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Rosendale man catches his first ever sturgeon weighing in at 160 pounds

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160 pound sturgeon caught opening weekend on Lake Winnebago
Posted at 4:52 PM, Feb 21, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-21 23:15:54-05

OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — A Rosendale man said he's thrilled after finally catching his first sturgeon of his lifetime and it was no small fish.

“So it was 160 pound F4 Female, 77 inches long. It’s the first fish we’ve ever got. When I threw the spear I had no clue it was on the other end. We saw the head and the body kind of", said Adam Derksen.

It was definitely worth the wait for Derksen.

After years of coming out to Lake Winnebago, he said what made this experience even better is the size of his catch.

“I didn’t realize it was that big till we started getting it up. She was helping getting it out of the hole. We couldn’t believe it. Then our friend came over and said that’s a big one", Derksen said.

Patience and perseverance is what it took.

"We have a lot of real estate out here on these lakes. You drill a small hole and that fish still has to swim through that hole no matter where you put your shack", Derksen said.

Years of coming home empty handed, finally paid off.

Derksen said he caught it on the south side of Oshkosh 9:30 am on opening day.

"Opens at seven and I kind of explained it to her it was her first time out it could be pretty boring. It was two and a half hours, we stood up to stretch and watch the fish swim through the hole and the rest was history", Derksen said.

Now as to what they're going to do with the fish?

He says it's time to feast.

"We are going to actually take some of it and deep fry it just like you would do with any regular fish and we kept one chunk that is going to get smoked", Derksen said.