Evergreen Park Kids Reel In Mammoth Skamania Steelhead Trout

EVERGREEN PARK, IL -- A pair of Evergreen Park youngsters caught a whopping trout while fishing with their dads and cousins over the Memorial Day weekend. Ten-year-old Michael “Bubbs” Tracy, Jr., and his cousin, Joey “The Bull” Tracy, 8, reeled in a 15-pound, 31-inch Skamania steelhead trout off the Michigan City Lighthouse Pier.

The fish was caught around sunset on May 26. The boys’ dads, uncles as well as eight other Tracy cousins ages four through ten, all watched and helped. Asked how Bubbs and the Bull managed to haul in their big catch, Bubbs’ dad, Michael Sr., replied, “very carefully.”

It was a ten-minute fight,” Michael Sr. said. “The fish literally jumped out of the water three feet three times before the boys landed him. By the time the fish hit the concrete a crowd of 40 people had gathered. Everyone was cheering.”

The Skamania was created as a hybrid strain between a trout and salmon from the hatchery in Washington, where the fish got its name. The hybrid has grown in popularity in Michigan and Indiana waters but are difficult to catch, according to Trouster.com. Skamania don’t typically begin their summer run until after the Fourth of July, and then not reach the Indiana shoreline until the fall, so the boys' May catch is highly unusual.

The whole Tracy clan ate the fish, brined and prepared by their friend Lisa at Dune Billie’s Beach Cafe in Michigan City, IN. They ate the rest of Bubbs' and the Bull’s fish for breakfast, too.

Send your big fish pictures to Patch editor Lorraine Swanson at lorraine.swanson@patch.com. Tell us the length, weight, location where you caught it and when, including the time of day.