This is a infographic I made depicting the size difference between world record catches of some popular game fish. It’s nice to be able to visualize the difference in size by seeing them side by side. I realize there’s lots of fish missing from this comparison like Lake trout, pike among many others. I may do another comparison in the future with the species I’ve missed. When your looking at this list, remember that even the smallest fish listed here are truly massive fish.
If you buy anything below I get some beer money. Thanks!
World Record Game Fish Compared.
Smallmouth bass
Micropterus dolomieu
Length: 26.5″ (67.31cm)
Weight: 11 lbs 15 oz (5.43kg)
Caught on: Bomber Lure
Caught by: David Hayes
Date: July 9, 1955
Dal Hollow Lake, Tennessee, USA
Largemouth Bass
Micropterus salmoides
Length: 28.0″ (71.12cm)
Weight: 22 lbs 15 oz (10.09kg)
Caught on: Fintail Shiner Lure
Caught by: George W. Perry
Date: June 2, 1932
Montgomery Lake, Georgia, USA
Brook Trout
Salvelinus Fontinalis
Length: 29.0″ (73.6cm)
Weight: 14 lbs 8 oz (6.57kg)
Caught on: A minnow
Caught by: Dr. John W. Cook
Date: 1916
Nipigon, Ontario, Canada
Cutthroat Trout
Onchorhynchus clarki
Length: 37.5″ (95.26cm)
Weight: 41 lbs 0 oz (18.59kg)
Caught on: Unknown
Caught by: John Skimmerhorn
Date: December, 1925
Pyramid Lake, Nevada, USA
Artic Char
Salvelinus alpinus
Length: 40.5″ (103cm)
Weight: 32 lbs 9 oz (14.77kg)
Caught on: Bass Buster Jig
Caught by: Jeffrey Ward
Date: July 30, 1981
Tree River, Northwest Territories, Canada
Brown Trout
Salmo Trutta
Length: 40.5″ (103cm)
Weight: 40 lbs 4 oz (18.25kg)
Caught on: 1/32 oz green marabou jig
Caught by: Howard Collins
Date: May 9, 1992
Little Red River, Heber Springs, Arkansas, USA
Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Length: 42″ (106.68cm)
Weight: 48 lbs (21.7kg)
Caught on: 5 1/4″ Rapala X-Rap
Caught by: Sean Konrad
Date: September. 5th, 2009
Diefenbaker Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada
Coho Salmon
Oncorhynchus kisutch
Length: 42.5″ (107.95cm)
Weight: 33 lbs 4 oz (15.08kg)
Caught on: Luhr Jensen Egg
Caught by: Jerry Lifton
Date: September. 27th, 1989
Salmon River, New York, USA
Atlantic Salmon
Salmo Salar
Length: 52″ (132.08cm)
Weight: 79 lbs 2 oz (35.6kg)
Caught on: Unknown
Caught by: Henrik H. Henriksen
Date: January 1st, 1928
Tana River, Norway
Striped Bass
Morone Saxatilis
Length: 54″ (137.16cm)
Weight: 81 lbs 4 oz (37.1kg)
Caught on: Live eel
Caught by: Greg Myerson
Date: August 4, 2011
Long Island Sound, ST, USA
Chinook Salmon
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Length: 58.75″ (142.22cm)
Weight: 97 lbs 4 oz (44.11kg)
Caught on: Spin n’ Glo
Caught by: Les Anderson
Date: May 17, 1985
Kenai River, Alaska, USA
The silhouettes are from images of the actual record breaking fish (where possible, obviously not with some of the older records), not just generic silhouettes of the species.
It was brought to my attention that the Largemouth bass record has been beaten on July 2nd, 2009 by Manabu Kurita’s Largemouth bass in Lake Biwa, Japan. My understanding is that since the fish did not beat the previous record by at least 2 ounces that it is considered a tie for the record. This new tie for the world record largemouth bass was caught on a live bluegill.
Link to the sources.
http://www.mrlurebox.com/GeorgePerryBass.htm
http://www.fishinggeeks.net/about_us
Field & Stream, Feb 1999, pg.60
Trout that live in different environments can have dramatically different colorations and patterns.
In Australia the rainbow trout was introduced in 1894 from New Zealand and is an extremely popular gamefish in recreational angling.