CHEBOYGAN COUNTY, Mich. – This year’s sturgeon season on Black Lake only lasted 65 minutes.
The season started at 8 a.m. on Saturday (Feb. 4) and ended at 9:05 a.m. after the allowed number of sturgeon had been caught.
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The fishing event is held on Black Lake in Cheboygan and Presque Isle counties. It included spearing and hook-and-line fishing and a quota of six lake sturgeon had been set.
There were 630 registered anglers this year. The harvested sturgeon ranged in size from 32 inches to 55.5 inches long and 6.4 pounds to 35.5 pounds.
- The first fish was a 49-inch male that weighed 30 pounds.
- Fish number two was a 55.5-inch female that weighed 35.5 pounds.
- Fish three was a 54.3-inch male that checked in at 32 pounds.
- Fish four was a 32-inch immature fish that weighed 6.4 pounds.
- The fifth fish was a 54-inch male that weighed 34 pounds.
- The sixth fish was a 39-inch male that weighed 11.8 pounds.
Out of the six harvest fish, only two had been previously captured by Michigan State University and the DNR during spawning runs in the Black River or from past surveys of Black Lake.
The 55.5-inch female originally was captured in the river in 2012. The 54-inch male was tagged in the lake in 2007 and captured in the river in 2017.
The sex of the 32-inch immature fish will be determined using DNA. Also, the 54.3-inch male was a known stocked fish, as it had a fin clip.
Lake sturgeon rehabilitation
Over the last two decades there have been efforts to rehabilitate the lake sturgeon population in Black Lake.
It has been a successful collaboration with the Michigan DNR, Sturgeon for Tomorrow, tribal agencies, Michigan State University and Tower-Kleber Limited Partnership.
According to the DNR, the population has increased in the last 20 years due to rearing and stocking efforts, research and protection of spawning adults. The population is expected to continue to grow.
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