South Beloit man reels in the first 15-pound walleye caught in Illinois

For a river rat like Jim Zimmerman, it felt a normal hit Sunday morning. Seconds later, he reeled in an Illinois-record walleye, the state’s first 15-pounder, from the Pecatonica River.

‘‘When it came up, I knew it was big one,” Zimmerman said. ‘‘But it wasn’t a vicious hit, just a normal hit. Set the hook. It was over in 25 seconds.”

Zimmerman, 52, of Beloit, Wis. was pitching a 1/8-ounce Northland fireball jig with a 3-inch Berkley Power Grub and a minnow when he caught his 311/2-inch walleye with a girth of 203/8 inches. He was using a Fenwick rod, Shimano reel and FireLine.

His net man was Larry Stangl, fishing friend of 35 years. They weighed it at 151/2 pounds on a hand-held scale, but kept fishing for 21/2 hours. Finally, they left and weighed it (15.08 pounds) at Blackhawk Meats in South Beloit, Ill. with two conservation police officers as witnesses.

‘‘My daughter [Bobbie Jentz] was working and she said, ‘Mom, oh my God, it was huge,’ ” Debbie Jentz said Monday. ‘‘It was a buzz. People were taking photos out in the parking lot. It was huge.”

Regional fisheries biologist Dan Sallee verified the walleye and checked the paperwork Monday afternoon.

‘‘This guy, this was the perfect time, 14 days before the spawn,” he said.

It was 5 ounces heavier than the record caught by Nick Tassoni, 15, on Jan. 7 from the Pec. The Rockford Auburn freshman’s 14-pound, 12-ounce walleye broke what was the longest-standing gamefish record in Illinois, the 14-pound walleye caught by Fred Goselin from the Kankakee River in 1961.

‘‘It was fun while it lasted,” messaged Tassoni, whose walleye was 31 inches long with a girth of 201/4 inches.

‘‘There are 32-inchers in there,” said Dan Palmer, Rockford-area tournament director who guided Zimmerman through the process. ‘‘There are bigger walleye in that river.”

‘‘Oh, yeah, there is always bigger ones,” Sallee said.