World Record Fish of 2024
Angler Snags World Record Paddlefish
Paddlefish snagging season is off to a hot start after a Kansas angler caught the world record paddlefish on the Lake of the Ozarks. This fish came on opening weekend and left all anglers involved in shock. The Missouri Department of Conservation announced that Chad Williams of Olathe, Kansas had caught the record fish on March 17th, 2024. This Paddlefish weighed in at a whopping 164 pounds and 13 ounces. This fish not only surpasses the previous state record of 140 pounds, but also the previous world record of 164 pounds. Read more…
Missouri Angler Catches World Record Bighead Carp on Crankbait
The Missouri Department of Conservation recently announced that George Chance caught the state record bighead carp on Tuesday, March 19. The fish weighed a whopping 97 pounds, not only beating the state record, but also setting a new world record. The previous world record bighead carp weighed in at 90 pounds. Chance fought this fish for roughly 20 minutes. He was fishing from the bank when he hooked this record fish bouncing a crankbait off the bottom. Chance was finally able to land the fish using a hay hook, quickly pulling it to shore. Read more…
All-Tackle IGFA Record Tiger Muskie Caught on Custom Swimbait
Dan Caricaburu-Lundin was fishing Montana’s Ackley Lake on May 20, 2024 in his kayak when he landed what proved to be the new International Game Fish Association’s all-tackle length world record tiger muskie, a cross of muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) and northern pike (Esox lucius). After what Caricaburu describes as a tough fight that almost flipped him, he landed the 45.28-inch (115-centimeter) tiger muskie, which barely fit in his net. Making matters even sweeter, he caught the fish on a custom swimbait he built for just such an occasion. Read more…
Record-Chaser Art Weston Lands 54-Inch World Record Muskie in Minnesota
It looks like there is a new IGFA all-tackle world record muskie inbound! The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) recently announced that Art Weston, famous in fishing circles for his aptitude for catching record fish, landed a huge 54.33 inch (138 centimeter) muskie on Lake Mille Lacs in Garrison, Minnesota on Oct. 29 along with Nolan Sprengler. The fish will almost certainly crush the current all-tackle length division record. Read more…
State Record Fish of 2024
Record Breaking Catfish Sets New Standard in West Virginia
Angler Michael John Drake has left an indelible mark on West Virginia’s fishing history by securing the state’s record blue catfish with a remarkable catch in December 2023. Drake’s solo fishing expedition near Gallipollis yielded a blue catfish weighing an impressive 69.45 pounds, surpassing the previous state record by more than 2 pounds. Read more…
Georgia Angler Catches Record Yellow Perch
The state fish record for yellow perch is tied in Georgia. Angler Emerson Mulhall of Cumming, Ga. reeled in a whopping 2-pound, 9-ounce, 16-inch fish on Feb. 18 on Lake Burton, tying the current state record established in 2013, according to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Resources Division (WRD). Read more…
Pending Indiana State Record Smallmouth Caught
Indiana is not the first place anglers think of when you talk trophy bass fishing, but one angler is definitely turning heads in that direction after this past weekend. Rex Remington caught what should be certified as the new state record smallmouth bass on Monroe Reservoir over the weekend that weighed 8.23 pounds. Monroe isn’t known for smallmouth and you rarely see one weighed in during any tournaments so catching it there has surprised a lot serious smallmouth anglers. Read more…
Brothers Double Up on Record Crappie
Two brothers reeled in the biggest black and white crappies ever caught on the Concho River. Mason and Michael Schwartz caught the pending-record black and white crappie in early March according to Texas Parks & Wildlife. Texas Parks and Wildlife stated that it was Mason Schwartz who caught the record black crappie, weighing in at 1.4 pounds and 12.5 inches. Michael Schwartz boated the record white crappie, weighing in at 1.25 pounds and over 13 inches in length. Read more…
Pittsburgh Angler Catches State Record Yellow Perch
Chuck Main of Ellwood City, Pennsylvania caught the state record yellow perch weighing a whopping 3.02 pounds. This fish was caught on Lake Erie and appears to be the largest ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania. Chuck Main landed this fish off Presque Isle on a jig fitted with a Strike King skirt. The fish was weighed on a certified scale at Reddi Bait in Bridgewater, Beaver County. While this yellow perch is technically the biggest ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania, it will likely be considered a tie. Read more…
Teen Catches 101-Pound Ohio State Record Catfish
Jaylynn Parker of New Richmond Ohio just caught the Ohio state Record blue catfish. Parker is a sophomore at New Richmond High School and grew up fishing with her family on the Ohio River. On Sunday, April, 7, Parker hooked this monster fish using a jug. Jug fishing consists of using a baited hook suspended beneath a large jug or float. The tension from the float sets the hook whenever a fish bites, allowing the angler to then pull the fish to shore by hand. Read more…
12 Year Old Catches Montana Record Sucker Fish
