DULUTH 鈥� Upon further review, a fish that fooled experienced anglers and biologists alike into thinking it may be a new Minnesota state record brook trout was indeed a splake, a human-invented hybrid between a lake trout and brook trout, according to DNA test results.
Mike Ince of Aitkin caught the 6.93-pound fish on June 7 on Lake Superior along the North Shore near Duluth, and anglers on board believed the coloration and fight of the fish made it seem like a natural brookie. The fish also had a very square or straight-back tail fin, hinting toward brook trout.
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Minnesota Department of Natural Resources fisheries staff who inspected the fish said they weren't sure.
鈥淚t definitely had the square tail of a brookie, but it also had the real silver color of a laker. 鈥� To be honest, I鈥檓 just not sure,鈥� Cory Goldsworthy, DNR Lake Superior fisheries biologist, said at the time.
To make matters more confusing, the fin clip pattern seemed to suggest it was a brook trout released in Wisconsin.
To settle the matter, Goldsworthy sent a sample of the fish to the University of Minnesota, where a DNA test ended the mystery. The fish was a splake. That means the state record for a kept brook trout will stand at 6 pounds, 5 ounces. The state record splake is 13 pounds, 5 ounces.
New state fish records being set
While the brook trout record was not broken, anglers have been busy setting new records in Minnesota, thanks to an expanded list of fish species eligible for new catch-and-release records and the DNR essentially throwing out some old kept-fish records the agency classified as sketchy.
The Minnesota DNR in March expanded the catch-and-release record category to add additional species and also made more space for records in the certified weight category by creating a separate category for records established before a certified scale was required to document a fish鈥檚 weight.
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The DNR has confirmed a fish the News Tribune wrote about last month as the new state record coho salmon. The 12-pound, 5-ounce fish was caught June 1 in Lake Superior by Austin Stoltenburg of Iron. Stoltenberg was fishing with his dad and a family friend on a foggy morning out of the McQuade Road Small Craft Harbor. It was the first fish of the day and the first coho Stoltenberg ever caught.
The coho bested two late-season records set in 2023 for giant coho on Lake Superior, also caught near Duluth. Biologists and anglers say a bumper crop of smelt and cisco in Lake Superior, some of the largest populations ever of the smaller fish, are enabling trout and salmon to get bigger faster in the usually cold, infertile lake.
Other new kept-fish state records set already this season, since a verified, certified scale was required, include:
- Black crappie 鈥� 3 pounds, 9 ounces; May 9, Cedar Lake, Rice County; caught by Nolan Sprengeler of Plymouth.
- Mooneye 鈥� 2 pounds, 1 ounce; May 11, Wabasha Creek, Redwood County; caught by Robert Tufts II of Franklin.
- Yellow bass 鈥� 1 pound, 3 ounces; May 11, Clear Lake, Jackson County; caught by Dennis Dagel of Lakefield.
Dan Zeleznikar of Duluth holds the 30-inch Lake Superior brown trout he caught in April that has been confirmed as the state record catch-and-release brown trout by the DNR. It's one of several new catch-and-release categories started this year. Contributed / Minnesota DNR
State records approved for new catch-and-release record fish categories include:
- Brown trout 鈥� 30 inches; April 15, Lake Superior, St. Louis County; caught by Dan Zeleznikar of Duluth.
- Lake trout 鈥� 42 1/2 inches; April 21, Lake Superior, St. Louis County; caught by Kelsey Vanderheyden of Stanchfield.
- Shovelnose sturgeon 鈥� 34 1/4 inches; March 8, Mississippi River, Goodhue County; caught by Tyler Young of Lakeville.
- Shovelnose sturgeon 鈥� 35 inches; March 12, Minnesota River, Scott County; caught by Elliott Feldman of Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin.
- Smallmouth bass 鈥� 22 3/4 inches; June 25, Basswood Lake, Lake County; caught by Xavier Bradley-Rael of Omaha, Nebraska.
Kelsey Vanderheyden of Stanchfield, Minnesota, caught and released this 42.5-inch lake trout on Lake Superior off Duluth on April 21. It's now been confirmed as the official new catch-and-release state record lake trout by the DNR. Contributed / Minnesota DNR
DNR officials say they have seen a burst of interest in anglers submitting entries for new state record categories.
鈥淪eeing all these new records is fantastic, and we鈥檙e really pleased with how anglers have participated in the program so far,鈥� said Mandy Erickson, fisheries program consultant. 鈥淲e expect to keep posting more records as more anglers hear about how to certify a record and as more time passes.鈥�
Complete record information and instructions for how to certify a state record fish, are available on the Minnesota DNR state record fish webpage at
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The Trust Project
