While searching for baitfish along the flooded banks of the Grand River, angler Sedrick Neinhuis spotted unusually large gizzard shad pushing up into the shallow shoulders of the river.
He landed one certified as a new Michigan record by Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Biologist Matt Diana, weighing 4.45 pounds and measuring 20.3 inches long.
“Most of these big gizzard shad are Lake Michigan fish or are living in the lower Grand River. This time of year, they tend to push up though as far as they can. So, they were congregated below the 6th Street Dam in Grand Rapids where they can't get past that point because it's a block for them on their migration.”
Gizzard shad congregate in large schools and are considered filter feeders with some unusual features.
“They have gill rakers, which are basically bony structures in their gills that strain the water, allowing them to eat that small food that filters into their stomach. And they have kind of a unique structure, a gizzard structure, kind of like birds, where it grinds up that
material and allows them to digest it.”
While native to the Great Lakes and major connecting rivers, Diana warns gizzard shad can be invasive in inland lakes, where they stir up sediment and disrupt the ecosystem.
He notes, despite the recent record breaker, there are likely even bigger ones in the Grand River.
“They were targeting the biggest ones they could get, but it was pretty evident from just being able to view them, that there were several other big fish in the river at the time as well.”
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