Indian River Sturgeon by Rick Kolb

Yesterday’s story on Native efforts to restore Nmé (Lake Sturgeon) to Michigan waters was so cool that I’m gonna stick with Michigan’s longest lived fish for another day. Roadside America shares a little about the 32-foot steel sculpture of a Lake Sturgeon in Indian River:

Made of quarter-inch-thick plate steel with an iridescent sheen, this whopper weighs nearly four tons and gave credibility to Onaway’s claim to be the Sturgeon Capital of Michigan. It was sculpted by Tom Moran of Moran Iron Works, with help from the students of Onaway’s Industrial Arts Institute. It debuted in Onaway’s July 4th parade in 2017. Tom then bought an abandoned downtown gas station, bulldozed the buildings, and set the fish in the vacant lot.

Onaway is known for its annual mid-winter sturgeon hunt, where the big fish are speared through the ice on Black Lake. Tom did not make a monster-size spear to accompany his giant sturgeon, but told us that he’s always open to new ideas for future projects.

Rick shared this pic in our Michigan in Pictures group on Facebook. Head over to the group to see more of his photos!