Small Kid, Big Fish…. - Catfish & Sturgeon - Catfish & Sturgeon

The rest of the story…
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For his first time sturgeon fishing, Matthew Nelson, age 11 of Minnetonka, MN got quite a surprise last Sunday on the Rainy River when he reeled in a 74.5 inch sturgeon. He was fishing with his dad, Mark Nelson and brother, Michael O’Neil Nelson, along with fishing friend from International Falls Gary Hurrley.
“When I caught it, it felt amazing because it was bigger than me and it was really strong. It took me about thirty minutes to catch this enormous monster,” said Matthew. “When I first saw the line in the water, then I saw the tail and it was an amazing sight and length. I was afraid to hold it because it was still alive and it could have knocked me over board. “
His brother Michael added, “It took four people to lift the fish into the boat. We had to borrow a net from a fisherman next to us because we didn’t have anything on our boat big enough to pull it in. When we got it in the boat, it took up the whole width of the boat. I never saw a fresh water fish that big in my life.”
The sturgeon was one of six hooked by the Nelson party during the first weekend of the season. Matthew’s first sturgeon was 29 inches in length, followed by Michael’s at 45 inches and Mark’s first sturgeon at 46.5 inches.
“The sturgeon hit the worm bait around 10:00 am then the fight ensued. Every time Matthew reeled the fish close to the boat it took off. Every time that happened I cringed, hoping that he could eventually exhaust the fish enough so we could net it. After approximately ½ an hour both the fish and Matthew were exhausted. It took the help of two fisherman next to us to bring it into the boat. Needless to say everyone was ecstatic and I was so proud of Matthew” said Mark.
“When we measured the sturgeon in the boat its length was 74.5 inches, ½ an inch from the 75 inches needed to comply with DNR regulations on keeping the sturgeon. We didn’t want to run the risk of killing the fish trying to find an official weight station and it was ½ inch short of the slot so we let it go. Matthew wanted to keep and mount it on his bedroom wall instead he learned a valuable lesson on conservation and sportsmanship” says Mark.
The Minnesota State record for the Lake Sturgeon is 70 inches in length, 26 inches girth and 94.5 lbs. Even though no official weight was taken two independent witnesses did confirm the measurement of the length.
“According to the measurements, the sides of the fish are roughly 11 inches per side. I don’t have any measurements that I can use for the girth because it has to be next to the fish. I do believe though that the width of the belly and back must be at least 4 inches and probably closer to 5 inches. This would make your fish somewhere in the range of 30 to 32 inches in girth. I do believe that your fish should weigh about 110 to 120 lbs. I am attaching the Length-girth chart from the Mn. DNR. This will show you how I got the estimated weight, per Mike Schuett of Sportsmans Image Taxidermy Little Falls Mn.
Two years ago while visiting my uncle & aunt John & Jody Chovan, cousin Linda White and husband Rod who live in International Falls I went sturgeon fishing with my cousin, Lori Foss also from International Falls. Although I didn’t catch one at the time I witnessed the great time my friend had trying to get one in the boat. Since that time I brought a friend and a son to the Falls last year to fish opening sturgeon season. We had such a great time we came back this year with another friend and another son, five in total this year. We are definitely planning on coming back to fish for Sturgeon and bringing more friends, hopefully making this a long term annual event.
As sequence of people in the picture, Michael (12), Matthew(11), Mark Nelson and Wally Yahn.