NC Freshwater Fishing State Record Program

The NCWRC Inland Fisheries Division keeps a list of the largest common freshwater fish caught by hook and line in North Carolina waters. This section includes those records, as well as information on how to apply for a new state fish record.

Apply For A North Carolina State Freshwater Fishing Record

The following tables contain the current fishing records for a variety of freshwater species.

Bass
Catfish
Perch
Pickerel
Shad
Sunfish
Trout
Other

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait
striped bass	66 lbs	Hiwassee Reservoir	3/31/2012	Tyler Shields	black zoom trick worm
largemouth bass	15 lbs 14 oz	Farm Pond, Union County	3/29/1991	William H. Wofford	Crankbait
Bodie bass (hybrid striped bass)	17 lbs 7oz	Lake Chatuge	3/15/1996	Michael R. Hogsed	Rebel Jointed Plug
Roanoke bass	2 lbs 11oz	Nash County Fishing Creek	4/27/1994	Richard Elijah Evans	Spinner bait
rock bass	1 lb 14 oz	Deep River, Carbonton	4/29/1998	Robert W. Lytton	Crappie Jig
Smallmouth Bass	10 lbs 2 oz	Hiwassee Reservoir	6/1/1951	Archie Lampkin	Unknown
spotted bass	6 lbs 5 oz	Lake Norman	12/26/2003	Eric M. Weir	Zoom Finesse Worm
white bass	5 lbs 14 oz	Kerr Reservoir	3/15/1986	Jim King	Bucktail

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait
blue catfish	117 lbs 8 oz	Lake Gaston	6/11/2016	Landon Evans	Shad
brown bullhead	4 pounds	Greenfield Lake, New Hanover County	3/14/2016	Mitchell McConnell	Cut bait
channel catfish	23 lbs 4 oz	City Lake in Rocky Mount	9/1/1970	E.J. Bowden	Shrimp
flathead catfish	78 lbs	Cape Fear River	9/17/2005	Brian Newberger	Live eel
white catfish	13 lbs	Lake James	5/21/1990	Jerry Wayne Bentley	Night crawler

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait	Photo
white perch	2 lbs 15 oz	Falls of the Neuse Reservoir	12/16/2001	Bob G. Williams, Jr	Strata Spoon
yellow perch	2 lbs 9 oz	Indiantown Creek	2/8/1990	Evelyn G. Ethridge	Minnow

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait	Photo
chain pickerel	8 lbs	Gaston Reservoir	2/13/1968	John H. Leonard	Minnow
redfin pickerel	2 lbs 4 oz	Gallberry Swamp	6/23/1997	Edward C. Davis	Minnow

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait	Photo
American shad	7 lbs 15 oz	Tar River	4/10/1974	R.S. Proctor	Shad dart
hickory shad	4 lbs 1 oz	Pitchkettle Creek	2/22/2004	Trey Maroules	Spoon

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait
bluegill	4lbs 5 oz	Henderson County	7/27/1967	Danny Case	Catalpa worm
green sunfish	1 lb, 15 oz	Private pond	7/12/2014	Victoria Navaroli	Worm
flier	1 lb 5 oz	Private pond	3/17/1990	Douglas N. McCall	Cricket
pumpkinseed	1 lb 6 oz	Trent River	5/21/2003	John Koonce	Eel
redbreast	2 lb 1oz	Lumber River	6/10/2019	Alphonso Jackson	Cricket
redear (shellcracker)	4 lbs 15 oz	Edgecombe County	5/19/2008	Travis Jackson	worm
Spotted sunfish	7.7 oz	Big Swamp, Robeson County	6/25/2016	Elijah Crabtree	Green beetle spin
warmouth	1 lb 13 oz	Richmond Co. McLeods Pond	5/7/1976	Emma Sears	Minnow

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait
rainbow trout	20 lbs 3 oz	Horsepasture River, Jackson Co.	1/28/06	Leah Johnson	Rapala
brook trout	7 lbs 7 oz	Raven Fork River	5/15/1980	G.L. Marshall, Jr.	Rooster tail
brown trout	24 lbs 10 oz	Nantahala River	4/17/1998	Robert Lee Dyer	#11 Rapala

Species	Weight	Location	Date	Angler	Lure/Bait
bowfin	17 lbs 15 oz	Black River	6/21/1997	Gregory A. Demery, Sr.	Cut bait bream
black crappie	4 lbs 15 oz	Asheboro City Lake #4	4/27/1980	Dean Dixon	Minnow
carp	48 lbs	Mecklenburg Co. pond	3/11/1986	William Houston, Jr.	Unknown
freshwater drum	23 lbs 8oz	Kerr Reservoir	3/20/2013	Jonathan Wilkerson	plastic fluke
grass carp	68 lbs 12 oz	Summerlins Pond, Leland	6/8/1998	David W. Stowell	Rebel Pop R
kokanee salmon	4 pounds, 1 ounce	Nantahala Lake	6/11/2014	Jeffery Todd Smith	Dodgers and flashers as lures
longnose gar	25 lbs	Intracoastal Waterway near Coinjock	1/30/2009	Kelly WIlliams	tube jig
muskellunge	41 lbs 8 oz	Lake Adger	1/23/2001	Richard W. Dodd	Big Mack
northern pike	11 lbs 13 oz	Lake James	8/26/1978	Keith Gilliam	Storm Wiggle Wart
sauger	5 lbs 15 oz	Norman Lake	7/25/1971	David Shook	Topwater Rapala
smallmouth buffalo	88 lbs	Lake Wylie	11/14/1993	Tony Crawford	Pack bait
tiger muskellunge	33 lbs 8 oz	Lake James	4/3/1988	Gary Dean Nanney	Buzzbait
walleye	13 lbs 8 oz	Lake Chatuge (Shooting Cr.)	8/16/1986	Lamar L. Cofer	Old faithful spoon
white crappie	3 lbs 15 oz	private lake in Wake County	04/1/2013	Joey Boretti	Storm WildEye® Swim Shad lure