Lake Sturgeon

The lake sturgeon, pictured above, is the largest fish native to Minnesota as well as the Great Lakes. Coming from a fish family more than 60 million years old, sturgeon are sometimes thought of as "living fossils" (UW Sea Grant Institute, 2013). They can reach a very large size, and according to McAllister and Crossman (1973), a specimen weighing 310 pounds was caught commercially in Batchawana Bay of Lake Superior! The Minnesota state record for lake sturgeon (caught on hook and line) is 94 pounds, 4 ounces. In comparison, the state record for muskellunge is 54 pounds, 0 ounces, and the records for freshwater drum and longnose gar are 35 pounds, 3 ounces and 16 pounds, 12 ounces, respectively (Minnesota DNR, 2014).