Michigan's Black Lake sturgeon fishing season lasts 65 minutes

Tanya Wildt, Detroit Free Press
·1 min read
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Michigan's shortest fishing season lasted 65 minutes Saturday.

The 2023 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties began at 8 a.m. and ended at 9:05 a.m.

The harvest limit for the season was six lake sturgeon. Officials close the season either when the sixth fish is harvested or five fish have been harvested at the end of any fishing day.

The first fish was caught by Charles Jett, according to the Cheboygan Daily Tribune. The fish was a 49-inch male that weighed 30 pounds.

Angler Charles Jett shows off the sturgeon he caught on Saturday morning. Jett was the first angler to catch a fish during the early morning start of sturgeon season. The length of his fish was 49 inches and it weighed 30 pounds. Jett weighed his fish sometime before 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Angler Charles Jett shows off the sturgeon he caught on Saturday morning. Jett was the first angler to catch a fish during the early morning start of sturgeon season. The length of his fish was 49 inches and it weighed 30 pounds. Jett weighed his fish sometime before 9 a.m. on Saturday morning.

More:Michigan angler brings in 55-inch lake sturgeon during state's 65-minute season

Last year, the season ended after 36 minutes. The largest fish caught in 2022 was a 62-inch male that weighed 67 pounds.

More:2023 Black Lake sturgeon fishing season is month away: What to know

The DNR and several entities have been working to rehabilitate lake sturgeon populations in Michigan after they declined dramatically since the 1800s due to habitat loss and degradation and overfishing, according to the DNR.

"Lake sturgeon rehabilitation efforts in Black Lake over the last two decades have been a successful collaboration between the Michigan DNR, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, tribal agencies, Michigan State University and Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership," according to DNR. "This population has increased in the past 20 years due to rearing and stocking efforts, research and protection of spawning adults, and this trend is expected to continue."

The start of sturgeon season began at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, and lasted 65 minutes.
The start of sturgeon season began at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, and lasted 65 minutes.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Black Lake sturgeon fishing season in Michigan lasts 65 minutes