Fish of the Week: A big freshwater drum from southern Lake Michigan earns the honor

Bob Eagan earned Fish of the Week for a big freshwater drum caught from southern Lake Michigan.

By Dale Bowman

Bob Eagan with a big freshwater from southern Lake Michigan.

Bob Eagan caught a 28-pound freshwater drum Thursday while salmon fishing at Cal Park. Tony Kujawa nominated him for Fish of the Week.

That’s a big drum for Lake Michigan, just short of the Indiana record of 30 pounds caught by Garland Fellers in 1963 from the White River in Martin County. But it’s well under the Illinois record of 38 pounds, 4 ounces, caught by Johnathan Inman from Clinton Lake, May 24, 2018.

Click here to read more on Inman’s drum.

As many readers, including apparently Kujawa, know I love drum and wish them much respect.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories (the stories matter, as this one shows) around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the paper Sun-Times. The online posting here at chicago.suntimes.com/outdoorsgoes up at varied days of the week, depending on what is going on in the wide world of the outdoors.

To make submissions, email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com) or contact me on Facebook (Dale Bowman), Twitter (@BowmanOutside) or Instagram (@BowmanOutside).

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A big freshwater drum from southern Lake Michigan earns Fish of the Week honors

Bob Eagan earned Fish of the Week for a big freshwater drum caught from southern Lake Michigan.