OutdoorMN News - A whopper silver redhorse sets new state record

[Rick]

Avid angler Dustin Stone caught a new state record silver redhorse in the certified weight category of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ record fish program. 

Stone caught the 10-pound, 6-ounce silver redhorse while fishing for lake sturgeon on the Rainy River in Koochiching County on April 28. He was fishing with 80-pound braided line tipped with a night crawler.

“We had been doing very well fishing for sturgeon, landing seven fish over the 60-inch mark,” Stone said. “We started catching a bunch of suckers and redhorse before this fish, so this fish felt quite a bit bigger than the others.”

Fortunately for Stone, his fishing buddy had extensive knowledge about fish like silver redhorse, and Stone almost released the fish until his partner advised him to check the weight and current record on that species of fish.

The new state record silver redhorse was weighed on a certified scale at a meat shop in Granite Falls, where two observers witnessed the weighing. Two DNR fisheries experts in the Ortonville office confirmed the species identification of silver redhorse. The official weight is 10-pounds, 6-ounces with a length of 26-3/4 inches and a girth of 17-1/2 inches, beating the previous state record of 9-pounds, 15-ounces held since 2004.

“I’m glad the DNR does this record fish program. It’s fun to see the records. I’m kind of addicted to this now and I’m going to try and break a couple more!” Stone said.

There are two kinds of Minnesota state records: one for catching and keeping the biggest fish of each species based on certified weight; and the other for the length of a caught and released muskellunge, northern pike, lake sturgeon or flathead catfish.

The DNR announces new state records in news releases, on social media and on the DNR website. Find current records and guidelines for each type of state record at mndnr.gov/recordfish.

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