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If you’re looking to land the California state record fish in any of the categories below, consider this…
California in the most populous state in America. With 3,000 public lakes, dry lakes, and reservoirs across the state, the numbers still aren’t in your favor. That may seem like a lot of freshwater fishing spots, but that amounts to roughly one lake for every 12,5000 residents.
Now we understand that most of those residents aren’t going to be fishing. Especially not at the same time. But there is some good news for anglers looking to land a California state record…
Some Newer (and Older) Entries
Of the 36 freshwater fish listed as state records in California, over a dozen have been caught since 2000.
As with most states, there are also some longstanding records on the list.
The California record wild cutthroat trout, for instance, was caught in 1911! Its cousin, the record brook trout, was landed in 1932.
Three species of salmon, however, were caught between 2012 and 2013. The record smallmouth was caught in 2007 and channel catfish in 2008. Since 2019, several smaller species have seen new California state fishing records, including the black crappie.
So, there is hope if you’re looking to land a record of your own.
List of California State Fishing Records
| Species | Weight | Location | Angler |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albacore Tuna | 90 lbs 0 oz | Santa Cruz | Don Giberson |
| American Shad | 7 lbs 5 oz | Feather River | Craig Stillwell |
| Arctic Grayling | 1 lbs 12 oz | Lobdell Lake | Don Acton Jr. |
| Bigeye Tuna | 240 lbs 0 oz | Butterfly Bank | Steve Hutchinson |
| Black Crappie | 4 lbs 5 oz | Clear Lake | David Burruss |
| Black Rockfish | 9 lbs 2 oz | S. F. Light Station | Trent Wilcox |
| Blue Catfish | 113 lbs 5 oz | San Vicente Reservoir | Steve Oudomsouk |
| Blue Marlin | 692 lbs 0 oz | Balboa | A. Hamann |
| Blue Rockfish | 3 lbs 14 oz | San Carpoforo | Terry Lamb Jr. |
| Bluefin Tuna | 384 lbs 0 oz | San Clamente Island | Cody Silberfein |
| Bluegill Sunfish | 3 lbs 14 oz | Rancho Murieta Reservoir | Michael Holoubek |
| Bocaccio Rockfish | 17 lbs 8 oz | Point St Georges Reef | Sam Strait |
| Brook Trout | 9 lbs 12 oz | Silver Lake | Texas Haynes |
| Brown Trout | 26 lbs 8 oz | Upper Twin Lake | Danny Stearman |
| Bull Trout | 9 lbs 11 oz | McCloud Lake | James S. McCloud |
| Bullhead | 4 lbs 8 oz | Trinity Lakes | Gary Dittenbir |
| Canary Rockfish | 7 lbs 14 oz | Monterey Bay | Hans Jorgensen |
| Carp | 52 lbs 0 oz | Nacimiento Lake | Lee Bryant |
| Channel Catfish | 53 lbs 8 oz | San Joaquin River | Randall Gilgert Jr. |
| Chinook (King) Salmon | 88 lbs 0 oz | Sacramento River | O.H. Lindberg |
| Coho Salmon | 22 lbs 0 oz | Paper Mill Creek | Milton T. Hain |
| Copper Rockfish | 8 lbs 3 oz | Pigeon Point | Kenny Aab |
| Cutthroat Trout | 31 lbs 8 oz | Lake Tahoe | William Pomin |
| Flathead Catfish | 72 lbs 14 oz | Colorado River | Billy Potter |
| Golden Trout | 9 lbs 8 oz | Virginia Lake | O.A. Benefield |
| Green Sunfish | 1 lbs 12 oz | private pond near Bella Vista | unknown |
| Kokanee Salmon | 4 lbs 13 oz | Lake Tahoe | Dick Bournique |
| Lake Trout | 37 lbs 3 oz | Lake Tahoe | Robert G. Aronsen |
| Largemouth Bass | 21 lbs 12 oz | Lake Castaic | Michael Arujo |
| Ling Cod | 56 lbs 0 oz | Crescent City | Carey Mitchell |
| Mountain Whitefish | 3 lbs 1 oz | Lake Tahoe | Gregg Harris |
| Olive Rockfish | 5 lbs 14 oz | St. Augustine Reef | Haady Forbes |
| Orangemouth Corvina | 37 lbs 0 oz | Salton Sea | Dick Van Dam |
| Pumpkinseed Sunfish | 1 lbs 0 oz | Mt. Meadows Reservoir | Dave Smith |
| Rainbow Trout | 27 lbs 0 oz | Lake Natoma | Frank Palmer |
| Rainbow Trout | 23 lbs 0 oz | Lake Natoma | Jeremy Brucklacher |
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