Minnesota catch and release lake sturgeon record
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

Minnesota Has New Catch-and-Release Lake Sturgeon Record

This lucky angler beat the previous record by 3 inches.

Jack Burke is Minnesota's new catch-and-release lake sturgeon record holder, taking the title with a 73-inch fish he caught May 4.

Burke, along with his fishing partner Michael Orgas, were fishing Koochiching County's Rainy Lake. They'd previously landed 20 lake sturgeon over the course of three days, including six fish that eclipsed 60 inches each. Then the big fish bit.

At approximately 11 a.m., the record fish sucked in a circle hook with nightcrawlers. Burke had no idea he was about to have a tug-of-war tussle that would last all of 45 minutes.

The previous catch-and-release state record for lake sturgeon was 70 inches, set by two separate anglers on the same day back in April 2017.

Burke's 73-inch fish had a girth of 30 inches.

Image courtesy of Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

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NEXT: IDAHO HAS NEW CATCH-AND-RELEASE RECORD FOR RAINBOW TROUT

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