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Special to Outdoors Weekly
Jake Burton landed this 48-inch sturgeon while fishing with his brother-in-law Curt Peterson on the St. Croix River south of Stillwater, MN in 30 feet of water with fathead minnows and crawlers.

Special to Outdoors Weekly - From Our Readers
I took my brother in-law Jake Burton out sturgeon fishing for his first time. My first sturgeon was pictured in the Jan. 2 edition and I told Jake about it and he wanted to come out with me. He only brought one pole and I informed him that he could have two so I grabbed one of my lightweight poles for him to use. He caught his first sturgeon after only five minutes. Then he hooked into this 48-inch fish. It took his line for the initial run. His lightweight pole and 6 lb. test didn't hold up so well and the fish snapped the pole in half. Jake thought he lost the fish until he grabbed the line and pulled hand over hand, ice fishing style. The sturgeon surfaced, jumped completely out of the water 10 feet from the boat and ran again. He fed line out hand over hand until it stopped running. Ten minutes later he pulled the fish to the surface and we netted it. The fish was caught on the St. Croix River south of Stillwater, MN in 30 feet of water with fathead minnows and crawlers.
- Curt Peterson