The Fish Page: The Top Ten
Most of you who have found your way here probably know me. If not, I am Jerry, an undergraduate student at Northern Michigan University. I live in Ishpeming, Michigan and have essentially lived here all my life. I want to continue living here for the rest of my life if possible. One of the reasons I like it here so much is because of the great wilderness and fishing.
Although I fished with family members as a child, I never took it that seriously or even enjoyed the actual act of fishing that much (although I have always liked the outdoors). However, in 2003 I started to fish on my own and sometimes with a friend. By the summer of 2004 I was fishing several times a week. I fish in several different ways throughout the year. In spring and fall, I mostly fish lakes, including Lake Superior, for trout and salmon. In summer, I spend most of my time on streams fishing primarily for brook trout. In winter, I ice fish on several different lakes, mostly for trout and perch.
What follows are pictures and descriptions of ten of the best fish I have caught. Since the number is limited to ten, the fish shown here will change periodically. Enjoy!
Lake Trout
After a long battle, I caught this laker - my biggest fish ever - through the ice of a small lake in March 2005. The fish was 29 inches long and 8 2/3 pounds. I was using an ultralight 24" rod with 4 pound test ice fishing line. If you know anything about fishing, you know that I was very lucky not to have lost the fish. In fact, my hole was barely large enough to pull the fish through.
Steelhead
This one, the only steelhead I have caught, is from "the big lake" - Lake Superior. I caught it from shore in April 2005. It was 28 1/8 inches long and 7 pounds. Unfortunately, its pink stripe had totally faded out by the time I took this picture. Please excuse the blood and slime.
Coho Salmon
Although for a time I thought this female could possibly be a pink salmon rather than a coho, I am pretty sure she is the latter, which makes her my record coho. Measurements were 22 1/4 inches and 3 3/4 pounds. I caught her from a river in October 2005. Although the fish was on her spawning run, which would have ultimately ended in death, she fish was still in excellent condition at this point. I rushed to take the picture before many of the coho's scales had fallen off.
Record Brook Trout
After much work (pleasure?) over the summer of 2005, I finally significantly broke my 2003 record of 11 1/2 inches with this fish, caught in September. At 14 inches and 1 pound, she was something of a monster, and I doubt she will be matched for quite some time. It really says something when I can fish a few times a week for this very species for several months a year and still get excited when I catch a specimen over 10 inches.
Brown Trout
Like most of my larger trout, this 15-inch January 2005 catch came through the ice. My largest brown trout, also caught through the ice,was 16 7/8 inches.
Rainbow Trout
Another approximately 15 inch trout, caught through the ice in March 2005... but my largest resident (non-steelhead) rainbow, caught ice fishing, was 17 1/2 inches.
Splake
This, my largest splake, was 14 1/4 inches and was caught shore casting on a small lake in October 2004. Obviously, when I took this picture it had already been gutted.
Record Smallmouth Bass
Although I am generally not a bass fisherman, I think this one (my current record) is worth showing. It was 19 1/4 inches and 4 pounds, and was caught shore casting on a small lake in October 2004.
Another Smallmouth Bass
This is another good size smallmouth worth showing. Also, it is much better looking than the record smallmouth above. I caught it in one of my favorite lakes in July 2005. It was 17 1/4 inches and 2 1/4 pounds. It is also the largest fish I have caught so far in the summer of 2005.
Northern Pike
At 17 inches and 1 pound, 2.5 ounces, this Northern would normally be nothing to get excited about. However, it was the first one I had kept (from a small lake with no minimum size limit) and gotten a picture of (ugly as it is). It was also surprisingly tasty.
That's it for now, but make sure to check back periodically for changes!
If you happen to be looking for my old web pages, you can access the most popular one, U.P. Independence, by clicking this link. You can in turn access my other old web pages through links from that page.
Contact: jerwuore@nmu.edu.
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