Bill, the state record in MI dates back to 1947. 21" and 3.5 lbs seems impossible. This record was caught in a small lake right by lake Superior in the far north (marquette county) of the UP almost as far north as Michigan gets. Only Copper Harbor point is further north. Think far north enough to almost have permafrost. And how would this non-descript lake with a very short warm water growing season ever produce a freaky large YP? Has the lake every produced anything else close?
I think some record fish are actual freaks!
When I was in Hawaii for my honeymoon, we saw a near miss for the blue marlin world record. The 1199# fish was actually misshapen and was not sleek at all like the other large marlin that were caught in the tournament.
Most of the largest humans in the world have typically had some type of endocrine anomaly (or something similar).
Are some of the old record fish actually freaks? [I do NOT intend for that word to apply to any humans.] If so, will someone try to recreate the hormone problem on purpose to grow and catch the world record LMB? (I have seen estimates that such a fish would be worth more than $1,000,000.)
