Everybody wants to be a record holder, but few anglers can afford to devote the time, effort, and resources required to even attempt obtaining a world-record title under the IGFA’s standards. That’s where state records come into play. Each year, whether intentional or entirely by chance, new state records are set by saltwater and freshwater anglers across the Northeast. In some cases, toppling a state record, like New York’s brook trout, was a game of inches and ounces. Other somewhat exotic records, like Maryland’s low bar for pompano dolphin, were beaten by over 5 pounds. The following tales of state-record fish caught in 2025 prove that, regardless of your location or quarry, as long as you’ve got a line in the water, there’s a chance to see your name in the (state) record books in 2026.
MARYLAND
Chesapeake Channa (northern snakehead)
On June 7, Matt Foreman of Crownsville, MD, was bow fishing on the Susquehanna River, just below the Conowingo Dam, with Captain Nick Mather of Working Class Outdoorsmen when he spotted and shot a 36-inch snakehead with his Vadersbow Saber X bow. His 21.8-pound fish bested the previous state record—which weighed 21 pounds—in Maryland’s Invasive Division.
» Read more about the catch here
False Albacore
During his first ever offshore outing on July 20, Jack Dorman of Mount Airy, MD, caught a massive false albacore while fishing for yellowfin tuna with Captain Scott Stapleford of Game On Sportfishing. The fish hit a skirted ballyhoo near Jackspot Reef and was later weighed in at Sunset Marina in Ocean City, where it tipped the scales to 26 pounds. Dorman’s catch toppled the short-lived state record for false albacore in Maryland’s Atlantic Division, which was set just weeks earlier with a 23.5-pound albie caught by Timothy Saarda.
» Read more about the catch here
Longfin (Albacore) Tuna
At dawn on the autumnal equinox, the Instigator—a private boat out of Ocean City—received a knock down while trolling in the Hudson Canyon. Marc Spagnola of Berlin, MD, picked up the rod, and a battle ensued with what the crew all assumed was a yellowfin tuna. It turned out to be a longfin albacore tuna, and a big one at that. They brought the fish back to Sunset Marina in Ocean City where the certified scale registered 78 pounds—4 pounds heavier than the previous state record, set over 20 years ago in 2004.
» Read more about the catch here
Pompano Dolphin
On October 3, while trolling near the canyons with friends aboard the Talk’n Trash out of Ocean City, James L. Frazetti Jr. of Crownsville, MD, reeled in a funny-looking mahi. Upon returning to the dock, Frazetti took the 32.5-inch fish to Anglers Sport Center in Annapolis, where it weighed 7 pounds, 8 ounces. Maryland DNR Fisheries Biologist Keith Lockwood later confirmed that it was no ordinary mahi-mahi, but a rare pompano dolphinfish that was 5 pounds heavier than the previous state record, set in 2023.
» Read more about the catch here
NEW YORK
Channel Catfish
The first New York state record of 2025 was set on May 3 by Dylan Kampnich of Dexter, NY, when he reeled in an enormous channel catfish while shore fishing in Black River Bay in Jefferson County. The following day, Kampnich brought the 40-inch catfish to Thousand Island Bait Store in Alexandria Bay, where it weighed 37-pounds, 9-ounces on the shop’s certified scale. Kampnich’s channel cat was nearly two pounds heavier than the previous state record—a 35-pound, 12-ounce fish, also caught in the Black River, in 2022.
Fallfish
Less than two weeks after the state-record channel catfish was caught, Alex Pidhorodeckyj of Peekskill, NY, hooked and landed what would soon be deemed the new state-record fallfish. Pidhorodeckyj caught the 4-pound, 1-ounce fallfish in the St. Lawrence River and upon certification by the NYSDEC, it surpassed the 16-year-old record (caught in 2009 in the Susquehanna River) by nearly half a pound.
Brook Trout
Just one day after Independence Day, Benjamin Ferguson of Lowville, NY, was slow trolling a Lake Clear Wabbler in the Saint Regis Canoe Area of the Adirondacks when he hooked and landed an enormous brook trout. According to a report from syracuse.com, NYSDEC biologists confirmed that his catch was indeed a brookie and not a splake—a lake trout/brook trout hybrid. Ferguson’s 22-inch fish weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces, surpassing the previous record (set in 2013) by a mere 3 ounces. The brook trout is the official state fish of New York, which makes Ferguson’s impressive record just a little more special.
