Jerry Z's Fish Stories

Table of Contents

Biggest Fish

A 45 pound carp I speared in shallow water near shore on Lake Michigan. The fish was sold along with several other smaller carp to my uncle who had a mink ranch at the time. He paid 2 cents a pound, which was a lot of money back in the early 1960's.

Best Fish

A "large" Brown Trout I caught on a lure while trolling with downriggers on Lake Michigan. My youngest brother and dad witnessed the event. My mother cooked it that evening on the barbecue. I can't recall the length of the fish, but I remember the tail stuck out of the kitchen sink while it lay diagonally across the bottom of the sink.

Best Fishing Experience

An overnight fishing trip to a small trout stream near Grand Marais on Lake Superior. My older brother, a cousin and an uncle were along for the trip. The black bears were crashing through the woods as we fished , adding to the excitement. We all caught a considerable quantity of brook trout using nightcrawlers for bait. It was pan fried trout and potatoes baked in the campfire for supper. That night, we slept in sleeping bags under the stars, until the bears woke us up. The rest of the night was spent sleeping in the car. The next day we returned home with a cooler full of brook trout (no room for ice).

Most Fish Caught in a Day

285 pounds of carp speared in one saturday morning. I don't recall how many fish this was, but I'll always remember the weight. The fish were sold to my uncle for mink food (see Biggest Fish).

Most Fish Caught in a Week

513 yellow perch caught the third week in August, 1996 on hook and line using leaf worms and nightcrawlers. The largest was about 12 inches. Linda caught a 9-incher on a bare hook while waiting for me to bait her hook (I was reeling one in at the time).

Close Encounters with Fish

I have had several close encounters with fish, which at the time, were downright frightening.

Hard Headed Fish

I once rowed out onto Lake Michigan and dove in to see if I could touch the bottom. After getting down a ways, I hit something hard in the water. It felt like a tree trunk, and all I could think of was getting trapped underwater in the branches. I was back in the boat in a flash (adrenalin will do that). I looked over the side and saw a school of large carp swimming under the boat. Whew!

Fish with Teeth

I was vacationing in St. Thomas with my wife and two sons. My younger son and I were snorkeling close to shore off Sapphire Beach on the East side of the island. I came face to face with a large barracuda. I have never seen a fish with so many big teeth!

Fish that Sting

My older son reminded me of another close encounter, the same day as Fish with Teeth. My younger son and I saw a 4-foot wide stingray with a long barbed tail, up close and personal while snorkeling about 10 yards from shore.

Fishing - Summer 2000

After trying perch fishing, walleye fishing, bass fishing, and even sturgeon fishing (caught an undersize 2 footer), we rigged the Batboat for trolling and went trout fishing. After some great advice from my brother Jim and some practice on his boat, we had these catches all North of the Menominee River on Upper Green Bay of Lake Michigan:

Fishing - Summer 2001

It was a slow year for salmon and trout, but the catfish fishing was good. (2,403k movie)

Fishing - Summer 2002

This year we decided to fish in Wisconsin waters and use a thermometer. (536k picture)

Fishing - Summer 2003

This year we caught fewer fish, but they were bigger. The water was warm most of the summer, so most of the fish were caught in the middle of the bay. (448k picture)

Fishing - Summer 2004

We caught a nice mix of fish this year. Fly/hootchie combinations worked well. Chinook

Fishing - Summer 2005

We started fishing a couple weeks later this year. Rainbows were scarce, but overall it was a good summer of fishing. Blue and green were the magic colors. Chinook & Walleye

Fishing - Summer 2006

We caught a 23 pound salmon this year. It took almost an hour to get this fish in the net. Chinook

Fishing - Summer 2007

This was the best summer of trout and salmon fishing yet. Rob caught a 17 pound brown trout. Rob's Brown

Fishing - Fall 2007

Rob caught a 28 pound striped bass. Me holding Rob's Striper

Rob hooked a big striped bass and handed it off to me to reel in. While reeling it in, it bit on a line from another boat. We had a tug of war until the fish came to the surface and we saw both boats had hooked the same fish. We already had two stripers in the boat and they didn't have any, so we let them land the fish. As you can see from this picture, they were quite happy with this arrangement. Tug of War Striper

Fishing - Spring 2008

First striper of the season

Fishing - Summer 2008

Chinook caught on Dad's Old Boat

Fishing - Summer 2009

This summer it was all Chinooks. Chinook caught on Dad's Old Boat

Fishing - Early Summer 2010

Fishing - Summer 2010

This summer it was Chinooks and Yellow Perch.

Fishing - Summer 2011

A shad die off in the bay seems to have spoiled the fishing this summer. The bay is refered to as the "dead sea" on the marine radio fishing channel.

Fishing - Summer 2012

Fishing 0n the bay is returning to normal this summer. Chinook and Rainbow caught on Dad's Old Boat

Fishing - Summer 2013

After a slow start, fishing is starting to pick up this summer. Rainbow caught on Dad's Old Boat , Brown caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Fishing - Summer 2014

Again, after a slow start, fishing is starting to pick up this summer. Brown caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Fishing - Summer 2015

Started the summer with a nice brown. Brown caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Also caught a bass while trolling. Bass caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Chinook caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Fishing - Summer 2016

Started the summer with a big sheepshead. Sheepshead caught on Dad's Old Boat.

And a flathead catfish. Flathead catfish caught on Dad's Old Boat.

Fishing - Summer 2017

We fished the brown trout derby this year on Nick's boat (Cory, Ann, Nick and myself). It was mostly sheepsheads, lost count after 17. We did manage to register 3 fish in the derby, and won two prizes.

Fishing - Summer 2018

Caught a little bit of almost everything this year.

Fishing - Summer 2019

Tried some new tactics this year. Caught a few pike near the first reef by trolling with a rowboat. Also went out in Lake Michigan off Saint Joseph on a charter with the Szornyi's (Andrei, Andy and Ethan) and caught some nice lake trout.

Fishing - Summer 2020

Started out with a couple brown trout this year. Caught a pike fishing with Big E. Big E reeled in a 22 inch sheepshead.

Fishing - Summer 2023

Started out with a triple strike. One line broke. Managed to reel in two nice Chinook's. Chinooks caught near Whalesback green can.

Tried morning fishing at Whalesback. Brown and Chinook caught near Whalesback green can.

Had a half hour battle reeling in this brown at Whalesback. Brown caught near Whalesback green can.

M reeled in this brown at Whalesback. Brown caught near Whalesback green can.

Big E having fun tuning up for the derby. Sheepshead caught near Whalesback green can.

Last Updated : Jul 31 10:08:11 EST 2023

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