Man harvests longest sturgeon in recent Wisconsin history

That's a big sturgeon.

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources says an angler speared the longest fish *in recent Wisconsin history.

Kyle Jenkins speared the 85.4" long female and registered it at Jerry's Bar in Oshkosh.

"The fish came thru from my right, not necessarily down under me but off to the side. I could see the head and the big pectoral fin and whatever, and I just kind of made an educated guess of where it was and I thru the spear and then the rope took off and the rest is history," said Jenkins.

It weighed 143.7 pounds, which isn't quite enough to break the weight record.

DNR biologist Ryan Koenigs says fish records typically go by weight. The weight record continues to be held by a fish harvested in 2010.

Jenkins added, "I knew it was a nice fish, but I didn't know it was nearly as big as it was, whatever. So, I had to call a friend over and he helped me get it out of the hole and it was just shock."

In other sturgeon spearing headlines, the Upriver Lakes season has come to an end. The DNR says 32 fish were harvested from the Upriver Lakes Tuesday. The season total is 297 sturgeon, which is similar to 2017's 295 harvest.

On Tuesday, there were 42 sturgeon registered at stations around Lake Winnebago, bringing the season total to 229. There's still time to spear on Winnebago.

*(Update: The DNR shared an update Feb. 14 that the "Chilton Times Journal" reported in 1957 that Bill Mortimer harvested an 85 inch sturgeon.

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