Every Michigan State Fishing Record

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Michigan, in many ways, can be an angler’s paradise!

Let’s look at the geography: Michigan borders four of the five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Erie, and Huron.

Throw in addition fishing spots like Gun Lake, Hubbard Lake, Burt Lake, Marble Lake, Lake St. Clair, and numerous other, and Michigan becomes a hotbed for freshwater fishing.

With easy access from most of northern Ohio, as well as close proximity to Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and even West Virginia, Michigan is also a nice weekend getaway for anglers across the Midwest.

With dozens of species available to anglers, here is a list of the biggest pulled from the state.

List of Every Michigan State Fishing Record

Species	Weight (Lb.)	Length (In.)	Year	Method	Bait/Lure	Location
AMERICAN EEL	7.44	43	1990	Stillfishing	Live Shad	Lake St. Clair
ATLANTIC SALMON	32.62	41	1981	Trolling	Lucky Lure	Lake Michigan
BIGMOUTH BUFFALO	33	36.25	2020	Bowfishing	Arrow	Lake Erie
BLACK BUFFALO	46.54	38.5	2018	Bowfishing	Arrow	Grand River
BLACK BULLHEAD	3.44	17	1999	Spincasting	Plastic Zoom Lizard	Magician Lake
BLACK CRAPPIE	4.12		1947			Lincoln Lake
BLUEGILL	2.75	13.75	1983	Baitcasting	Mepps Spinner	Vaughn Lake
BOWFIN	14	35	1981		Mepps No. 2 Mino Spin Silver Bl	Crooked Lake
BROOK TROUT	9.5	28.1	1996	Ice Fishing	Minnow	Clear Lake
BROWN BULLHEAD	3.77	17.5	2014	Bowfishing	Arrow	Alcona Dam Pond
BROWN TROUT	41.45	43.75	2009	Spincasting	Rapala Shad Rap	Manistee River
BURBOT	18.25	40	1980		Cleo	St. Marys River -Munuscong Bay
CHANNEL CATFISH	40	41.5	1964			Houghton Lake
CHANNEL CATFISH	40		1960			Houghton Lake
CHINOOK SALMON (Michigan)	47.86	47.5	2021	Trolling	Moonshine Spoon	Lake Michigan
CISCO (Lake Herring)	6.36	21.8	2017	Stillfishing		Lake Ottawa
COHO SALMON Michigan	30.56	40	1976	Spincasting	Spawn Sack	Platte River
COMMON CARP	61.5	47.5	1974	Spear		Wolf Lake
FLATHEAD CATFISH	52	46.02	2014	Ice Fishing	Jig / Wax Worm	Barron Lake
FRESHWATER DRUM	28.61	34.02	2015			Muskegon Lake
GIZZARD SHAD	4.12	21	1996	Baitcasting	Long A Bomber	Lake St. Clair
GREEN SUNFISH	1.53	10	1990	Spincasting	Mama’s Cat	Kirkwood Lake
HYBRID SUNFISH	1.8	11.7	2018	Stillfishing	Crawler	Lake Anne
KOKANEE SALMON	1.94	18	1978	Driftfishing	Single Egg	Clinton River
LAKE STURGEON	193	87	1974			Mullett Lake
LAKE TROUT	61.5	49	1997	Driftfishing	Jig	Lake Superior
LAKE WHITEFISH	14.28	31.75	1993	Trolling	Rebel	Lake Superior
LARGEMOUTH BASS	11.94	27	1934			Big Pine Island Lake
LARGEMOUTH BASS	11.94	26	1959			Alcona Dam Pond
LONGNOSE GAR	18	53	1995	Spincasting	Green Rattle Trap	Williamsville Lake
LONGNOSE SUCKER	6.88	22.5	1986	Spincasting	Spawn Bag	Saint Joseph River
MOONEYE	1.69	14.38	1995	Stillfishing	Worm	Lake St. Clair
MUSKELLUNGE Great Lakes	58	59	2012	Spincasting	Minnow	Lake Bellaire
MUSKELLUNGE Northern	49.75	51	2000	Baitcasting	Crankbait	Thornapple Lake
NORTHERN HOG SUCKER	2.54	19	1994	Stillfishing	Worm	Saint Joseph River
NORTHERN PIKE	39	51.5	1961	Spear		Dodge Lake
PINK SALMON	8.56	28	1987	Spincasting	Mapps Spinner #2	Carp River
PUMPKINSEED	2.15	12.6	2009	Stillfishing	Live Leaf Worm	Lake Nepessing
QUILLBACK	8.52	24	2015	Bowfishing	Arrow	Hardy Dam Pond
RAINBOW TROUT	26.5	39.5	1975	Trolling		Lake Michigan
REDEAR SUNFISH	2.36	12.6	2010	Stillfishing	Worm	Lyon Lake
REDHORSE	12.89	29.25	1991	Baitcasting	Night Crawler	Muskegon River -Croton Pond
ROCK BASS	3.62	20	1965			Holloway Reservoir
ROUND WHITEFISH-MENOMINE	4.06	21.5	1992	Stillfishing	Salmon Egg	Lake Michigan
SAUGER	6.56	25.5	1976	Stillfishing	Minnow	Torch Lake
SMALLMOUTH BASS	9.98	23.1	2016	Stillfishing	Crawler	Indian River
SMELTS (Family)		12	1996		Dip Net
SPLAKE	17.5	34.5	2004	Spincasting	Kast Master	Lake Michigan – Big Bay De Noc
TIGER MUSKY	51.19	54	1919			Lac Vieux Desert
WALLEYE	17.19	35	1951		Live Minnow	Pine River
WARMOUTH	1.38	11	2001	Stillfishing	Live Crawler	Great Bear Lake
WHITE BASS	6.44	21.9	1989	Trolling	Hot ‘N’ Tot	Saginaw Bay
WHITE BASS Hybrid	10.75	27.5	1996	Driftfishing	Steelhead Spawn	Kalamazoo River
WHITE CRAPPIE	3.39	19.5	2000	Spincasting	WARDEN’S	Stony Creek Lake
					ROOSTER TAIL
WHITE PERCH	2	13.57	2015	Baitcasting	Spinner	Bear Lake
WHITE SUCKER	7.19	28	1982	Driftfishing	Rubber Egg	Au Sable River
YELLOW BULLHEAD	3.6	16.8	2003	Baitcasting	Night Crawler	Lake Sixteen
YELLOW PERCH	3.75	21	1947			Lake Independence