Karre Cromwell caught the pending Illinois record pink salmon Thursday on the “Confusion” charter boat out of North Point Marina on the annual outing of Edward Jones.
As soon as the fish was in the boat, Capt. Bob Poteshman said it was a pink salmon and could be a record. On his BogaGrip, it weighed between 5 1⁄2 and 6 pounds. It lost some weight in the several hours it was officially weighed at 4.9 pounds at Lake Michigan Angler in Winthrop Harbor.
“My adrenalin went way high,” Cromwell said.
She immediately texted her family. Her husband Michael Cromwell instantly texted back asking size and for photos. It was 23 1/2 inches long with a 13-inch girth.
Friday morning, Becky Redman, fisheries project specialist with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, certified it as a pink salmon.
It beat by a pound, the current Illinois record (3.9 pounds) caught by Alex Niemiec, an eighth-grader, on July 10 out of North Point on a family charter.
Cromwell’s record will be official when fisheries chief Mike McClelland signs off on the paperwork.
This story will be updated separately.
