State Record Fish – 2025

This post includes a summary of state record fish caught in the Mid Atlantic region during 2025.

New York

On May 3rd, Dylan Kampnich caught a 40 inch, 37 pound 9 oz. channel catfish from Black River Bay while fishing from shore with his son. The previous New York state record channel catfish was also caught from Black River Bay.

Ten days later, Alex Pidhorodeckyj set a new state record for fallfish with 4 pound 1 oz. fish from the St. Lawrence River. Pidhorodeckyj’s catch broke the previous fallfish record caught in 2009 by half a pound.

On July 5, 2025, Benjamin Ferguson set a state record with a six pound three ounce brook trout from the St. Regis Canoe Area. Ferguson caught the record-breaking brookie while slow trolling a Lake Clear Wabbler.

Delaware

On May 21, Jason Wise caught a 33 pound, 15.68-ounce flathead catfish, which became the first Delaware state record for the species. Wise caught the catfish in Lums Pond. The record-setting catfish measured 40.25 inches in length.

On June 11, a 15-pound, 8 ounce northern snakehead, measuring 31.5 inches, was caught by Dyllan Rust of Harrington, surpassing the previous record for the species, established less than a month earlier, by 11 ounces. Rust landed the dragon-class snakehead at Marshyhope Ditch outside of Harrington, while fishing from shore.

In July, DNREC confirmed that Logan Smith of Dover recently set a new state record for golden tilefish, by catching a 56-pound 3.2-ounce tilefish that measured 42.5-inches in length.

Smith made the catch on Capt. Austin Decker’s boat, Blue Betty II, near Poor Man’s Canyon in about 650 feet of water. Smith’s catch surpasses the previous record, set in 2020.

Maryland

In February 2025, two anglers set new Maryland state records in the Chesapeake division.

Thomas Dembeck Jr. set a new Maryland state record holder for yellow perch in the Chesapeake division. Dembeck caught the 2.3-pound, 16-inch fish while deep jigging in about 50 feet of water in the lower Susquehanna River.

David Confair reclaimed the Maryland state record for longnose gar in the Chesapeake division. Confair caught the 20.5-pound, 49.5-inch fish in February while fishing in Marshyhope Creek.

Confair’s catch surpassed the previous record of 18.3 pounds, set by Samson Matthews in Marshyhope Creek on March 2, 2020. Confair had held the record previously, with a 17.9-pound gar caught in 2019.

In June, Matt Foreman set a new Maryland state record for northern snakehead (Channa argus) in the state’s Invasive Division. Foreman was bowfishing on the evening of June 7 in the Susquehanna River below the Conowingo Dam. The monster snakehead weighed 21.8 pounds and measured more than 36 inches long.

In July, Timothy K. Shaarda of Clayton, North Carolina, was recogized by DNR as a new Maryland state record holder for false albacore (Euthynnus alletteratus) in the Atlantic Division. Shaarda’s catch of a 23.5 pound fish broke a record that had stood for 30 years.

Later in July, the Maryland state record for false albacore was broken again. Jack Dorman caught a 26 pound fish, surpassing Shaarda’s catch.

Dorman caught the record-setting false albacore on July 20 while fishing offshore near the Jackspot aboard the charter boat Game On, captained by Scott Stapleford of Ocean City.

In July, Dominic Vuotto of Gilbertsville, Pennsylvania, was certified as a new state record holder for blueline tilefish (Caulolatilus microps) in the Atlantic Division.

Vuotto landed a 21.3-pound blueline tilefish July 26 while fishing offshore near Washington Canyon. Vuotto was fishing aboard Foolish Pleasures with charter captain Dale Lisi out of Ocean City. Vuotto’s catch broke the previous record of 20.6 pounds set by London J. Anthony on August 24, 2024.

North Carolina

In 2025, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Marine Fisheries recognized a new state record for Vermilion Snapper.

Colby Shaw of Newport caught the 7-pound, 4-ounce fish off Morehead City on April 18, 2025. Shaw’s fish measured 23.5-inches fork length (from the tip of the nose to the fork in the tail) and had a 17-inch girth.

In June, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Division of Marine Fisheries certified two new North Carolina state record fish.

On June 3, Mark Boles caught a 17 pound, 12.8 ounce mutton snapper, setting a North Carolina state record. Prior to this, there was no state saltwater record for this species. The record-setting snapper measured 33 inches total length and had a girth of 24.5 inches. Boles caught the snapper offshore of Ocean Isle.

On June 7, Warren Poirier of Virginia set a new NC state record for Almaco Jack. Poirier caught the 56-pound, 4.8-ounce fish off the Outer Banks on June 7, 2025. Poirier’s fish measured 46 inches fork length and had a 31-inch girth.

In June, the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Division of Marine Fisheries established a new state record for Bulleye (Cookeolus japonicus).

Jody Hopkins caught a 5 pound, 10.88 ounce bulleye off Ocracoke on June 21, 2025. There were no previous state records for this species.

In July, Hopkins and his son set two additional North Carolina state records while fishing off Okracoke. Jody Hopkins landed a channel scabbardfish that weighed 7 pounds, 3.2 ounces, measured 60 inches total length, and had a 10.25-inch girth.

Oden Hopkins, the son of Jody Hopkins, set a record with the catch of a spinycheek scorpionfish that weighed 4 pounds, 6.4 ounces, unofficially tying the existing IGFA World Record that was landed in Virginia in 2015. The fish measured 20.63 inches total length and had a girth of 13.63 inches.

West Virginia

Two West Virginia record-breaking fish were caught on the same day in April, according to West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (WVDNR). On April 22, new state records were set for redhorse sucker and redear sunfish.

Jason Floyd of Washington, W.Va., set a new state record for redhorse sucker after catching a 24.57-inch, 5.75-pound fish on April 22 at the Belleville Lock and Dam on the Ohio River.

On the same day, John Plott of Oak Hill, W.Va., broke his own state record for redear sunfish length by catching a 12.44-inch, 1.60-pound fish at Plum Orchard Lake in Fayette County. Plott’s 1.75-pound weight record for redear sunfish still stands.

On May 7, the West Virginia black crappie weight record has been broken by Jerry Porter of Harts, W.Va., who caught a 3.6-pound, 17.7-inch black crappie at East Lynn Lake in Wayne County.

The previous state record was a 3.15-pound, 17.76-inch crappie caught in 2024 by Dwight Priestley of Alum Creek at Woodrum Lake in Jackson County. Priestley’s record for length still stands.

On May 8, Seth Spry of Lumberport, W.Va., caught a 26.26-inch, 9.85-pound largemouth bass at a private pond in Harrison County using a live bluegill on 30-pound braided line.

The West Virginia largemouth bass weight record is held by David Heeter, who caught a 12.28-pound, 24.8-inch fish in a private pond in Grant County in 1994.

On May 9, Justin Connor from Milton, W.Va., caught a 51.49-inch, 66.30-pound blue catfish on the Kanawha River in Putnam County using a mooneye on 80-pound test line. Conner’s fish surpasses the previous 50.82-inch length record, set by Kimberly Feltner of Madison, Ind. in 2024.

The blue catfish weight record remains with Michael John Drake, who caught a 69.45-pound, 50.51-inch fish on the Ohio River in 2023.

Virginia

On March 3, angler Jerry Hall landed a fallfish from the Jackson River that weighed 3 pounds, 13.9 ounces and measured 19 7/8 inches, setting the new Virginia state record for the species.

This was the second time that Hall has set the Virginia state record for fallfish. In 2021, Hall had landed a 3 pound, 5 ounce fallfish to claim the state record, but that mark was broken in 2022 and then again in 2024.