(WOWK) – Anglers the world over gather regularly for fishing derbies to see who can land the biggest catch. But record-breaking fish can be caught at any time, weighed on an International Game Fish Association-certified scale at any number of tackle shops or marinas, and compared to the IGFA’s online records database. Sport-fishing enthusiasts can even have their own scales certified by the IGFA for a $40 fee.
Stacker compiled a list of record fish caught in West Virginia using data from Land Big Fish. Fish pictured are not the actual record catch. Keep reading to see which bodies of water in your state hold some of the most massive fish around.
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Bluegill Sunfish
– Weight: 2 lbs 12 oz- Length: 11.7″- Location: unknown pond- Record set by Mark A. Lewis in 1986
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Bowfin
– Weight: 9 lbs 4 oz- Length: 28.43″- Location: Ohio River backwater- Record set by Matt Stender in 2006
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Brook Trout
– Weight: 7 lbs 62 oz- Length: 21.75″- Location: Cheat River- Record set by Robert Anthony Starkey in 2004
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Brown Trout
– Weight: 16 lbs 0 oz- Length: 32″- Location: South Branch- Record set by Paul Barker in 1968
Eden, Janine and Jim // Wikimedia Commons
Buffalo
– Weight: 38 lbs 0 oz- Length: 41″- Location: Little Kanawha River- Record set by Hobert Null in 1976
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Bullhead
– Weight: 6 lbs 1.6 oz- Length: 22.75″- Location: Tygart Lake Headwaters- Record set by Gary R. Freeman in 1977
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Carp
– Weight: 47 lbs 0 oz- Length: 39.3″- Location: unknown pond- Record set by Gary Johnson in 1998
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Chain Pickerel
– Weight: 6 lbs 3.04 oz- Length: 27.75″- Location: Tuckahoe Lake- Record set by Steven Demma in 2001
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Channel Catfish
– Weight: 33 lbs 6.72 oz- Length: 40.3″- Location: Patterson Creek- Record set by Michael Sears in 2005
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Crappie
– Weight: 4 lbs 0.8 oz- Length: 19.75″- Location: Meathouse Fork- Record set by Leonard Edgell in 1971
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Fallfish
– Weight: 3 lbs 8 oz- Length: 21.25″- Location: North Fork South Branch Potomac River- Record set by James Blackwell in 1970
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Flathead Catfish
– Weight: 70 lbs 0 oz- Length: 52″- Location: Little Kanawha River- Record set by L.L. McClung in 1956
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Freshwater Drum
– Weight: 27 lbs 0 oz- Length: 35.5″- Location: South Fork Hughes River- Record set by Charles M. Lott in 1989
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Golden Trout
– Weight: 9 lbs 4.96 oz- Length: 26.4″- Location: Brushy Fork Lake- Record set by Danny Crider in 1998
USFWS Mountain-Prairie // Wikimedia Commons
Goldeye
– Weight: 3 lbs 0 oz- Length: 18.5″- Location: Ohio River- Record set by Delbert McWilliams in 1983
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Grass Carp
– Weight: 71 lbs 11.04 oz- Length: 50.75″- Location: Warden Lake- Record set by William R. Taucher in 2005
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Hybrid Bass
– Weight: 14 lbs 0 oz- Length: 32.1″- Location: Kanawha River- Record set by Frankie Harris in 2000
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Largemouth Bass
– Weight: 9 lbs 9.92 oz- Length: 25.75″- Location: Dog Run Lake- Record set by Eli Gain in 2001
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Longnose Gar
– Weight: 19 lbs 1.28 oz- Length: 50.5″- Location: Kanawha River- Record set by Michael S. Casey in 1993
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Muskellunge
– Weight: 49 lbs 12 oz- Length: 50.37″- Location: Stonecoal Lake- Record set by Anna Marsh in 1997
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Northern Pike
– Weight: 22 lbs 0.96 oz- Length: 42.6″- Location: Dog Run Lake- Record set by Boyd O. Pratt Sr. in 1989
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Rainbow Trout
– Weight: 11 lbs 11.84 oz- Length: 31.7″- Location: Stonecoal Lake- Record set by John P. Arnett in 1993
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Rock Bass
– Weight: 1 lbs 12 oz- Length: 13.8″- Location: Big Sandy Creek- Record set by Warren Ryan in 1964
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Sauger
– Weight: 4 lbs 12 oz- Length: 23″- Location: Ohio River- Record set by Steve Powell in 1985
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Saugeye
– Weight: 6 lbs 15.04 oz- Length: 25.75″- Location: East Lynn Lake- Record set by Ferrel Mills in 1996
Duane Raver // Wikimedia Commons
Skipjack Herring
– Weight: 2 lbs 0 oz- Length: 18.9″- Location: Ohio River- Record set by Christian Pyles in 2000
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Smallmouth Bass
– Weight: 9 lbs 12 oz- Length: 24.25″- Location: South Branch- Record set by David Lindsay in 1971
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Spotted Bass
– Weight: 4 lbs 12.32 oz- Length: 19″- Location: RD Bailey Lake- Record set by Kevin Dameron in 2000
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Striped Bass
– Weight: 45 lbs 11.2 oz- Length: 47.16″- Location: Bluestone Lake- Record set by James Brooks in 2010
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Sturgeon
– Weight: 12 lbs 8 oz- Length: 40″- Location: Ohio River- Record set by Emmett Wheeler in 1949
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Tiger Muskellunge
– Weight: 36 lbs 8 oz- Length: 49.25″- Location: Mountwood Lake- Record set by Clyde E. Beckett in 1994
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Tiger Trout
– Weight: 10 lbs 10.4 oz- Length: 28.7″- Location: Krodel Lake- Record set by Mike Connolly in 2011
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Walleye
– Weight: 17 lbs .82 oz- Length: 32″- Location: Kanawha River- Record set by Steve Skeens in 2003
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White Bass
– Weight: 4 lbs 8.96 oz- Length: 20″- Location: New River- Record set by Louis Puskas in 1985
John Piekos // Shutterstock
Yellow Perch
– Weight: 1 lbs 0 oz- Length: 15.25″- Location: Pond- Record set by Joshua D. Carr in 2008
