Monster sturgeon pulled out of Minnehaha Creek by 2 young boys

Updated: July 25, 2019 12:38 PM

Two Edina boys, 14-year-old Owen Sanderson and his 12-year-old friend, Mac Hoekstra, pulled off a plan which would have made Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer proud.

One of the boys' father shot cell phone video of the fish being caught right next to the 56th Street bridge in Edina Wednesday and both boys told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS it was "awesome" and they would do the whole thing over again.

"Mac gave me a rope with a slip knot and I just put it under his tail and yanked," said Sanderson. "I pulled on the rope and it worked and then he scratched my chest with his tail as he tried to get away."

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The boys had some help on the west bank of Minnehaha Creek to assist in pulling the big sturgeon out of the creek so they could try to measure it.

"When we got it up on the bank, that's when I realized how big it was," said Hoekstra. "It was 73-inches long and all we used was a rope with a slip knot."

They both quickly put the fish back into the creek and it was still visible in the water swimming near the bridge. Parents in the neighborhood told KSTP the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources stopped by and told them they were coming back Thursday to check on the big fish.