Michigan has a new state fishing record for chinook salmon after a successful outing on Lake Michigan Saturday morning resulted in a trophy fish that eclipsed a 43-year-old record by nearly two pounds.
Luis Ricardo Hernandez Martinez, of Ortonville, Mich., boated the 47.86-pound chinook salmon early Saturday morning while troll-fishing with Capt. Bobby Sullivan of Icebreaker Charters on Lake Michigan near Ludington, according to Michigan DNR.
The previous record, caught in 1978 by Ray Essex of Grand Rapids in the Grand River, weighed 46.06 pounds and measured 43.5 inches long. Martinez’s record measured 47.5 inches.
The new record was caught on a Moonshine Raspberry Carbon Spoon, the DNR reported.
“I never expected a catch like this would happen,” Martinez said in a DNR news release. “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.”
August 09, 2021-