Michigan's shortest fishing season: Black Lake sturgeon harvest lasts 65 minutes
DETROIT — Michigan's shortest fishing season lasted 65 minutes Saturday.
The 2023 lake sturgeon fishing season on Black Lake in Cheboygan County 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 Black Lake sturgeon season lasted 1 hour and 5 minutes.
Congratulations to the successful anglers! pic.twitter.com/0dheFENm9m— Michigan Department of Natural Resources (@MichiganDNR) February 4, 2023
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Last year, the season ended after 36 minutes.
The largest fish caught in 2022 was a 62-inch male that weighed 67 pounds.
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."
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Black Lake sturgeon fishing season in Michigan lasts 65 minutes
