For Michiganders who eagerly anticipated this year’s Black Lake sturgeon-fishing season, it appears to have come and gone in the blink of an eye.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources announced Monday that the entire season closed after only 36 minutes Saturday, after a six-fish quota was reached.
“That’s how long Michigan’s shortest fishing season lasted this year,” the MDNR stated on Facebook.
The six-fish quota was designed to allow some harvest while ensuring the continued good health of the lake sturgeon fishery in the Cheboygan River watershed. But it’s unclear if participants expected the quota to be filled so quickly, despite a registered field of 565 fishermen and women.
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According to the MDNR, the season began at 8 a.m. and closed at 8:36 a.m.
Harvested fish included a 67-pound male sturgeon (the largest), a 48-pound female sturgeon (the day’s first catch), and four male sturgeon that weighed between 23 and 45 pounds.
Spearing and hook-and-line angling were allowed.
To prevent going over the quota, the MDNR utilized text messages and staff visits to ice-fishing shanties to announce the end of fishing.
All six fish had been captured and released previously by researchers conducting surveys during Black River spawning runs, or on Black Lake.