Jack Burke recently caught this state-record lake sturgeon in Minnesota. (Photo courtesy Minnesota DNR)
May 23, 2018
By Game & Fish Online Staff
Jack Burke recently caught this state-record lake sturgeon in Minnesota. (Photo courtesy Minnesota DNR)
Spring means hot fishing for many anglers. It also means trophy catches and state records.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reported new records for lake sturgeon (catch-and-release category), golden redhorse and silver redhorse.
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Jack Burke, fishing on Rainy Mountain in Koochiching County May 4 with buddy Michael Orgas, set the catch-and-release record for lake sturgeon .
The pair caught 20 sturgeon in a three-day trip — six over 60 inches, including a record 73-incher that beat the previous record by three inches.
"We had been having some great action and knew there were big fish in the Rainy River," Burke told Minnesota DNR. "This particular fish took about 45 minutes to reel in. When we got it closer to the boat it blew some bubbles and came to the top; I knew it was a huge fish!"
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Silver Redhorse
Dustin Stone caught this 10-6 Minnesota state-record silver redhorse. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR)
Fishing for lake sturgeon on Rainy River April 28, Dustin Stone caught a new state record silver redhorse with a 10-pound, 6-ounce fish; the previous record was 9-15.
Stone told the state agency he almost released the fish when his fishing partner told him to see if it would qualify as a state record. He caught the fish on a nightcrawler on 80-pound braided line
"We had been doing very well fishing for sturgeon, landing seven fish over the 60-inch mark," Stone said in a news release. "We started catching a bunch of suckers and redhorse before this fish, so this fish felt quite a bit bigger than the others."
"I'm glad the DNR does this record fish program. It's fun to see the records. I'm kind of addicted to this now and I'm going to try and break a couple more!" Stone said.
Golden Redhorse
Ethan Rasset's state-record golden redhorse weight 4 pounds, 8 ounces. (Photo courtesy of Minnesota DNR)
Ethan Rasset broke the state record for golden redhorse April 7 on the Otter Tail River. The fish weighed 4 pounds, 8 ounces, and was the fourth state record in five years for that species. The previous record was 4-7.
Rasset caught the fish a green artificial twister-tail bait with 15-pound test line when the fish hit in the early afternoon.
"I had to make one last cast into a spot where I knew there was a deep hole," Rasset said. "I thought it was a greater or silver redhorse at first because of its size, but as I got it closer to shore and I saw it flicker I knew it was a big golden."
Two fisheries experts from the Fergus Falls DNR office confirmed the species of the fish.
Click here for more info on Minnesota state records
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