There were 797 people registered for the special sturgeon fishing season on Michigan’s Black Lake this past Saturday. It only took 17 minutes for anglers to reach the cap of 7 sturgeon landed, which is a new record, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Known as “Michigan’s shortest fishing season,” the annual event on Black Lake allows each angler to harvest one sturgeon, either with a spear or a hook-and-line. The DNR then takes samples from the harvested fish and uses this data to help track sturgeon recovery and conservation efforts. The previous record was 36 minutes, set in 2022.
“It was a banner day of Black Lake sturgeon fishing for a great fish, and everyone was pleased with their catches,” says Jay Woiderski, a lifelong sturgeon fisherman and the president of the 200-member Black Lake Chapter of Sturgeon for Tomorrow. “Not everyone who was registered to fish Black Lake sturgeon this year was on the ice that morning — but there were plenty of fish.”
The first sturgeon was speared just three minutes after the season opened at 8 a.m. The DNR credits Gavin Green with that fish, which measured 43.5 inches long and weighed just over 18 pounds. The second fish came two minutes later, and the others were quick to follow. The seventh sturgeon was registered by text with the DNR at 8:17 a.m.
“Every fisherman must send DNR a text when they spear and land a sturgeon … and when the seven fish limit is reached, the DNR immediately texts all registered anglers,” Woiderski tells Outdoor Life.
The biggest sturgeon speared during the special season weighed 78.3 pounds and was caught by Wisconsin angler Austin Dreifuerst. Woiderski explains that there was no size limit for speared sturgeon this year.
“This is done so when an angler spears a fish, that’s it,” Woiderski says. “One and done.”
Woiderski has been actively involved with sturgeon recovery. He says Black Lake, along with nearby Mullet Lake and Burt Lake, are strongholds for the fish, but that the DNR is still actively stocking sturgeon in these waterbodies, which all feed into Lake Huron.
“The sturgeon stocking and tagging program is excellent and [it’s] paying off.”
Woiderski adds that although Mullet and Burt are known for bigger sturgeon than Black Lake, the population at Black is strong enough to support limited harvest. These populations are actively monitored by the DNR.
“They figured seven fish was a good limit, and there were plenty of mature fish available,” Woiderski says. “I had a friend who saw 30 sturgeon from his ice shanty just before the season opened. But opening morning none came by soon enough for him to spear one for this year.”
The 17-minute fishing season ended with a ceremony, where Woiderski presented Austin Dreifuerst with a trophy for his 78.3-pounder.
“[Dreifuerst] was crowned the 2025 Black Lake Sturgeon Shivaree King,” he says.” We have a festival for that sturgeon fishing day we call the ‘Shivaree’. It’s our local name for a kind of farm or barn party, which is perfect, because we’re all ‘shivareeing’ when ice fishing.”
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