With so many excellent fishing spots in California, it's no wonder there have been some impressive catches in the state over the years.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife keeps a current list, the
Fishing and Diving Records, of the record-breaking fish of every kind taken from the state’s waters. These records include the type of fish caught, location caught, weight of fish, length of fish, the fisher, and the date caught.
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Here are some of the most impressive catches from California’s freshwater lakes and rivers:
• In May 1992, a 67-pound, 8-ounce striped bass was caught in Merced County at the O’Neill Forebay by Hank Ferguson.
• More than a decade later in April 2003, Billy Joe Potter caught a huge flathead catfish, weighing in at 72 pounds, 14 ounces and 53.5 inches in length. He found the massive fish in the Colorado River.
• The third largest freshwater fish on record for California, an 88-pound Chinook salmon, was caught in the Sacramento River in November 1979.
• A blue catfish found in the San Vincente Reservoir in San Diego County in July 2008, was a 113-pound, 5-ounce monster caught by Steve Oudomsouk. The fish was 57 inches long and 39 inches in girth.
• The largest freshwater fish on record for California is a white sturgeon. Caught by Joey Pallotta in July 1983, this huge fish weighed an amazing 468 pounds. This record has remained intact for more than 30 years.
However, not all record-setting fish are big ones. The state’s record for the lightest freshwater fish is for a warmouth sunfish weighing only 15 ounces. Caught by Russell Jacobs in May of 2004, this fish was found in Hensley Lake in San Bernardino County. Though it seems a fish weighing less than a pound would be rather small, it was actually 9 inches long and nearly 9 inches in girth.
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