{"id":3546,"date":"2020-08-18T16:03:58","date_gmt":"2020-08-18T21:03:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546"},"modified":"2022-12-01T08:57:34","modified_gmt":"2022-12-01T14:57:34","slug":"the-largest-fish-ever-caught-in-the-leech-lake-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/the-largest-fish-ever-caught-in-the-leech-lake-area\/","title":{"rendered":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles of world-class fishing, to the many surrounding lakes and rivers in Cass County, it\u2019s truly an angler\u2019s paradise.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, there\u2019s a reason we associate \u201cfish stories\u201d with bending the truth, tall tales, and outright whoppers. Ever have a buddy drag you along to what they swear is an amazing secret fishing spot, only to spend the whole day without so much as a nibble?<\/p>\n<p>Point is: it\u2019s one thing to claim that a lake is great for fishing. But you also better be able to prove it.<\/p>\n<p>And that\u2019s exactly why we\u2019ve decided to research the largest fishes ever caught in the Leech Lake area &#8212; so you can find out for yourself just how great our fishing can be!<\/p>\n<h3>Whitefish<\/h3>\n<p>The largest whitefish caught in Leech Lake came in at a whopping 28\u00bd inches, at a weight of 12 pounds, 8 ounces. This monster has held the record for the largest whitefish caught in the entire state of Minnesota since March 21, 1999.<\/p>\n<p>However, this record does have a new challenger: a whitefish caught near Lake of the Woods in April 2019. The photo below is of the recent catch, but it gives you a sense of the massive size of these record-holding fish.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3550\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3550\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3550\" src=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish-1.png\" alt=\"Large Whitefish\" width=\"512\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish-1.png 512w, https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish-1-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3550\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Sara Thompson\/ SJT Marketing<\/p><\/div>\n<h3>Pumpkinseed Sunfish<\/h3>\n<p>On average, pumpkinseed sunfish grow to about 4 inches long and weigh less than a pound. The record-breaking sunfish caught on Leech Lake came in at 10 inches long, weighing 1 pound 5 ounces! Like the whitefish, this sunfish has held the state record since 1999. It even rivals the current world record pumpkinseed sunfish, which weighed 1 pound 8 ounces.<\/p>\n<h3>Rock Bass<\/h3>\n<p>While Leech Lake is the best-known fishing spot in the region, other nearby lakes provide plenty of opportunity for anglers, too!<\/p>\n<p>The largest rock bass ever recorded in Minnesota was caught in Lake Winnibigoshish, just a few miles north of Leech Lake. The bass weighed in at a hefty 2 pounds &#8212; anyone familiar with rock bass knows they rarely weigh over a pound.<\/p>\n<h3>Muskellunge<\/h3>\n<p>Another incredible fishing record belongs to Lake Winnibigoshish &#8212; this one has stood since 1957. The lucky angler reeled in a muskie weighing 54 pounds and measuring a length of 56 inches.<\/p>\n<p>This record has been challenged a few times in recent years. The muskie in the photo below may have broken the record, but angler Kelsey Poshusta didn\u2019t have a board long enough to measure it!<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3549\" style=\"width: 522px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3549\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3549\" src=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish2.png\" alt=\"Kelsey Poshusta large muskie\" width=\"512\" height=\"329\" srcset=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish2.png 512w, https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/fish2-300x193.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3549\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Credit: Kelsey Poshusta<\/p><\/div>\n<p>But hey &#8212; that just means there\u2019s still an opportunity for you to visit the Leech Lake area and take a crack at the record yourself. With an abundance of conveniently located lakeside resorts, lodges, and cabins, you\u2019ll have plenty of time to get out on the water. Also don&#8217;t forget to check out our <a href=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/fishing-report\/\">Fishing Report<\/a> posted weekly!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles of world-class fishing, to the many surrounding lakes and rivers in Cass County, it\u2019s truly an angler\u2019s paradise. Of course, there\u2019s a reason we associate \u201cfish stories\u201d with bending [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3552,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,60,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leech-lake","category-mn-fishing","category-outdoor-activities"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Leech Lake Tourism Bureau\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"281\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"fsol\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"fsol\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"fsol\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf\"},\"headline\":\"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546\"},\"wordCount\":515,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/wp-lib\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Leech Lake\",\"MN Fishing\",\"Outdoor Activities\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546\",\"name\":\"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/wp-lib\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf\"},\"description\":\"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/wp-lib\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/wp-lib\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":281,\"caption\":\"Largest fish ever caught in the leech lake area\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?p=3546#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/\",\"name\":\"Leech Lake Tourism Bureau\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/leechlake.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf\",\"name\":\"fsol\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau","description":"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau","og_description":"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...","og_url":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546","og_site_name":"Leech Lake Tourism Bureau","article_published_time":"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":281,"url":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"fsol","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"fsol","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546"},"author":{"name":"fsol","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/#\/schema\/person\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf"},"headline":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area","datePublished":"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546"},"wordCount":515,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg","articleSection":["Leech Lake","MN Fishing","Outdoor Activities"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546","url":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546","name":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area - Leech Lake Tourism Bureau","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-08-18T21:03:58+00:00","dateModified":"2022-12-01T14:57:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/#\/schema\/person\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf"},"description":"t\u2019s no secret that Walker, MN, is one of the best fishing locations in the region. From Leech Lake itself, which offers over 160 square miles...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-lib\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/MG_4439-1-e1597784617344.jpeg","width":1280,"height":281,"caption":"Largest fish ever caught in the leech lake area"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?p=3546#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Largest Fish Ever Caught in the Leech Lake Area"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/","name":"Leech Lake Tourism Bureau","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/#\/schema\/person\/015a5cac75c6ed2435294dc9dfe700bf","name":"fsol"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3546"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3553,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3546\/revisions\/3553"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/leechlake.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}