2013 Hook and Line Sturgeon Season

Every September for about 30 days, the hook and llne season for sturgeon opens on numerous lakes here in Wisconsin. When that happens, the hardcore fisherman attempt “CPR” on these prehistoric fish. By the way, in this instance, “CPR” stands for Catch, Photorgraph, and Release!

 One of the hardcore fishermen is Rick Melby, who caught his first sturgeon in 2007 on Yellow Lake. Since then, he has become a real “sturgeon junkie’. Rick organized a catch and release tournament on Yellow Lake with some of his family and friends and each year the contest just keeps growing.

Since the first tournament six years ago,  155 sturgeon have been caught, photographed, and successfully released.  This year, the contest was held September 20^th. The weather was sunny, the lake was calm, and 33 anglers landed 50 fish ranging from 22” to 52.5”! It should be noted that only two sturgeon were tagged and harvested on Yellow Lake for the entire  2013 hook and line sturgeon season.

 Next year, the catch, photograph, and release sturgeon contest extravaganza will be held September 20. Look for more sturgeon fishing information on the OnWisconsin Outdoor website next summer.

For information on the sturgeon tournament, call Rick Melby at 715-497-6335. To book a guided fishing trip in Polk or Burnett Counties, contact Wisconsin Licensed Guide Dave

Hraychuck, at 715-553-0578, or hraychucks@centurytel.net,

Rhonda Schrader, Hudson, 64”

Josh Charland, New Richmond, WI, 74”

Adam Swanda and kids, New Richmond, 52.5”