Stillwater angler hauls in monster, record-breaking sturgeon
It took Jack Burke 45 minutes to reel him in, but it was worth it to claim a Minnesota record.
The Stillwater angler was with his friend Michael Orgas on the Rainy River in Koochiching County, northern Minnesota, and they were having a fine time fishing for sturgeon.
They managed to land 20 fish in three days, including six lake sturgeon over 60 inches.
But Burke then landed something even bigger – a fish that at 73 inches is the biggest recorded catch-and-release lake sturgeon ever plucked from Minnesota's waters.
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"This particular fish took about 45 minutes to reel in," he said in a DNR news release "When we got it closer to the boat it blew some bubbles and came to the top; I knew it was a huge fish!"
He made the catch earlier this month, on May 4, around 11 a.m. using a muskie rod belonging to Orgas, with an 80-pound braided line rigged with a circle hook and crawlers.
At 73 inches long it beat the previous record set by 2 separate anglers on the same day in April 2017. It was also 30 inches in girth.
