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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Dale Bowman

Really big king & lifetime toothy critter: Two Fishes of Week

Pete Merkel with a really big Chinook out of North Point.

Pete Merkel caught a 22-pound, 36-inch Chinook Saturday out of Winthrop Harbor.

``It hit a coho rig behind a Dipsy to our surprise,’’ his cousin Ryan Merkel of Sleepy Hollow emailed. ``Crazy fight, it jumped before getting in our downrigger lines. Right after we landed it, the storms chased us off the water.’’

Now going inland to double up on FOTW. Jeff Bland of Downers Grove caught the fish of his lifetime, a 44-inch muskie on an Illinois lake.

``Jeff Bland started fishing about five years ago with me,’’ his friend Larry Narro messaged.

Resized/Sun-Times
Jeff Bland with his Fish of a Lifetime, a 44-inch muskie from an Illinois lake.

FOTW, the celebration of big fish and their stories around Chicago fishing, runs Wednesdays in the Sun-Times. Submit nominations on Facebook (Dale Bowman), on Twitter and Instagram (@BowmanOutside) or email (BowmanOutside@gmail.com).

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