A new Michigan state-record Chinook salmon has been verified by Jay Wesley, Lake Michigan Basin coordinator with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, with Scott Heintzelman, the DNR's Central Lake Michigan Management Unit supervisor, also present.
This Facebook photo shows Capt. Bobby holding the record fish just after it was boated.
Not only is this fish the largest king salmon (Chinook) ever caught in the State of Michigan, it’s the largest ever caught in any of the Great Lakes.
This record setting king was 47 1/2 inches long and weighed 47.86 pounds, topping the Wisconsin record (44 lbs. 15oz), the Minnesota record (33 lbs, 4 oz), Indiana (38 pounds), Ohio (29 1/2 pounds), New York (47 lbs 13 oz) and Ontario (46.38 pounds.)
The Moonshine Spoon that the record Salmon was caught with!
This prodigious fish was caught by Luis Ricardo Hernandez Martinez from Ortonville, Michigan. Luis was fishing with Capt. Bobby Sullivan of Icebreaker Charters on Lake Michigan near Ludington early Saturday morning, Aug. 7.
“I never expected a catch like this would happen,” Martinez said. "It’s possible for anyone if I can do it! I would like to extend a great ‘thank you’ to Capt. Bobby, as it was he who made this catch possible for me.”
Capt. Bobby Sullivan (left) stands next to Luis Martinez when weighing his record
Captain Sullivan added, “Luis did an amazing job, executing perfectly everything I asked him to do in order to bring this fish in.”
This fish breaks the previous Michigan state-record Chinook salmon – 46.06 pounds, 43.5 inches long – caught in 1978.
- written by Capt. Mike Schoonveld