VANCOUVER – It’s the big one that didn’t get away from Michael Snell.
   
With his wife looking on, Snell hooked a giant white sturgeon out of B-C’s Fraser River this week that measured nearly four metres and weighed half a tonne.
   
It’s believed to be one of the largest fish ever caught for sport in North America.
   
The 65-year-old says he battled with his catch for nearly 45 minutes before he actually saw the fish surface.
   
His wife had to hold on to his harness to keep him from being pulled into the river.
   
Once they finally landed their prize catch they posed for some pictures with it, then released it back into the river where it’s believed to have lived for the past 100 years.
   
And this is not the only fish story the British couple has brought back from Canada.
   
Three years ago the retirees reeled in a sturgeon measuring 1.5 metres.