STILLWATER, Minn. — An angler from Stillwater has set a new record for lake sturgeon in the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ catch-and-release category.

Jack Burke and fishing buddy Michael Orgas were recently on a lake sturgeon fishing trip on the Rainy River in Koochiching County in far northern Minnesota.

The duo was having a lot of success fishing for Minnesota’s biggest fish, landing 20 fish in three days including six lake sturgeon more than 60 inches in length before hooking into the new state record – a 73-inch-long lake sturgeon.

“We had been having some great action and knew there were big fish in the Rainy River,” Burke said. “This particular fish took about 45 minutes to reel in. When we got it closer to the boat it blew some bubbles and came to the top; I knew it was a huge fish.”

Burke caught the fish about 11 a.m. May 4 using a muskie rod supplied by his fishing partner Orgas, with 80-pound braided line rigged with a circle hook and crawlers. The fish had a girth of 30 inches.

Burke’s 73-inch sturgeon beats the previous record by 3 inches that was set by two separate anglers who both boated 70-inch fish on the same day in April 2017.