This reply is way after 2019 but still fun a fun topic.
Yep, being farther north makes it tough to get really big fish. But I have caught two here that I never believed I would see in Michigan and surely didn't believe were in any of the lakes I was fishing. Until I saw them. But they are out there!
I caught one in April of 2019 and one in May of 2021. Both were fat, one was a little over 22" long and the biggest was a little over 24".
The first, I caught on a chatterbait in a spot that I liked fishing but only went to because someone decided to do laps in their boat all the way around the edges of the first lake I went to. Ha, after about 20 minutes, I realized they weren't going to stop or even slow down, so I went the lake where I caught the fish. I honestly thought it was a big carp until I saw it jump.
The second, I had my my two little guys with me at the lake closest to our house, just messing around off a dock. So, they got to see that and be in the pictures. That one came on a wacky rig Senko on a size 4 circle hook (bend the point in line with the shaft).
I caught a good number of other decent fish that were not nearly as big as the other two (and maybe a couple others around 5) but still big for up here, and they came on jigs, chatterbaits and a whole bunch more on wacky rig Senkos.