State Record Sturgeon... Almost

[merkman]

Taken from the International Falls Daily Journal.

Click here to see the full story.

[Jethro80]

I seen that story elsewhere, whew what a fish, I betcha he was shakin in his boots fighting that thing.

[walleye365]

that would be a blast

[KTapper]

There was also a fellow south central FMer PDOGG that caught a 100lbs sturgeon at the last sturgeon excursion.

[mainbutter]

Must have been quite an experience! As frustrating as it must be to not get that name in the record books, I'm glad the fish can go on living. At however old it must be, it deserves to be let go! What an amazing fish-o-saurus.

[50inchpig]

Wow - nice sturgeon, the slot there is saving alot of fish for people to catch again.......

[PDOGG]

Yeah tough to let a fish like that go but there are bigger ones out there so even if you could take the record probably wouldn't hold it for long!

66x32 ~100lbs according to our chart

[merkman]

the slot there is saving alot of fish for people to catch again.

I agree, it is a good thing.

[Sportsman4Life]

A few hundred pounders pulled from the Mooshead this spring already!

[PDOGG]

Sportsman4life, that avatar pic is sweet!

[crazyice]

Yeah!! I love the avatar photo too! Did you take it?

[Neighbor_guy]

That is one of the frustrating things about out Records system. It is a catch and kill system. If you are a C,P,&R fisherman like many of us are, you may not get into the books, even if you eclypse the current record.

Glad to see they let her go. (I know they had to as it was not in the slot)

[Sportsman4Life]

Sportsman4life, that avatar pic is sweet!

Thanks bud! Every time I accidently hook into one while walleye or sucker fishing, they always seem to jump... have gotten some sweet photos!

[Nick Kuhn]

Why is Minnesota's record so much smaller than Wisconsin's? Still an impressive fish nonetheless.

Sturgeon, Lake 170lbs 10 ounces 79.0" Jon Procai Danbury, WI 09/22/79 Yellow Lake Burnett Co.

Quote:

2009 Lake Winnebago sturgeon spear season one for the record books

Weekly News Article Published: February 24, 2009 by the Central Office

OSHKOSH – The lunker’s still out there.

The 230-pound behemoth lake sturgeon netted by state fish crews in the fall eluded the record 10,239 licensed spearers who took to the ice for the 77th consecutive 2009 Lake Winnebago system sturgeon spearing season.

But the separate seasons on the big lake and the Upriver Lakes were still fit for the record books. Sturgeon history was made on day 2 of the season when Amy Van Beek of Menasha threw an 80.8 inch, 168.8 pound female sturgeon out of her shack on Lake Poygan. It was the largest fish ever harvested by a woman spearer, the largest fish ever registered from the Upriver Lakes, the fourth largest fish by weight on record and the sixth longest fish on record.

Van Beek’s fish was one of 32 sturgeon harvested that weighed more than 100 pounds; in all, spearers took 1,512 fish during the 2009 sturgeon spearing season on the combined lakes of the Winnebago pool which includes Lake Winnebago and the Upriver Lakes -- Poygan, Winneconne, and Butte des Morts.

Last year, spearers registered 42 sturgeon that weighed between 100 and 172 pounds, the highest percentage of trophy-size fish ever recorded in the history of the fishery. A 100-pound sturgeon can be anywhere from 65 to 80 years old; heavier sturgeon are proportionally older.

[harvey lee]

These fish keep getting larger every year which shows what C&R is doing for the fishery.

Yes, it's to bad it cannot be recognized but it is still swimming to grow larger for another to enjoy.

[crazyice]

Couldn't agree more with Tom! C&R is doing more to make this an absolute world class fishery! I know from my own experience that this spring we caught proportionally more big fish than last year. We caugt fewer fish this year, and I think that was due to the conditions, both weather and river, but the number of large fish (over 50") was alot better. It's only going to get better guys! Our kids will hopefully be enjoying countless 50" fish when they are our age, and will be searching for the 90"ers!!

[merkman]

Conversation 15+ years from now....

So howja do sturgeon fishin this year?

Ahhh... only a couple 70 inch small ones. lol