Michigan DNR reports finding 15-pound walleye in Muskegon River

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources said its fisheries staff found a walleye weighing at 15 pounds in the Muskegon River during spring 2026. (Michigan Department of Natural Resources/WWJ via CNN Newsource)

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sparked attention and questions after it reported that a walleye weighed in at 15 pounds during recent fish egg collection efforts.

The fisheries staff had been working on the Muskegon River, with 97 pairs of walleye spawned on March 31 and an additional 60 pairs on April 2.

The DNR included this note: “the largest fish collected weighed in at an impressive 15 lbs!”

The DNR recreational stocking efforts include lake trout, brown trout, walleye and other species at locations across the state. The Metro Detroit fish stocking locations include walleye placed in Pontiac Lake and rainbow trout in the Clinton River.

The fish are weighed prior to egg collection, and that’s how the 15-pound walleye was verified, the DNR said.

The largest walleye recorded in Michigan weighed 17.19 pounds, and was caught in 1951 in Pine River in Manistee County, the DNR reports.