Net-bending sturgeon from Lake Winnebago

Imagine having a beast on your line as big as this:

A 125-year-old, 240-pound lake sturgeon netted by Wisconsin state fisheries crews on April 10 is the biggest fish captured during a half-century of surveys on Lake Winnebago, and would have been considerably heavier had it not already dropped most of what biologists estimated to be 30 of its roughly 80 pounds of eggs.

Grin and bare it:

Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin revealed that he experienced a late night encounter with four bears in the backyard of his rented home on the outskirts of Montpelier this week.

The governor, who admitted being nearly au natural at the time, said he made a dash to remove the bird feeders that had attracted the bruins and came within 6 feet of one.

“The bears were dressed better than I,” he said, “and they could have done some real damage.”

Fishing report:

Lake Michigan: High winds have kept some anglers off the big water, even though the coho bite close to shore has been very good.

Fox Chain: Water levels came up a bit as the result of area thunderstorms — that’s good news. Walleye action has just started to warm up a bit, especially around bridge pilings.

ŸContact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM and live-streamed at www.mikejacksonoutdoors.com.