In Trout Creek, Montana, a 12-year-old boy has achieved a remarkable feat in fishing, setting a new state record. Wade Merschat landed a 6.72-pound largescale sucker using a nightcrawler at Noxon Reservoir in Sanders County on June 19. Measuring 25.25 inches in length, the fish surpassed the typical maximum size for largescale suckers in Montana, which is usually under 5 pounds. Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks biologists confirmed and certified Wade’s achievement as the new state record on July. Read more…
State Record Largemouth Bass Caught in NY
Pennsylvania native Jim Britenbaugh was pre-fishing for a tourney on New York’s Cayuga lake on July 11 when he landed what will be the new state record largemouth bass. The behemoth northern-strain largemouth tipped the scales to 12.35 pounds during an official weigh-in by NYS Department of Conservation staff. The new record beats the previous one, which has stood since 1987, by about a pound. Read more…
MS Angler Catches Tennessee Record Cutthroat Trout
Charles Fulton, from Louisville, Mississippi, recently made headlines in Tennessee for catching a record-breaking cutthroat trout weighing 6 pounds and 9 ounces on June 28 below Boone Dam during an annual fishing trip with friends. The previous state record in Tennessee for cutthroat trout was 4 pounds and 12 ounces, caught by a 10-year-old in the Boone tailwater along the Holston River. The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency verified Fulton’s catch and officially recognized it as a state record, issuing him a certificate for the achievement. Read more…
Alabama State Record Bull Shark Caught During Tournament
A fishing crew recently set a new state record by catching a massive bull shark at the Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo in July. The Bon Secour Butchers team, fishing aboard The Orca, landed the 494.5-pound shark at the tournament held on Dauphin Island winning them the $6,000 purse. This surpasses the previous 448-pound bull shark record set back in 2015. Read more…
5-Year Old Catches New York Record Fish
A 5-year-old boy from Buffalo is poised to set a new state fishing record after catching a pumpkinseed fish this past weekend. Gregory Martin reeled in the fish weighing 1 pound 15 ounces while fishing with his family on Oneida Lake late Saturday morning. He was using his aunt Hope Pragacz’s boat from Binghamton, New York. According to Pragacz, Martin used a hook, worm, and drop shot sinker. Read more…
West Virginia State Crappie Record Broken Twice in One Day
You don’t see this every day. Earlier this summer, two buddies caught state record crappie while fishing together at a lake in West Virginia. And they did it on the same day. According to a West Virginia Department of Natural Resources (WVDNR) press release, Lindell Marker and Dwight Priestly were fishing together at Woodrum lake on August 8. At 7:30 a.m., Marker caught a 17.32-inch, 2.85-pound slab of a black crappie, which surpassed the existing record, a 17.32-incher caught in the same lake earlier this summer. Read more…
New York Man Sets State Smallmouth Bass Record
Wired2Fish first reported on Dante Piraino’s enormous bass back in September, when he caught it in New York’s St. Lawrence River. Piraino was fishing a tournament on Sept. 22 when he hooked a 9-pound smallmouth, which was weighed then released. Today, that fish was officially certified as the NY state record smallmouth. In a press release issued by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC), Interim Commissioner Sean Mahar announced that the giant smallie would be the new state record. Piraino’s fish bests the previous record smallmouth, caught in Cayuga Lake in 2022, by 8 ounces. Read more…
Crappie Record Hinges on DNA Test
Iowa might have a new record black crappie — if it passes a DNA test. John Foster was fishing Sundown Lake in Appanoose County on Sept. 24, 2024, when he landed what appeared to be a giant black crappie. The slab measured 18 inches and weighed over 4 pounds, which would make it the new state record for the species. But is it a black crappie? Read more…
Record Blue Catfish Caught in Wake of Hurricane Helene
You’ve heard all about the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Helene. But there was at least one bit of good news connected to the huge storm. Kim Feltner caught a West Virginia state-record blue catfish on the Ohio River in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. And it probably would have never happened if it weren’t for the giant weather front that moved through. Read more…
Missouri State Record 55-lbs. Black Buffalo Caught on 5-lbs. Line
Guide Kris Nelson released the spot lock on his trolling motor and followed the giant, which turned out to be a heavyweight black buffalo, wherever it went so that it wouldn’t break the light line. For a half-hour, the rough fish put up the good fight, testing the light-action tackle and Young’s endurance. When the fish finally surrendered and popped to the surface, everyone in the boat gasped. It took all four anglers to wrestle the fish into the boat. When the black buffalo was weighed on certified scales, it came out at 55 pounds, 9 ounces, enough to break a Missouri state record that had stood for 35 years. Read more…
New Virginia Record Rainbow Trout: Second Chances Are Real
On June 9, a Virginia angler landed a huge 14-pound 12-ounce rainbow trout, breaking the state record, according to a recent release from the state department of wildlife resources. Grant Bentz thought the fish was merely a personal best until he decided to look up the current state record on his drive home, which was set in June 1993 by Michael Lowe with a 14-pound 7-ounce rainbow. Bentz had won out that day, but it wasn’t the first time he hooked up with his record-breaker. Read more…
