Catching big fish is why we’re all so addicted to this awesome sport. You’ll never know when the next world-record bass will be caught! Each year, we do our best to keep tabs on the biggest fish being caught around the country and it seems as if 2021 was an especially good year for huge fish catches. As we wind down the year and get ramped up for an awesome 2022, we wanted to compile a list of the best big fish catches of this past year. Whether it was bass, crappie, bluegill or musky, anglers really put on a show this year.
We hope you all have a great year on the water and we look forward to seeing all of your big fish catches!
16-pound Bass Caught in Texas
A giant 16.4-pound bass was caught by Joe McKay on O.H. Ivie Lake in Texas this past February. If you’re not familiar with O.H. Ivie, it’s a reservoir on the Colorado and Concho Rivers located 55 miles east of San Angelo, Texas. It was constructed in 1990 and covers over 19,000 acres.
See more photos and read the full story here.
World-Record Smallmouth/Largemouth Hybrid Bass Caught
A 7.60-pound smallmouth/largemouth hybrid bass caught on Mar. 1, 2021 by Wyatt Frankens on O.H. Ivie Lake was certified as the new Texas state record by Texas Parks and Wildlife. Not only is it the state record, but it was also certified as the new world record as well, according to the IGFA.
See more photos and read the full story here.
8 Bass Over 13 Pounds Caught in 10 Days in Texas
Despite cold temperatures and an unprecedented winter storm, February proved to be a banner month for the Texas ShareLunker program. From February 19th through the 28th, anglers reeled in eight Legacy Class largemouth bass. Six Lunkers were from O.H. Ivie, one from Conroe, and one from Lake Travis, bringing the season total to 12.
See more photos and read the full story here.
Angler Catches State-Record Smallmouth Bass
Tournament angler Troy Diede caught the largest smallmouth bass in South Dakota history. His July catch from Lake Oahe was approved by South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks as an official state record. The monster fish measured 20 3/4 inches and weighed 7 pounds, 4.7 ounces.
See more photos and read the full story here.
Angler Catches California State-Record Crappie
Clear Lake, California angler Dave Burruss set the new California state record for a black crappie on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2021 when he caught this 4-pound, 5.44-ounce fish. The old state record stood for 46 years at 4 pounds, 1 ounce and was caught out of New Hogan Lake by Wilma Honey in 1975.
Jocumsen Catches 10-pound Bass on Camera with Wired2fish
The quest for a personal best bass — it’s part of what drives hardcore red-blooded anglers every day we’re on the water. Well, our Wired2fish team was fortunate enough to film Bassmaster Elite Series pro Carl Jocumsen catch one of his personal bests in April on a public lake in Texas (on 3 separate cameras!).
Watch the full video here and catch the whole story here.
Angler Sets State Record with Giant Crappie
62-year-old Roy Isaac is the proud owner of the New York state record white crappie after catching a monster specimen from Sleepy Hollow Lake in Greene County, N.Y.
Although Sleepy Hollow Lake is located within a private residential community, Isaac had permission to fish from the boat docks because his friend lives in the community. While fishing recently with his 14-year-old son, Isaac’s ultralight shiner and split-shot rig was eaten in 25 feet of water by what he thought was a bass. When the fish came to surface, however, he quickly realized it was a record-caliber white crappie.
See more photos and read the full story here.
Pending Record Musky Caught in Minnesota
On Monday, Nov. 22, 2021, Noah Sprengeler of Minnetonka, Minn. and friends Kevin Kray and Zack Skoglund had the evening of all evenings to remember in fishing while out on Mille Lacs Lake. Sprengeler landed what will likely be the new state record muskellunge weighing 55 pounds, 14.8 ounces. The fish measured 57 3/4 inches long with a 29-inch girth.
See more photos and read the full story here.
Two Nearly Record Crappie Caught in Louisiana
Two big crappie hit the scale this year that nearly eclipsed top honors for state record crappie, one coming in as second-largest ever white crappie in Louisiana. Ironically enough, both were caught fishing on the same small body of water and both were caught on the same hand-tied jigs.
See more photos and read the full story here.
Pending Record Shoal Bass Caught
There are several types of bass on anglers’ bucket lists, including smallmouth, largemouth and spotted bass. But one of the coolest might be shoal bass. Joseph Matthew McWhorter was fishing on the Chattahoochee River near Columbus, Ga. and caught what may be the new shoal bass record for Georgia.
See more photos and read the full story here.
World-Record Redear Sunfish Caught
While fishing on Lake Havasu in Arizona, angler Thomas Farchione of Waterford, Wisconsin caught the world-record redear sunfish. The monster fish weighed 6.30 pounds with a 17-inch length and a 20-inch girth. According to a Facebook post, Farchione caught the possible record on a live nightcrawler on a drop shot rig.
See more photos and read the full story here.
State-Record Largemouth Bass Caught while Trout Fishing
Brandon Wright smashed the 12-year-old previous largemouth bass record of 8.8 pounds with his bass weighing 9.575 pounds. The fish came out of Lake Elmo near Billings Heights, Montana. Wright has lived in Billings for 4 years, originally hailing from Texas.
