As the old saying goes; “all records were meant to be broken,” and Minnesota fishermen are showing that truism with a bumper crop of oversize fish recorded in 2026.
Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has certified all 9 new fish records. Two are new record-weight catches that mandates an angler have the fish weighed on a certified scale in front of witnesses.
The other seven state records have been in the catch-and-release category. This record fish division requires an angler to provide a photo of the fish with its length measurement evident. The photo also must clearly show the fish so DNR staff can positively identify the species. DNR also wants to ensure that each fish is released in good condition – which is proven by anglers in release-fish photos or videos.
“It’s fantastic to see these great fish and really shows what amazing fishing opportunities we have in Minnesota,” said Mandy Erickson with the state DNR. “We’re thrilled that so many people have participated in the state record fish program. This is a fun way to recognize anglers and highlight some of the impressive fish being caught throughout the state.”
Here are the 9 new Minnesota fish records certified by the DNR.
Black Crappie
David Selle, 48, of Lino Lakes, Minnesota was fishing 200-acre Cedar Lake within sight of Minneapolis’ skyline the evening of May 3rd. He was catching good size crappies and some largemouth bass during a bug hatch that had turned on fish to feed late that afternoon.
“It was a perfect night for fishing and there were bugs in the air that we call ‘fish flies’,” Selle tells Wired2fish. “The fish were so turned on coming up to feed on the flies they were like sharks.”
“It was the last light of day when I hooked the fish, fought it to the boat, and we netted it,” said Selle. “We knew it was a big one, and we weighed it on a scale we had in the boat.”
The fish was weighed on certified scales at a DNR office the next day where the crappie weighed 4.1 pounds, with an 18-inch length, clinching the Minnesota black crappie record.
Lake Sturgeon
Travis Keating with some good buddies from Fargo, North Dakota had traveled to the Rainy River in far northern Minnesota the weekend of April 16th. They trailered their three boats three hours to fish the river mouth where it meets famed Lake of the Woods at Four Mile Bay, located on the Minnesota/Ontario border.
“We fish it every year in April because the big sturgeon are staging at the river mouth for spawning,” Keating said. “The wind chill was below zero and the wind was awful. Fishing was pretty rugged.”
Keating and two pals were in an anchored boat in 25-feet of water using globs of earthworms as bait. It was dusk when Travis hooked a giant fish.
He battled it for an hour using heavy bait-casting tackle and 85-pound test braided line, before he got it to their boat and wrestled it aboard because it wouldn’t fit in their landing net.
The massive fish measured 80 inches long, with a 38-inch girth. A picture shows the sturgeon lying beside Travis on their boat deck and the fish is about as big as he is.
Using Minnesota DNR charts calculating length-girth measurements, the fish weighed an estimated 165 pounds. Travis’ sturgeon tops the previous catch-and-release record by two inches in length.
Two Record Lake Trout
According to Minnesota’s DNR, two anglers caught and released record lake trout this spring, both from Lake Superior in Lake County. The first angler was Matthew Hammer of White Bear Township, who caught a lake trout that was 44 inches long on April 13th. The fish eked out a new record by .75 inches over the previous record-holder.
Joe Bouta of Benson landed and released a 45.5-inch laker in Lake Superior in early May, besting Hammer’s record by 1.5 inches. Remarkably, it was only the second lake trout Bouta had ever caught—the first coming just 10 minutes earlier. Bouta was fishing with his son Andrew and guide Ethan Waytashek of Lake Superior Jigging Guide Service when the fish struck a fresh smelt jig in about 100 feet of water. After a 10-minute fight, Waytashek measured the trout and realized it had set a new state record.
“It took about 10 minutes to get the fish in, and when I netted it I didn’t think it was that big,” Waytashek told Wired2fish. “I’ve caught so many big trout now I really don’t get that phased by them. I pulled it out of the net and put it on the bump board, and it hit 45.5 inches. I turned around to those guys, and I said, ‘I think we just caught a new state record.”
Bluegill
A giant 2-pound bluegill was caught by Waterville’s Chris Mulcahey last May 29th to become the new Minnesota record bluegill. It topped the previous record by three ounces. Mulcahey landed the oversize sunfish from 12,600-acre Big Stone Lake in Big Stone County, on the Minnesota/South Dakota state line.
Rainbow Trout
Sadie Spatafore (age 12) was fishing the Stewart River with her 15-year-old sister Lucy and dad Dave when she hooked a huge rainbow trout with her 9-foot, 8-weight fly rod on a small orange egg fly.
They were wade-fishing northern Minnesota’s Stewart River for rainbow trout on Mother’s Day, May 10. The trio of family anglers had traveled from their home in Maple Grove, Minnesota to the river on Lake Superior’s north shore to fly fish for spawning lake-run rainbows.
“We fished the north shore rivers several times this spring,” Sadie, a 6th grader, told Wired2fish. “The first couple trips I only caught a few small fish. Our next fishing trip was supposed to be to the Boundary Waters. But when we got there, the lakes still had ice. We decided to spend the weekend fishing the north shore rivers again.
“It was getting toward sunset when I hooked a big one on an egg fly,” Sadie explained. “It fought hard but didn’t jump. Finally, I was able to land it. We measured it and saw that it was 30-inches long [12.5-inch girth], breaking my sister Lucy’s record rainbow she caught two years ago.
“It was such a beautiful fish. We took a few pictures and carefully released it back into the river.”
Lucy made a video of her sister posing with her huge rainbow and releasing it back into the Stewart River. They submitted photos, video and DNR required information to the state fisheries folks. Sadie’s giant 30-inch rainbow now has officially been declared the Minnesota record catch-and-release rainbow trout.
“There is nothing that makes me more proud than having my 12-year-old sister be the person to break my state record,” said Lucy about Sadie’s fish. “It was very special that we were all fishing together again when she broke it.”
Shortnose Gar
Scott County’s Minnesota River was the place where Northfield angler Isaac Richart caught and released a Minnesota record 30.5-inch shortnose gar on June 6th. Richart’s catch is the first shortnose gar record for the state in its catch-and-release division.
Bigmouth Buffalo
Little 67-acre Sweeney Lake not far from Minneapolis gave up a 36.25-inch bigmouth buffalo to angler Ryan Bauman from the town of Golden Valley on April 14. His fish was two inches longer than the previous record.
Blue Sucker
The Dakota County area of Mississippi River gave up a 31.25-inch blue sucker to angler Joe Busch of Cottage Grove, Minnesota on May 16th. It’s the first blue sucker large enough to be entered for a state catch-and-release record, when the division was added to the DNR record program two years ago.
“It’s exciting that some records continue to be broken, like the lake trout, black crappie and bigmouth buffalo, which have been broken several times over the past year,” said DNR’s Mandy Erickson. “Anglers are getting outside, making memories on the water or ice, and sharing their stories with others.”
