Capt. Jordan Korzenowski (left) and client Steven Gotchie with a lake trout that could have topped Minnesota’s longstanding state record.
In an earlier Grand View Outdoors spotlight article, we highlighted Capt. Jordan Korzenowski of FishNorthMN, a Lake Superior charter business operating out of Duluth, Minnesota. Korzenowski made headlines recently because of a massive lake trout landed in his boat, True North.
Korzenowski told the Duluth News Tribune: “It was 45 1/2-inches long with a 30 1/8-inch girth. If you plug those numbers into the fish calculator for lake trout, it comes back at 51.6 pounds.’’
Considering the current Minnesota state record lake trout weighed 43.5 pounds (caught in 1955 from Lake Superior), it’s not a stretch to think the fish taken aboard True North on Aug. 9, 2019, could have topped it.
“I’m not going to claim this fish was a new state record. But it’s the biggest fish caught around this part of the lake in a long time,’’ Korzenowski said. “I just feel humble to be part of it. And I think it’s cool that it’s back out there for another angler to catch.”
So why did Korzenowski’s client, Steven Gotchie, release the possible state record? “They're paying me to catch fish, so it’s their call,’’ Korzenowski said. “But in this case, he wanted to let it swim.”
Note: Korzenowski says the oldest and biggest lake trout are the best spawners. He encourages his clients to release lakers measuring more than 30 inches, unless the person plans to mount the fish. Smaller fish are kept to eat. Of course, Gotchie could always have a lifelike fish replica made of his trophy fish because he has decent photographs as well as accurate length and girth measurements.
The good news for other Lake Superior anglers is this fish is still swimming and could be caught again. Korzenowski said the laker “rocketed straight down to the bottom. It came out of very cold water, and even at the surface we were at 58-degree water, so it was cold enough for a healthy release.”
To add some perspective to this amazing catch, readers should know that most lake trout caught by charter boats out of Duluth weigh 2-5 pounds. A 12-pound laker is a real good one for this portion of Lake Superior, and according to well-respected captains such as Korzenowski, anything close to 20 pounds is a lake trout of a lifetime.
FishNorthMN Contact/Location Info
For more information on FishNorthMN, visit www.fishnorthmn.com. To book a trip, contact Capt. Jordan Korzenowski at (218) 260-8983, jordan@fishnorthmn.com; or his partner, Capt. Kent Paulsen (218) 343-8049, kent@fishnorthmn.com.
To see where Korzenowski and Paulsen dock their two charter boats on Lake Superior, enter this address into your mapping app: Lakehead Boat Basin, 1000 Minnesota Ave., Duluth, Minnesota.
