Jumbo of jumbo perch: When a really big jumbo perch dwarfs other jumbos

“Please don’t come off, PLEASE!’’

Many of us know that plea.

Danny ‘‘Taks’’ Borgert is one of the most dedicated and best lakefront anglers. He also is a helluva follow on Instagram because he has an artistic bent and storytelling skills.

On June 23, he had a story to tell from fishing on the North Side.

‘‘My new personal-best perch!’’ he posted. ‘‘Measured at 15.5 inches, which was my previous best. But this has plenty of girth on my previous one!

‘‘When I set the hook, I first thought small sheephead. I saw it coming in and started freaking out. ‘Please don’t come off, PLEASE!’

‘‘I got on my stomach and reached in the water and grabbed it. I screamed, ‘That is the biggest perch I’ve ever seen.’ I was by myself at about 5:45 a.m. Hahaha! I have literally caught thousands of perch over the decades and have two over 15 inches. To give you an idea of how rare any perch over 15 inches is out there. I am getting this big old girl mounted.’’

Tom Wendel, who did ‘‘a great job’’ on a huge pike Borgert caught a few years ago at Diversey, will do the taxidermy.

A true jumbo like that deserves some perspective. In another photo Borgert messaged, he compared a 13.5-inch jumbo and his 15.5-incher. The difference is astonishing.

Photo provided by Danny “Taks” Borgert

‘‘No weight, but last 15.5-incher I got was 1.86 pounds,’’ Borgert messaged. ‘‘This had more girth. . . . I wish more people could [have] actually witnessed its size. It was such a giant, and the pictures I got don’t fully do that fish justice. Hoping the mount will.’’

For perspective, the Illinois record for yellow perch remains 2 pounds, 8.75 ounces. Joe Grega caught it Jan. 5, 1974, from Arrowhead Club Lake in Will County. Tracking down Grega for a column five years ago remains one of my favorite things.

The record I really wish Borgert had broken is unofficial. Ken ‘‘The Lakefront Lip’’ Schneider caught the unofficial — but verified on two certified scales — Chicago-record perch (2 pounds, a half-ounce) on May 7, 1995, while boat fishing with Chuck Weis off Chicago Light.

I wish we could say Borgert’s perch topped Schneider’s, just to hold that over ‘‘The Lip.’’

Other bigs

In a crossing of lives, while my wife and I were taking a delayed 25th-anniversary break around St. Louis, we might have passed Wade Kaminski. He’s the guy who caught and released a 112-pound blue catfish.

We made a long late-night drive along the Mississippi River the night Kaminski caught his blue, and I remarked to my wife how many boats were out.

Kaminski took a beautiful photo of his blue before release with the Arch in the background. It ran on stltoday.com.

Wild things

It’s not just me. Others report fewer fireflies. Something is going on. . . . On the other hand, many are seeing more rabbits than usual during the pandemic. My theory is that we are outside more.

Stray cast

Saying ‘‘in these unprecedented times’’ when you mean ‘‘during the pandemic’’ is worse than saying ‘‘trash fish’’ for ‘‘non-game fish.’’