OTHER SPORTS
Indiana state record smashed with giant yellow perch
The 43-year-old state record has been broken for giant yellow perch caught on Lake Michigan shore.
A new Indiana fishing record was set in late April for the state’s largest yellow perch.
It was confirmed in local outlets this week that angler Blas Lara was fishing Lake Michigan during the Mayor’s Fishing Derby in Hammond on April 21 when he caught a record-breaking “jumbo” yellow perch.
According to reports, Lara’s catch weighed in at 3 pounds and 2 ounces and shattered a 43-year-old Indiana state record.
The previous state record for the species was a 2-pound, 8-ounce fish caught in Vigo County with the catch made by Roy W. Burkel Jr. in 1981.
Yellow perch are native to Lake Michigan and are popular with anglers due to the relative ease of catching them. Despite a decline in the species’ population from its peak decades ago there remains a “strong fishery” for large perch.