On a charter trip in August, teenager Luis Martinez caught his first ever salmon-and it was a 47.86-pounder that went down as the biggest king ever caught in the Great Lakes. David LemasterĬountless die-hard salmon anglers would’ve loved to break Michigan state record chinook, but that’s not what happened. Beginner’s Luck Captain Bobby Sullivan helps Luis Martinez (center) lift his record-breaking Chinook landed, while the angler’s sister, Abe Martinez, shows off a 12-pounder. Burruss caught the fish in Northern California’s Clear Lake, which is known for its big largemouths, but quite clearly also holds some monster panfish. The 4-pound, 5.44-ounce black crappie toppled the previous record, which was a 4-pound, 1-ounce fish that had stood for 46 years. In one of the first records to fall in 2021, California angler David Burruss boated an absolute slab of a black crappie in February. The California Slab David Burruss with the California state record crappie. Out of the millions of fish caught this year, only 20 trophies made this list. There were also some lesser-known but equally impressive records caught-such as the bowfishing world-record paddlefish and a spearfishing world-record halibut. Some truly impressive long-standing records were broken this year, including a 43-year-old Michigan state-record chinook and a 64-year-old Minnesota muskie record.

Who doesn’t like a big fish story? Well, these are the biggest fish stories of 2021.

This is just one of the many unbelievable record catches of 2021.

Biggest crappie ever allobet fish