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There are signs that the 60-inch length limit Wisconsin put in place is working to increase fish size and protect the vulnerable female population on some waters, fisheries biologists say.

"Sturgeon fishing on the Chippewa River in Chippewa and Eau Claire counties should be good to excellent," says Heath Benike, fisheries biologist for those counties.

"Sturgeon surveys conducted this field season on the Chippewa River in Eau Claire and Chippewa counties showed that 10 percent of the lake sturgeon captured were over 60 inches in length."

The largest lake sturgeon was just over 67 inches and weighed almost 60 pounds. There also are a good number of mid- to upper-50 inch fish that will be available for anglers who prefer catch and release angling, Benike says.

The length limit is also helping boost the sturgeon population in the upper Menominee River, according to Mike Donofrio, fisheries supervisor in Peshtigo. "Our assessment indicates likely very few sturgeon over 60 inches in the upper Menominee river but for those anglers interested in catch and release, the population estimate of sturgeon over 50 inches from the White Rapids dam to the Upper Scott dam is more than 1,000."

Sturgeon fishing on Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay should be good this fall and into the ice fishing season consistent with previous years, according to Peter Stevens, Lake Superior fisheries team supervisor. Stevens says 30 percent of sturgeon captured in spring surveys were larger than 50 inches with the largest fish coming in at a little over 64 inches and about 68 pounds. Surveys continue to show good recruitment with the bulk of the fish in the 30 to 40 inch range.

“Catch per hours of effort continues to show a steady upward trend, indicating that the best days of fishing may still be in front of us,” Stevens said.

The Lower Wisconsin River and Lake Wisconsin both support healthy populations of lake sturgeon. Previous to the implementation of the 60 inch size limit the harvest would often exceed 30 percent of the estimated adult population, according to David Rowe, DNR fisheries biologist at Poynette.

“With the higher size limit harvest has been maintained below the 5 percent safe harvest limit except for 2010 when harvest was estimated at 6 percent,” Rowe said. “There appear to be many fish between 50 and 60 inches as observed in spring and fall gillnet surveys and fishing should continue to be good for these big river wanderers. There are several radio tagged lake sturgeon in the Lower Wisconsin River and we continue to follow their movements from the Mississippi River and deep water habitat where they spend the summer, through their long swim back up the river this fall and begin to stage for spawning next spring.”

The 60-inch limit was enacted because harvest rates on some waters were significantly above 5 percent, the level of harvest DNR considers safe. Lake sturgeon are slow-growing, late maturing fish, with females spawning for the first time when they are 20 to 25 years old and then only every four to five years thereafter. Because females are larger than males, they are often targeted by anglers, and their overharvest can cause population declines that may take years to recover.

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