Indiana

Fishing

Indiana › Fishing › Record Fish Program

Record Fish Program

Five Record Fish Caught in 2021

Five state record fish, based first on weight and then on length, were caught across Indiana in 2021.

Phillip Duracz of Chesterton set the first new state record with a lake whitefish from Lake Michigan that weighed 9.34 pounds. This broke the existing record by more than a pound and a half.

Wyatt Small of Lanesville set a record in early April with a 2.15-pound skipjack herring on the Ohio River. That record was broken 11 days later with a 2.51-pound skipjack caught on the Ohio by Gary Davis, Jr. of Florence.

The skipjack record wasn’t the only one to fall twice in 2021. Austin Gere of Washington caught a 1.69-pound shortnose gar from Veale Creek in June of 2021. Less than two months later, Fort Wayne resident Kyle Hammond’s first-ever shortnose gar out of the Wabash River, weighing 2.35 pounds, set the final state record of the year.

If you think you have caught a state record fish, follow the steps below to get it certified:

Both weight and length measurements are required for Record Fish entries. The weight measurement must be taken before the fish is frozen, on a scale certified by the State of Indiana to be accurate to 1 ounce. Each DNR fisheries biologist has a certified scale, or you can also find certified scales at meat markets, or farm-related retailers.
If a DNR scale is not used, obtain and submit a copy of the Scale Inspection Report from the owner of the store where the fish was weighed.
Submit a photo or printed meat packaging label (if available) showing the weight of the fish and the location where it was weighed.
After weighing, the fish may be gutted and iced, but not filleted or otherwise cut up. The fish must be available for inspection and identification and may require verification by a DFW fisheries biologist. It is the responsibility of the angler to schedule a time to have the fish examined by a DFW fisheries biologist.
Two witnesses who are not relatives of the angler and who observed the weight and length measurement must sign the entry form, which can be found at fishing.IN.gov.
Provide side-view photograph(s) of the fish and a copy of the angler’s fishing license, if required.

