The state of Wisconsin has a new record yellow bass! On April 22, angler Vairin Meesouk caught an absolute toilet lid casting from the shore of Lake Mendota, the northernmost and largest of the four lakes in Madison, Wisconsin.
Emma Macek, a public information officer with the state Department of Natural Resources told Wired2Fish that Meesouk’s fish has been confirmed as the new state hook-and-line record yellow bass with a weight of 2 pounds, 13.8 ounces and a length of 16.5 inches.
While the record is still technically pending, Meesouk’s catch will knock a 2-pound, 12-ounce fish caught through the ice from Lake Waubesa on Feb. 13, 2013 out of the top spot by 1.8 ounces.
While Meesouk hasn’t spoken or posted about the catch, a friend of his blew up his spot on reddit, posting as u/tacophagist on r/fishing: “My buddy just caught the state record yellow bass. 2.86lbs, 16.5″. He got it all verified with the DNR yesterday. What a beast!” and included the photo above.
Tim Parks, a senior biologist with the DNR, told Outdoor Life that he met Meesouk and examined his catch after he contacted the agency’s local office. The angler had already caught a smaller white bass and could readily see the much larger fish was different, so he weighed it on a certified scale at a meat market and realized it might be a record. Parks confirmed it was indeed a yellow bass and certified the weight. He added that it was caught in an area known for white bass, but that yellow bass are fairly rare.
The International Game Fish Association (IGFA) world record yellow bass was caught on the Morse Reservoir in Indiana in 2023. It weighed 4 pounds, 5 ounces — it beat out a 2000 record fish from the same lake that weighted 2.95 pounds. The IGFA record hybrid yellow bass (crossed with white bass) is 4 pounds even and was caught from the Lake Fork Reservoir in Texas in 2023.
The species is a member of the Moronidae family that is similar to other species in the family, including white bass and stripers. The yellow bass is distinguishable from both by offset lateral stripes above the anal fin and by the fact that they do not possess tooth patches on the tongue. Yellow bass have nine to 10 anal rays with a back that is typically dark olive green and an abdomen and sides that are a silvery yellow.
Yellow bass are primarily found in clear waters of the Mississippi River, from Minnesota down to Louisiana — they’re also found in the Trinity River, the Tennessee River, and in lakes surrounding those rivers.
Parks told OL that Meesouk is avoiding attention over the catch and that he didn’t know if he filleted the bass or if he’ll have a mount made.
