Manistee area resident Tom Healy caught the 41-pound, 7.25 ounce monster on a crankbait while fishing the Manistee River. It is the new record hold for Michigan. Upon the second weighing with the scales leveled, the weight was determined to be 1 pound, .75 ounces heavier than originally determined. The fish was 43.75 inches long.

The fish is 1 pound, 3.25 ounces heavier than the reigning world record German brown trout, a 40-pound, 4-ounce fish caught in Arkansas in 1992 by Howard “Rip” Collins who used an ultralight rod and 4-pound test line to catch that fish. Healy will have to apply for certification to be declared the world record holder.
The state record German brown trout until today weighed 36.81 pounds and was caught in Lake Michigan in Benzie County in 2007. The next three places in the state record books were held by Lake Michigan browns caught in Manistee.

The fishing on the point is heating up as the temps get back to normal. We are taking fish in the skinny water (less than 100 ft). The bait of choice is J-Plug type baits, Gloe’s and Supergloe’s early and then the old standbyes after the sun gets up. The fish are at the pierheads also and in Pere Marquette Lake.