Indiana Fish Records
Species	Weight	Water, County	Angler	Year
Atlantic Salmon	14 lb., 4 oz.	Lake Michigan (Lake)	Gene Tarrant	1979
Bighead Carp	53 lb., 8 oz.	White River (Pike)	Duane Stafford	2000
Blue Catfish	104 lb.	Ohio River	Bruce Midkiff	1999
Bluegill	3 lb., 4 oz.	Pond (Greene)	Harold L. Catey	1972
Bowfin (Dogfish)	16.52 lb.	Mutton Creek (Jackson)	Paul Huber	2009
Brook Trout	3 lb., 15 1/2 oz.	Lake Gage (Steuben)	Sonny Bashore	1973
Brown Trout	29.3 lb.	Lake Michigan (Lake)	Glen Duesing	2006
Buffalo	53.9 lb.	Oak Hill Pond (Gibson)	Kenneth Houchin	2002
Bullhead	4.9 lb.	Potato Creek SP (St. Joseph)	Darren Robertson	1994
Burbot	7 lb., 11 oz.	Lake Michigan	Larry Milicki	1990
Channel Catfish	37 lb., 8 oz.	Lake (Vanderburgh)	Randy E. Jones	1980
Chinook Salmon	38 lb.	Trail Creek (LaPorte)	Rich Baker	1980
Cisco	3 lb., 12 oz.	Big Cedar Lake (Whitley)	Phillip Wisniewski	1980
Coho Salmon	20 lb., 12 oz.	Lake Michigan (LaPorte)	John Beutner	1972
Common Carp	43 lb., 4 oz.	Pike Lake (Kosciusko)	Russell Long	1989
Crappie	4 lb., 11 oz.	Private Lake (Jennings)	Willis Halcomb	1994
Flathead Catfish	79 lb. 8 oz.	White River (Lawrence)	Glen T. Simpson	1966
Flier	3 1/2 oz.	Stream (Jackson)	Harold H. Otte	1983
Freshwater Drum	30 lb.	White River (Martin)	Garland Fellers	1963
Goldeye	2.3 lb.	Wabash River (Vermillion)	Brock Marietta	2008
Grass Carp	69.0 lb.	Pond (Hamilton)	Daniel Goss	2018
Green Sunfish	1 lb., 10 oz.	Pit (Fountain)	Terry Keller	1987
Hybrid Striped Bass	22 lb., 2 oz.	Tippecanoe River (Carroll)	David G. Coffman	2005
Hybrid Walleye	8 lb., 8 oz.	Scottsburg Reservoir (Scott)	Doug Young	1999
Lake Trout	37.55 lb.	Lake Michigan	Tyler Kreighbaum	2016
Lake Whitefish	9.34 lb.	Lake Michigan (Lake)	Phillip Duracz	2021
Largemouth Bass	14 lb., 12 oz.	Lake (Harrison)	Jenifer Schultz	1991
Longnose Gar	22.32 lb.	White River/East Fork (Pike)	Mark Brittain	2008
Mooneye	0.36 lb.	Ohio River (Clark)	Gerald Gallagher	2019
Muskellunge	42 lb., 8 oz.	James Lake (Kosciusko)	Darrin Conley	2002
Northern Pike	30 lb., 2 oz.	Clear Lake (Steuben)	Jack Barnes	1992
Pink Salmon	2 lb., 12 1/2 oz.	Lake Michigan (Lake)	Richard J. Lisac	1985
Rainbow Trout	18 lb., 8 oz.	Clear Lake (Steuben)	Bill Bigger	1988
Redear Sunfish	3 lb., 10 oz.	Lake (Brown)	R. Peckman	1974
Redfin Pickerel	0.86 lb.	Coffee Creek Park Pond (Porter)	Dunkan Fischer	2020
Rock Bass	3 lb.	Sugar Creek (Hancock)	David Thomas	1969
Sauger	6 lb., 1 oz	Tippecanoe River (Carroll)	Mark Bigger	1983
Shortnose Gar	2.35 lb.	Wabash River (Wabash)	Kyle Hammond	2021
Shovelnose Sturgeon	14 lb., 8 oz.	Wabash River (Fountain)	Mike Latoz	1999
Silver Carp	15 lb, 8 oz.	White River/West Fork (Greene)	Daniel Keller	2003
Skipjack Herring	2.51 lb.	Wabash River (Carroll)	Gary Davis Jr.	2021
Smallmouth Bass	7 lb., 4 oz.	Twin Lake (LaGrange)	Dana Yoder	1992
Spotted Bass	5 lb., 5 oz.	Private Lake (Vigo)	Larry Hinesley Jr.	2006
Spotted Gar	6.78 lb.	Gravel Pit (Vermillion)	Nick Waugh	2017
Steelhead Trout	26.62 lb.	Trail Creek (LaPorte)	Evan Nicholson	1999
Striped Bass	39.08 lb.	Cecil M. Harden Lake (Parke)	Jonathan VanHook	2010
Sucker	12 lb., 3.3 oz	White River (Bartholomew)	John Britton	1991
Tiger Muskellunge	24 lb.	Wolf Lake (Lake)	Michael Senics	1995
Tiger Trout	3 lb.	Lake Michigan (Lake)	Mike Ratter	1978
Walleye	14 lb., 4 oz.	Kankakee River (Lake)	Leon Richart	1974
Walleye	14 lb., 4 oz.	Tippecanoe River (Pulaski)	Donald Tedford	1977
Warmouth	1.4 lb.	North Dugger Pit (Sullivan)	Jack Tolbert	2002
White Bass	4 lb., 3 oz.	Lake Freeman (Carroll)	James Wagner	1965
White Catfish	9.72 lb.	Pond (Wabash)	Melissa Grimes	1985
Yellow Bass	2 lb., 15 oz.	Morse Reservoir (Hamilton)	Jim Raymer	2000
Yellow Perch	2 lb., 8 oz.	Gravel Pit (Vigo)	Roy W. Burkel Jr.	1981