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Wednesday, October 7th, 2026

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Important steps are required to land in Illinois’ fishing record book

Illinois state record fish, left to right: James Zimmerman caught a 15-pound, 1-ounce walleye in March 2012 on the Pecatonica River in Winnebago County. Joseph Capilupo, of LaGrange, caught a 7-pound, 3-ounce smallmouth bass from the Lake Michigan shoreline in 2019. In August 2015, Jim Klauzer landed a flathead catfish weighing 81 pounds, 6.4 ounces from Lake Sangchris. (Photos provided)

Once in a blue moon, the fish at the end of the line of a long-fought battle is a personal best – and just may be a contender for a state record. Remarkably, from 2021 to 2022, 10 Illinois state records were broken, and already in 2024 one record-breaking fish has been certified.
Nerissa McClelland, a DNR fisheries biologist who also coordinates the Record Fish Program, explained that one reason for the increase in record-breaking fish is that “As a community, each and every day fish managers and scientists understand more about aquatic ecosystems and managing fish communities.”

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