More than 1,500 fishing enthusiasts earned Master Angler patches in 2015, and six of the fish caught were recognized as new state records. One of the most spectacular catches was by Greg Gasiciel of Rhodes, who caught a 9.33-pound smallmouth bass on Hubbard Lake while baitcasting a green grub on Sunday, Oct. 18. The fish broke a 109-year-old state record for smallmouth bass, one of the most popular sport fish in North America.
“This is additional evidence that Michigan truly has world-class bass fisheries,” said Jim Dexter, Department of Natural Resources Fisheries chief.
Quillback Carpsucker
Other state-record catches from 2015 included a 8.52-pound quillback carpsucker caught Saturday, June 20 on Newaygo County’s Hardy Dam Pond by Garrett Reid of Nashville.
The quillback carpsucker record was broken less than a month later, on July 16, by a 9.42-pound quillback. That fish was also caught while bowfishing on Hardy Dam Pond, by Blake Wilson, who lives in the village of Lake Ann.
“More and more people are enjoying the sport of bowfishing and this water body’s quillback population, but Hardy Dam Pond also produces really nice panfish, walleye, bass, pike and other species,” said Scott Heintzelman, the DNR’s Central Lake Michigan Management Unit manager.
Black Buffalo
A state record black buffalo fish weighing 44.54 pounds was caught on the Grand River by Sage Colegrove of Muskegon. Colgrove and a friend were bowfishing and had trouble landing the fish because of its weight. Colegrove finally landed the fish by leaning his whole upper body out the boat and gripping the fish with his arms.
“It was very exhilarating,” Colegrove said. “It was really, really cold, but it was worth it.”
White Perch
Cindy Lou Cordo of North Muskegon caught a 2-pound white perch measuring 13.57 inches while fishing on Bear Lake April 18. The two were baitcasting worms and “blind man”-type spinners, she said.
“We were getting some white perch, which we get quite a few of in that area,” Cordo said. “This one just felt a little bit different, and it sure was.” Read about more – http://www.mlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf/2016/03/6_michigan_state_record_fish_1.html