Brian Schram doesn’t make his living as a fisherman, but he proved himself a rather impressive one after he netted a 38-inch long, 14-pound Northern Pike on Long Lake several weeks ago.
Schram, who hails from the Traverse City area but performs weekly at the Sagebrush Cantina in Lake Orion with his band, was fishing on Long Lake with his friend Kirtus Siemash, a Lake Orion resident, when he caught the fish. The duo said they fish regularly in Lake Orion but usually stick to Bunny Run Lake.
“We usually go twice a week,” Siemash said.
Schram, 23, is having the fish mounted and said it’s the biggest pike he’s ever caught.
“I once caught a 35-pound salmon when I was in Traverse City,” he said.
“We were in a little paddle boat,” Schram said of his day on Long Lake. “When you catch (a pike), it’s usually about five pounds. It was the fattest Northern I’ve ever seen.”
“We took a chance on Long Lake and we were using spinner bait,” Siemash said. “We wanted to see what was in that lake, so we carried our boat over there.”
“I knew something was over there,” said Schram.
Schram, who plays guitar and sings in his band the Brian Schram Band, said he met Siemash after he started performing at Sagebrush, where Siemash bartends. Schram formerly played guitar for rock artist Uncle Kracker, and has appeared with the singer on Jay Leno, MTV and Regis and Kelly. Schram recently signed his own deal with Maverick Records, Madonna’s record company.
The Brian Schram Band performs every Thursday night at Sagebrush Cantina, and will perform at Bonzai Bob’s in Lake Orion on Aug. 15.