» Read more about the catch here
Black Drum (Pending)
During a blackfish trip with Gypsea Charters on November 2, Eric Carey of Pennsylvania hooked the wrong type of black fish and a chaotic 30-minute battle ensued. According to Captain Josh Rogers, the fish—which they had yet to see—ran toward the bow 10 minutes into the fight and temporarily wrapped itself around the anchor line. Equipped with a Jigging World Onyx spinning rod and Daiwa BG 3000, Carey eventually muscled an enormous black drum to the boat and, realizing its size, the mates hauled it on board. Once the trip concluded, Carey brought the drum to Bernie’s Bait and Tackle in Brooklyn, where it weighed 87.4 pounds. The New York State Recreational Marine Record for black drum is currently vacant, and if Carey’s catch is certified by NYSDEC, it will be a tough one to beat.
White Perch
On November 23, 2025, while fishing in Cross River Reservoir in Westchester County, Yongfeng Tian of Brooklyn caught a whopping 3-pound, 4-ounce white perch. The average white perch measures between 7 and 12 inches long and weighs under a pound, so Tian was confident he had reeled in a trophy. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation later confirmed that Tian’s catch toppled the 34-year-old state record, set in September of 1991 by Joe Tansey. Tian’s fish was just 3 ounces heavier than Tansey’s, which came from Lake Oscaleta—less than 10 miles away from Cross River Reservoir, the new home of NY’s state-record white perch.
» Read more about the catch here
CONNECTICUT
Common Carp
In less than a month, Connecticut’s state record for common carp was broken twice. While fishing in Lake Zoar on June 21, Norbert “Norbie” Samok of Westchester County, NY, reeled in a nearly 45-inch, 58.05-pound carp, claiming not only the state-record title for the species, but the record for largest freshwater fish ever documented in the Constitution State’s history. The fish ate a specially flavored boilie bait at about 3 a.m. on the summer solstice, toppling Rafal Wlazlo’s short-lived record of 45 pounds, 8 ounces from Lake Lillinonah on June 1. Ironically, Samok was fishing with Wlazlo on the night when he caught the gigantic carp.
» Read more about the catch here
Brown Bullhead
In May 2025, while fishing in Hamburg Cove on the mighty Connecticut River, CT-based fly fishing guide Rowan Lytle caught the new state record brown bullhead (hornpout). According to Connecticut Fish & Wildlife, Fisheries Biologist Andrew Bade was able to verify the species, solidifying Lytle’s catch in the freshwater record books under CT’s Harvest Category. His 5-pound, 7-ounce brown bullhead replaces the 35-year-old record of 4 pounds, 15 ounces, caught by Robert Richey in Southington’s Prospect Pond in 1990.
RHODE ISLAND
Tautog (blackfish)
While fishing off Rhode Island with Captain Connor MacLeod of Tall Tailz Charters, Vlad Vaynshteyn of New Jersey caught an enormous blackfish that would quickly be crowned the new state record. MacLeod and Vaynshteyn worked to keep the 33-inch fish alive so it could be released after an official weigh-in at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle, where it registered 23 pounds, 15 ounces. Unfortunately, despite their efforts, the fish didn’t make it, but it surpassed the previous state record by 1.5 pounds. Vaynshteyn’s catch marks the second consecutive year (and third time in five years) that the record has been broken.
» Read more about the catch here
Gray Triggerfish
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management recently reported that on October 11, 2025, Jared Cannone of Warwick, RI, secured the new state record for gray triggerfish with an impressive 22-inch fish caught off Wickford, RI. When Cannone brought his catch to a certified scale at Quaker Lane Bait and Tackle in North Kingstown, it weighed 5-pounds, 2-ounces, surpassing the previous state record of 4 pounds, 8 ounces from October 2021.
MAINE
Brown Bullhead (hornpout)
While ice fishing on Little Cobbosseecontee Lake on March 9, 2025, Brian Boyt of Westbrook, ME, caught a 1-pound, 15-ounce brown bullhead that, despite its small size, earned him the title of state-record holder for the species. Boyt accidentally caught the 15-inch catfish while crappie fishing with a 1/16-ounce bucktail jig. According to The Maine Sportsman, the species was later confirmed by Game Warden Charles Sawyer, solidifying Boyt as a recreational freshwater and saltwater record holder. He maintains Maine’s state-record for tautog with a 7-pound, 13.2-ounce fish that swiped at a live 10-inch mackerel while he was striped bass fishing in July 2023.
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