Detroit River Monster!
Justin Clark 06.12.11
On April 14th a fish of a lifetime was caught. The lucky angler was John Kinkead of Grosse Ile, MI. John works midnights at the Cabela’s retail store in Dundee, MI. He received a report from a buddy about some very nice walleye being caught. According to the report he got the fish were averaging 8lbs. John took this report to be very creditable. There was just one problem John didn’t have anyone to go out and fish with that day. After a little convincing from Alex, John’s buddy. He decided to go at it alone that morning.
At about 7 o’clock A.M. John launched his 18ft Crestliner Sportsman into the Trenton Channel from Elizabeth Park in Trenton, MI. John had a short boat ride to the spot Alex told him to fish. For 2 hours he fished, without a single bite. “ I was watching boats all around me net fish here and there I was still empty handed, I knew the fish were here and was determined to catch a walleye that morning ”
John made several drift down the river in the area his buddy told him to fish, but with no luck. At about 9:30am, he decided to try fishing in 10ft of water. Only 10 minutes into his 1st drift after he moved, and John’s felt a tug on his St. Croix spinning rod. He set the hook, and the rod immediately doubled over. “The weight on the other end of the line was heavy! It was if I was pulling a log off the bottom.”
Since he was in such shallow water he peered over the side of the boat he couldn’t believe his eyes, at the end of his line was the largest walleye he had ever seen. The fish made several fast hard runs testing his light 8 lb Flame Green Fireline and 10 lb vanish leader. “When the fish came to the surface we met eye to eye. She took off…all I could do was hold my rod tip straight to the water hoping my line would hold the fish.”
After a few hard runs from this Trenton channel monster, it was time to get her in the boat. At this point Johns heart was doing back flips in his chest. He was going to have to net this fish all by himself. Now if you have ever tried netting a fish by yourself you know just how hard and how many things can go wrong in those last few seconds. All you can hope for is that the fish is tired enough to slide right in to the net. Lucky for John that is just what happen.“I held the net in front of her, pulled her head into the net and kept pulling until the tail was almost in and then scooped. She was in the net!“
The fish was in the net and it soon made it into the boat. John just sat there looking over his massive catch. He was shaking, trying to clam his heart rate down. He knew he had to get the fish on a scale to see just how big the fish really was. Luckily a boat near by had a scale and saw the catch. The anglers let him use the scale. John was thinking the fish weighted around 12 or 13lbs. But when he lifted the fish up he got a big surprise. “We were in amazement the fish was tipping between 15 and 16 lbs. Wow I thought to myself. It was then when I knew I had to have this river monster officially weighed. “
The anglers in the boat told him to head on over to Bottom Line Bait and Tackle in Gibraltar, MI. They have a certified scale. So right then, John ended his day of fishing and headed back to the ramp.
When he got to the shop everyone was gathering around trying to get a look at the fish. People where taking pictures left and right of this monster eye. When the fish was placed on the scale, it stopped at 15.9lbs! According to the Michigan DNR Master Angler records (compiled since 1994) this fish will fall into the number 2 slot in the data base for the Detroit River. A fish of this size hasn’t been recorded for the Detroit River since 2002 when William Willoughby of Eaton Rapids caught one that weighted 15.25lbs. The largest fish in the database for the river was caught in 1996 by Richard Foster of Lansing and that fished weighted in at 16.12lbs.
This fish is truly massive. This fish might also be a sign of new wave of giant walleye being caught in the area. Could a new state record walleye be caught this year on Lake Eire? Somethings I am hearing from DNR workers is that they wouldn’t be surprised to see one of the state records fall in the next few years. The super class of fish (2003 year class) are reaching there prime size right now. Throw in the massive shad boom we had last year and you got a receipt for some heavy fish this year.
John plans on getting this fish mounted. The fish was caught on a 1/2oz Northland Gumball jig in Orange and Black. It was tipped with a 4 inch Smelt colored Gulp Minnow.
Justin runs Michigan's premier fishing and outdoor blog Out in Michigan.com. He is also a local fishing guide, tournament angler and freelance writer and manages the newest tackle shop on Lake St. Clair "Sportsmen's Direct. He has been featured in regional publications like Michigan Outdoor News, Woods-n-Waters, Great Lakes Angler and a few others. Justin has made several TV appearance in recent years.
He has a true passion of sharing his knowledge with other anglers and non-anglers alike within the communities surrounding the waters that he loves to fish. Justin is a true multi-species nut. He can be found chasing everything from Bass, Carp ,Walleye, Muskie and everything in between. His background and experiences studying Ichthyology, Microbiology, and River Ecology gives him a totally unique view on fishing.
