Spearfisherman lands 212-pound sturgeon

A 212-pound sturgeon believed to be 100 years old was caught by a man spearfishing on the north shore of Wisconsin's Lake Winnebago on Saturday -- the opening day of the lake's spearing season.

Fox affiliate WLUK-TV reports that Appleton, Wis., resident Ron Grishaber, 60, used all of his rope and the help of three other people to land the record-size fish, believed to have hatched in 1910.

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources biologists had never seen the fish before, and will need to study samples taken to confirm the sturgeon's age.

If the female fish is found to be a centenarian, she would have laid approximately 11.4 million eggs in her lifetime, and would have become legal size for the Winnebago spear fishery in 1918 -- the year the United States entered World War I.

The previous Lake Winnebago record was a 188-pound sturgeon landed in 2004. The fish will also break the state record for lake sturgeon by spear, a 195-pounder caught in 1979.

While Grishaber would like to get the fish mounted for his wall, he said that he's unwilling to pay the $3,000 to $4,000 to have it done.

-- Kelly Burgess

Video credit: WLUK-TV

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Comments

[p morseyonce]

Yah, I hear ol Ron was out on da ice der on da lake, and was lookin ta spear on of dem sturgeon, but I cou'nt believe it when I heard he speart this one here. Cripes, I dohnoh how many hours i spent out der over a hole lookin for a legal sturgeon ta trow a spear at, but I was real glad happy when I hear it was Ron. I seen some big ones out der over da years, but I never got a chance ta trow a speer at one. Great job der Ron....ya! Just think, if dat fish is over a hunderd years old, I might have could seen it myself at least once over da years! Nice job Ron!

[Joseph Falco]

the fish too old to eat? the fisherman to poor to taxiderm?

what a pathetic waste.

[mommak]

I don't think that ol Ron was looking to eat Sturgeon even if it was younger. You can eat anything but that doesn't mean that it would taste good. Bottomfeeders generally aren't for eating. More for sport.