A New Minnesota State Record Whitefish, Maybe

A New Minnesota State Record Whitefish, Maybe
Original article was first post and reported by Grand Forks Herald. Written by Brad Dokken. Brad Dokken is a reporter and editor of the Herald’s Sunday Northland Outdoors pages. Dokken joined the Herald company in November 1985 as a copy editor for Agweek magazine and joined the Herald staff in 1989. He worked as a copy editor in the features and news departments before becoming outdoors editor in 1998. A Roseau, Minn., native, Dokken is a graduate of Bemidji State University.

An Oklahoma fisherman landed a potential new Minnesota state record lake whitefish on Saturday, April 6, while fishing Lake of the Woods near Springsteel north of Warroad, Minn.

Billy King’s whitefish, which he brought to Thompson Taxidermy in Warroad for mounting, weighed 13.57 pounds on a certified scale at Doug’s Supermarket in Warroad and measured 29½ inches long, according to Sara Thompson of SJT Marketing in Warroad, who shared a short write-up and photo of King with the big whitefish.

The ice fishing trip was King’s first, Thompson writes.

The Department of Natural Resources in Baudette, Minn., confirmed the catch as a lake whitefish Monday morning, said Phil Talmage, area fisheries supervisor for the DNR in Baudette. Next up, King needs to complete an application and have it reviewed by staff from the DNR’s state record fish program before the catch becomes an official new state record, Talmage said.

Besides being weighed on a certified scale, fish need to be witnessed by at least two people and verified as the correct species by two DNR fisheries biologists. Entry forms also must be signed by a notary public.

The existing state record lake whitefish, caught on Leech Lake near Walker, Minn., on March 21, 1999, weighed 12 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 28½ inches, DNR records show. Read the full report at this link – https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/outdoors/4596087-oklahoma-man-lands-potential-new-minnesota-state-record-whitefish-lake-woods

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