Darren Troseth caught a lake sturgeon measuring 78 inches (and 29.5 inches around) and weighing an estimated 120 pounds Feb. 9 while fishing on the St. Croix River near Bayport.
According to the DNR, the first four sturgeon harvested were males ranging from 52 to 60 inches and 25 to 47 pounds. The final two fish were females ranging from 61 to 72 inches and 54 to 80 pounds.
Georgia high school mechatronics students build massive replica of lake sturgeon for Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute. The Lake Sturgeon is a state-endangered species in Tennessee, having almost disappeared from the river system by the 1970s. Since the formation of the Lake Sturgeon Working Group in 1998, the Aquarium and its partners have raised and released more than 220,000 juvenile Lake Sturgeon back into the species’ historic range.
DNR and several partners released more than 12,000 juvenile lake sturgeon in public waters, part of an effort to rehabilitate this culturally significant fish species.
Toledo Zoo planning to release thousands of young lake sturgeon in hopes of restoring a fish species in Erie that is nearly extinct; zoo says many people who come to release party will be able to release the fish themselves.
The 73-inch lake sturgeon pulled from the Rainy River bests the previous record by 3 inches.
While there is some good news, biologists still do not have a firm estimate of the Lake Champlain sturgeon population, and a recovery plan released in 2016 estimated it could be half a century or longer before the population reaches the level where they could be fished.
Toledo Zoo will raise about 1,500 young lake sturgeon this summer.
