STEVENSVILLE, MI – Southwestern Michigan has produced a new state record, breaking the old record set 30 years ago.

Joel Heeringa of St. Joseph caught the hybrid sunfish in Lake Anne in Grand Mere State Park in Berrien County on July 9th.

The record fish, which Heeringa caught while still-fishing with a crawler, weighed 1.8 pounds and measured 11.7 inches.

The fish beats the previous hybrid sunfish state record held by two fish: one caught May 28, 1988, by Daniel Manville on Arbutus Lake in Grand Traverse County and one caught June 1, 1988, by Lloyd Jarman, Jr. on Doan’s Lake in Allegan County. Both of those fish weighed 1.44 pounds.


The record was verified by Brian Gunderman, a DNR fisheries unit manager for southern Lake Michigan. Because the fish was believed to be a hybrid, additional identification was required, delaying final confirmation. The fish also was examined by University of Michigan fisheries experts who confirmed it indeed was a hybrid sunfish.

State records in Michigan are recognized by weight only. To qualify for a state record, fish must exceed the current listed state-record weight and identification must be verified by a DNR fisheries biologist.