One of many best points of interest to fishing is the aspect of likelihood—the prospect that, on any given day, one might encounter a fish of epic proportions. Whether or not it’s a 50-pound striped bass within the surf, a double-digit trout by a gap within the ice, or a jumbo mahi-mahi within the canyons, intriguing tales of man versus fish entice us to persist in our pursuit of a trophy, hoping that someday, we are going to cross paths with a fish of record-breaking caliber. Listed here are ten record-breaking fish from 2024 to maintain these hopes alive because the 2025 fishing season begins.
Saltwater Information
Rhode Island State-Report Tautog
For Captain Rob Taylor of Newport Sportfishing Charters, the hunt for extra-large tautog is rather more than a sport of likelihood. Based mostly on circumstances, location, and the time of the season, Taylor adjusts each his sort out and method to place his charters in the very best place for achievement. It’s this form of meticulous preparation, coupled with a educated captain’s expertise, that helped Vinny Simms, Jr. land a record-breaking tautog on October 21, 2024.
Simms, on the time, hadn’t wrangled a tautog bigger than 6 kilos, but when there’s one place to shatter a personal-best blackfish, it’s alongside the craggy coast of Rhode Island. Taylor maneuvered his boat, the Reel E-Z, over a chunk of construction that he found whereas cast-netting menhaden within the spring. The primary few drops yielded some pesky black sea bass, adopted by a a lot bigger fish that compelled Simms to lock the drag on his spinning reel. With Taylor strolling him by how one can play the fish, they managed to web it, even after the monster tog, being winched to the floor, took a drag-searing run again to the underside.
On board the Reel E-Z, the fish measured 34 inches, with an unofficial weight that surpassed 20 kilos on Taylor’s Boga Grip. Again on land, the licensed scale at Quaker Lane Bait and Sort out learn 22 kilos, 5.28 ounces, besting the earlier state file by 12 ounces in weight and a pair of inches in size.
The story of this record-breaking tautog is a testomony to an angler’s willingness to study from the captain, who took an opportunity on a brand new piece of backside construction and coached his buyer towards a hard-to-beat personal-best blackfish. It’s the form of expertise that retains hopeful anglers returning to the water searching for a trophy of their very own.
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Junior World-Report White Marlin
On August 16, 2024, Nantucket-based surf-fishing information Elliot Sudal guided 12-year-old Stone Fornes to the brand new junior world-record white marlin—a 118.5-pound fish that surpassed the earlier file, set in 2011 by Matthew Sheehan of Martha’s Winery, by practically 17 kilos.
Maryland State-Report Blueline Tilefish
On August 24, 2024, whereas fishing in Poorman’s Canyon with Captain Chris Little of Talkin’ Trash Sportfishing Charters in Ocean Metropolis, London J. Anthony set the brand new Maryland state file for blueline tilefish on a bit of ballyhoo. The 20.6-pound, 37.25-inch tilefish beat the earlier file, caught by Robert Purcell in September 2012, by a mere 6 ounces.
Rhode Island State-Report Mahi-Mahi
In late August, Karl Mohr of New York was fishing with father/son duo Captain Andy Dangelo and AJ Dangelo of Maridee Charters once they hooked right into a double-header of mahi-mahi whereas trolling a Sterling Sort out Lumos tracker bar.
Though Rhode Island Division of Environmental Administration doesn’t acknowledge mahi as being eligible for state-record rivalry, they do listing dolphin fish underneath “Notable Catches” on the company’s web site. If acknowledged, Mohr’s 37.56-pound, 59-inch mahi will topple the earlier “file”, which has stood since 1995, by 5 kilos and 1 inch.
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Maryland State-Report Yellowedge Grouper
Whereas fishing in Poorman’s Canyon with Captain Chase Eberle of Chasin’ Tides Charters, Jian Feng Li introduced an enormous yellowedge grouper to the boat after it ate a strip of false albacore. The catch was taken to Sundown Marina in Ocean Metropolis, the place a Maryland Division of Pure Assets biologist confirmed the species. There, the 43-inch fish weighed in proper at 38 kilos, nearly 11 kilos wanting the 48.6-pound world file.
World-Report Atlantic Halibut
On July 22, throughout a tuna journey off Cape Cod with Captain Ian Leonard, Alexandra Spring hooked a 33-pound, 14-ounce Atlantic halibut which, in her personal phrases, “felt like reeling in a door from the underside of the ocean.” Upon submitting particular lengths of line and chief materials—together with the A87 diamond jig that caught the fish—to the IGFA, the braided line examined for 30-pounds of breaking power. Her catch bested the earlier 30-pound line class world file for Atlantic halibut, which was caught in Greenland through the Eighties. Spring now holds ten IGFA-certified world information.
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Freshwater Information
Rhode Island State-Report Rainbow Trout
Whereas ice fishing on Peck Pond on January 18, 2024, Zachary Taylor of Burrillville, RI, caught a 15-pound, 12-ounce rainbow trout by a six-inch gap within the ice, shattering the earlier state file––which was set in 2020––of 12 kilos, 9 ounces.
Maryland State-Report Rainbow Trout
Whereas fishing in Antietam Creek on February 10, 2024, Jean-Philippe Lartigue of Bethesda, MD, set the brand new state file for rainbow trout. His whopping 17.44-pound fish toppled the longstanding file of 14.2 kilos set by Dave Schroyer in October 1987.
New York State-Report Largemouth Bass
On July 11, 2024, throughout match follow on Cayuga Lake, Jim Britenbaugh of Gettysburg, PA, caught and launched the brand new state-record largemouth bass after it was licensed by New York State Division of Environmental Conservation officers on the boat launch. The 12-pound, 6-ounce bass dethroned John Higbie’s 11-pound, 4-ounce file that was caught in September 1987.
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New York State-Report Smallmouth Bass
On September 22, 2024, Dante Piraino of Baldwinsville, NY, caught and launched a 9-pound, 23.12-inch smallmouth bass on the St. Lawrence River. Piraino’s catch bested the earlier state-record smallmouth, caught in Cayuga Lake in 2022, by simply 8 ounces, stealing the record-breaking bass crown from Cayuga.
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Associated Content material
5 Loopy Catches from 2024
