Angler Stuns Experts With Rare Grand River Catch

Spring flooding on the Grand River made fishing difficult for many local anglers, but one fisherman managed to land a state record catch despite the high water conditions.

What You Should Know About The Gizzard Shad

Photo by The New York Public Library on Unsplash

The gizzard shad is a native schooling fish with a silvery-green color commonly found in Michigan’s larger rivers and lakes. It’s known by several other names, including mud shad, skipjack, and sawbelly.

The gizzard shad gets its name from its gizzard, a muscular organ filled with grit and small stones that helps break down food. The feature is more commonly associated with birds like chickens than with fish.

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Gizzard shad are an important, high-fat food source for predatory game fish like walleye, bass, and pike. However, many anglers consider them a nuisance because they are difficult to catch on traditional sporting tackle. The fish do not taste good so they are considered a junk fish.

Gizzard shad are commonly used as bait for catfish, but they can also be effective for targeting pike and even musky. While most people only encounter smaller shad, the species can grow surprisingly large. One angler on the Grand River recently proved that by landing a new state record fish.

New Fishing Record Set On The Grand River

Photo by Aaron Cloward on Unsplash

According to a press release from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Sedrick Neinhuis was fishing on the Grand River on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 22, 2026, when he landed a new state record gizzard shad.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources

The fish weighed 4.45 pounds and measured 20.3 inches long, surpassing the previous state-record gizzard shad caught in 1996 on Lake St. Clair. While the earlier record fish measured 21 inches in length, it weighed slightly less at 4.12 pounds.

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Neinhuis, who was actually targeting the gizzard shad and said, "We kind of knew the fish was there, our mission this year was to get one close to 5 pounds. I'm hoping next we can get one even bigger."

👇Michigan's 58 Fishing Records👇

Michigan's 58 Fishing Records: Species, Weight, Length, and Date

While fishing is considered a leisure sport, it can be incredibly competitive. From fishing tournaments to combo rod dock fishing, it's a sport that doesn't have age requirements to set records. All you need is a means to fish and measure your catch. According to LandBigFish.com, here's a look at the 58 fishing records set in Michigan.

Gallery Credit: Scott Clow