Near 6-foot lake sturgeon found dead in Muskegon County road, DNR says

A nearly 6-foot lake sturgeon was found dead in the middle of a road in Muskegon County, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The 71-inch fish was discovered on Durham Road in Whitehall, south of a White River access point, sometime between midnight and 5:30 a.m. on Friday, July 17. The DNR said the sturgeon was likely taken from the White River, where legal lake sturgeon fishing is not offered for this location, and it pointed to damage on the fish’s left gill plate that may indicate it was snagged. Michigan’s 2026 Fishing Regulations define snagging as taking or attempting to take a fish using methods where the fish does not voluntarily bite a hook, including certain manipulated hooks or piercing elsewhere in the body. Snagging or possessing a snagged fish is illegal. The DNR also reiterated that lake sturgeon are Michigan’s only sturgeon species, listed as threatened in 1994, with restoration ongoing. It noted regulations for legal harvest, including a one-fish-per-angler limit and reporting requirements, and urged tips to the Report All Poaching hotline.