The current Minnesota state record is 70″, 94lb 4oz. It was caught in the Kettle River, a St. Croix tributary, in 1994. The Wisconsin record is 87.5”, 240 pounds, caught in Lake Winnebago.

Based on the New Year’s Day fish’s size, it is probably at least 50-years-old, possibly up to 75-years-old. Sturgeon can live longer than 100 years. The species itself is about 150 million years old. Unlike most fish, female sturgeon don’t begin spawning until they are 25-years-old, and then only spawn every four to five years.