What is the Wisconsin state record walleye?

The Wisconsin state record walleye weighed 18 lb and was caught in 1933 from High Lake in Vilas County by Tony Burrey.

What is the largest fish ever caught in Wisconsin?

The heaviest verified record fish in Wisconsin is the Lake Sturgeon at 170 lb 10 oz, caught in 1979 from Yellow Lake.

What is the oldest standing fishing record in Wisconsin?

The oldest active record is the Walleye at 18 lb, set in 1933 on High Lake.

Wisconsin State Record Fish (2026)

All verified Wisconsin record fish from the Wisconsin DNR. The heaviest is the Lake Sturgeon at 170 lb 10 oz, caught in 1979 on Yellow Lake. The oldest standing record is the Walleye from 1933.

Wisconsin state fishing records are maintained by the Wisconsin DNR. Each verified record requires a certified-scale weight, official witness, and a documented catch location.

Knowing where Wisconsin records were set is useful context for serious anglers: a lake that has produced a record fish has, by definition, the depth, prey base, and habitat to support that species at trophy size. Reading the record-setting lakes alongside the LakeGrade rubric is a useful exercise: some species — particularly trout and salmon — only set records on the cleaner-grade lakes, while warm-water species can come from anywhere on the grade distribution.

Heaviest

Lake Sturgeon

170 lb 10 oz · 1979

Oldest record

Walleye

1933 · High Lake

Most recent record

Brown Trout

2010 · Lake Michigan

All Wisconsin Records

Species	Weight	Length	Year	Water	County	Angler
Muskellunge	69 lb 11 oz	63.5 in	1949	Chippewa Flowage	Sawyer	Cal Johnson
Northern Pike	38 lb	—	1952	Lake Puckaway	Green Lake	F. P. Schulenburg
Walleye	18 lb	—	1933	High Lake	Vilas	Tony Burrey
Largemouth Bass	11 lb 3 oz	—	1940	Lake Ripley	Jefferson	Robert Bahr
Smallmouth Bass	9 lb 1 oz	—	1950	Indian Lake	Oneida	Leon Stefonek
Lake Trout	47 lb	—	1946	Lake Superior	Bayfield	Roy Groh
Brown Trout	41 lb 8 oz	40.6 in	2010	Lake Michigan	Racine	Roger Hellen
Rainbow Trout	27 lb 2 oz	—	1997	Lake Michigan	Door	Lee Sisson
Brook Trout	9 lb 15 oz	—	1944	Prairie River	Lincoln	John Schaffer
Channel Catfish	44 lb	—	1962	Wisconsin River	Sauk	David Stuart
Flathead Catfish	74 lb 5 oz	—	2001	Wisconsin River	Crawford	Tim Esser
Black Crappie	4 lb 8 oz	—	1996	Gile Flowage	Iron	Tom Maines
Bluegill	2 lb 9.8 oz	—	1995	Hayes Lake	Walworth	Frank Ott
Yellow Perch	3 lb 4 oz	—	1954	Lake Winnebago	Winnebago	C. T. Bub
Lake Sturgeon	170 lb 10 oz	79 in	1979	Yellow Lake	Burnett	Jim DeOtto
Pumpkinseed	1 lb 9 oz	—	1993	Pell Lake	Walworth	Eric Kline

How Wisconsin Records Are Verified

Wisconsin DNR requires that record-eligible fish be weighed on a certified scale, photographed, and verified by a fisheries biologist. Catch-and-release length records are accepted for some species. Submit a record application within 30 days of the catch.

Targeting a record? Many of these fish came from waters with strong populations of trophy-class fish — see the best fishing lakes ranking and Wisconsin lake directory.

Records compiled from the official Wisconsin DNR angling records. Updated 2026. New records are submitted year-round; check the source page for the most recent verified entries. LakeQuality is independent and not affiliated with the Wisconsin DNR.

Source: EPA National Aquatic Resource Surveys, 2026.