'Definitely a fish of a lifetime': Erie angler catches 'unicorn' species for Lake Erie

A Pennsylvania angler caught his ‘unicorn’ fish Sunday in Erie.

Colton Alex, 18, of Erie, was fishing in a tournament in Lake Erie when he hooked into a large Atlantic Salmon.

This type of salmon is rarely found in Lake Erie, especially larger ones. Alex reeled in a 10.4-pound fish that measured 30 inches long.

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He grew up in a fishing family and has caught Atlantics elsewhere, but this is a first for him in Erie.

“This is probably the rarest catch I’ve had on Lake Erie,” he said in a telephone interview. “Definitely, it’s kind of a unicorn of a fish for sure.”

How rare are Atlantic salmon in Lake Erie?

Mark Haffley, Lake Erie Unit Fisheries biologist for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, reports Atlantic salmon are rare in Lake Erie.

“We have seen some each year caught in our tributary fishery. They are being stocked in the southern tip of Lake Huron and that is more than likely how they are getting here,” he said through an email.

“All of the salmon being caught in Lake Erie are adding to the diversity of the catches for our anglers but with the small amount of coldwater habitat available to trout species, these few salmon being caught will continue to occur but will remain uncommon,” he said.

Salmon was a tournament surprise

Alex is an avid angler who enjoys fishing in tournaments.

“I’ve been fishing my entire life on Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, tons of tournaments,” he said, including that his father Pete Alex, owns Vision Quest Sport Fishing charters in Erie. “I’ve caught my fair share of salmon. I caught Atlantics in Ontario, but I never caught one in Erie or even seen one being caught and it was by far the biggest one I even heard of being caught."

He was fishing in a walleye and steelhead tournament with Capt. Joe Nemet of Nemesis Sport Fishing when the fish struck.

“It fought like a bigger steelhead, once it was netted, as soon as I felt the jaw, saw the jaw, I thought OK, this is a coho (salmon), but as soon as I saw the spots, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this is an Atlantic Salmon,” Colton Alex said.

After the catch, he focused on getting his lure back out to continue competing in the fishing tournament.

“I was excited about it but definitely more focused on the tournament. But I was more excited about it after the tournament,” he said.

His captain for the day was impressed with the catch, too. His boat went out of the Port of Erie and they were fishing in about 110 feet of water.

“The fish hit a diver rod that was about 65-feet down with a spoon,” Nemet said. “It put up a pretty good fight and we boated it. To my amazement, it had spots on it and I was like, ‘It has spots on it, that’s kind of weird.’ I’ve caught a bunch of Atlantic salmon, but usually on Lake Ontario and usually they are pretty small and they are really pretty fish and when you catch one you know that they are different,” he said, adding. “Wow, that’s crazy.”

The largest one Nemet, 46, has netted in the past was about 25 inches.

“This one was 30 inches long and 10.4 pounds. It was the biggest Atlantic salmon I’ve ever seen," he said. "If you were going to tell me I was going to catch a 10.4-pound Atlantic salmon, I would tell you it was probably going to be on Lake Ontario, not Lake Erie."

Nemet also believes the salmon may have arrived in Erie from Lake Huron. which is north of Lake Erie and adjacent to Michigan. This fish doesn’t have its adipose fin and he believes that fin is removed from Atlantics stocked in Lake Huron. 

“I would say that most of the other salmon that are found in Erie, somehow made their way from Huron. They are definitely not coming up from Ontario because they can’t get up the Niagara Falls,” Nemet said. “They definitely aren't coming from the east, they have to come from the west.”

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What other salmon species are caught in Lake Erie?

Other species of salmon that are occasionally found in Erie include pink, chinook (king) and coho.

“Every year, I hear of maybe just a handful of kings caught. I’ve only heard of maybe four or five Atlantic salmon caught ever on Lake Erie and when you catch them they are real small,” Nemet said. He posted a photo of the fish to social media saying it was as rare as a unicorn and one of his friends replied this is a yeti, it’s even more rare.

Nemet said the large fish was probably swimming alone as they didn’t detect others that day.

“I’ve never had multiple salmon bites on Lake Erie,” he said. “Getting salmon here is uncommon and getting an Atlantic here is even more uncommon. It’s definitely a fish of a lifetime.”

What did the angler do with the salmon?

The meat from the fish was donated to S.O.N.S. (Save Our Native Species) of Lake Erie to be used for one of the organization’s fish dinners.

Alex said he plans to have a replica mount made to preserve the memory, but “I was happy to donate it, too.” Nemet said he hopes to get a replica mount, too. “I will put one on my wall and maybe he will put one on his wall,” he said.

Alex is thankful for the catch and hopes others find salmon, too.

“It was a really cool catch and I would encourage people to go fish farther out in the lake and in deeper water if they have a goal of catching a Lake Erie salmon. Go do it. Put the time in. It’s not easy, but it’s a lot more possible than most people think,” Alex said.

Brian Whipkey is the outdoors columnist for USA TODAY Network sites in Pennsylvania. Contact him at[email protected] and sign up for our weekly Go Outdoors PA newsletter email on this website's homepage under your login name. Follow him on Facebook@whipkeyoutdoors.