Rare white sturgeon pulled from lake

FOND DU LAC COUNTY -
Even in Stockbridge, a community billing itself the sturgeon center of the world only the luckiest of spears hit the mark.

"The waiting is the hardest part," Corey Gruett of Hilbert said. "You sit and look down the hole for days and days, right when you see it, it's a rush."

Gruett was among those beating the narrow odds. The DNR says a mere 13 percent of spearers harvest a sturgeon each year.

But, while spearers say any sturgeon is a boast-worthy prize, it's the rare white sturgeon that has the lake a buzz.

"I grabbed the rope and it was like do I got it or don't I," Sue Muetzelburg of Van Dyne said. "So, I started pulling and sure enough then I felt it, it was like yes, I got it."

While Muetzelburg has snagged a few sturgeon over the years, she says the one she caught Tuesday was unlike any other.

"Even when I saw it in the hole I thought oh my god it's sick," she said.

Muetzelburg says she was shocked to see the pale fish, but soon after dragging it from the hole she discovered just how special it was. Perhaps, the catch of a lifetime.

"Generally we only see about one out of 10,000 lake sturgeon that are white like that," Ron Bruch with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said. "And to have two come in, in one day like that, I don't think we've ever seen that before."

Two white sturgeon were harvested from the east shore of Lake Winnebago on Tuesday. The DNR says it's the first time in more than ten years the department has seen the lightly colored fish caught.

"They are real rare, that's why everyone says I should do something with it, but I don't know," Muetzelburg said.

She says the fish has brought her a bit of fame, but that doesn't mean it won't be dinner. She plans to mount the head, but fillet and smoke the rest, saying now that she's got a white sturgeon, she's hoping a 90 pounder could be next.