A Florida fisherman caught Michigan's largest ever smallmouth bass on Indian River in Cheboygan County.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) reports the existing state record for smallmouth bass was broken on September 11 by Robert Bruce Kraemer of Treasure Island, Florida.

A longtime angler with a cottage in Indian River, Cheboygan County, Kraemer said he’s been fishing Michigan waters since 1965, but this is his first state-record catch. Using night crawlers for bait, Kraemer landed a 9.98-pound, 23.10-inch smallmouth bass while out on the Indian River.

I usually spend June through the end of September up here at the cottage. I’ve got some great fish stories and some nice fish, but nothing like this.

-Robert Kraemer

The previous state record for smallmouth bass was a 9.33-pound, 24.50-inch fish caught in Hubbard Lake in Alcona County, set in October 2015.

For more information on fishing in Michigan, including other state-record catches, visit michigan.gov/fishing.

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