstream to spawn. Their life cycle is typically 50-60 years, but they can grow as old as 100 years.