carps over 25 kg
Aaptosyax grypus
Giant Salmon Carp
Other methods
+ 30 kg Mekong River · Year unknown
Reference · Nature · Editorial care
Maximum sizes, clearly categorised
World Records Freshwater Fishing catalogues maximum sizes for freshwater fishes, with clear distinctions between catch methods, evidence quality, and sources.
560 Species
3261 Published claims
7 Catch continents
26 Fish groups
Featured species
Each card shows the highlighted claim for that species — never a silent mix of categories.
carps 10-25 kg
Abramis brama
Common Bream
Rod & reel
10,32 kg gravel pit Ferry Lagoon · 2012
catfishes up 10 kg
Acanthicus adonis
Pearl Devil Pleco
Other methods
~ 10 kg Amazon River system · Year unknown
catfishes 10-50 kg
Acanthicus hystrix
Black Devil Pleco
Other methods
+ 15 kg Amazon River · Year unknown
sturgeons
Acipenser baerii
Siberian Sturgeon
Rod & reel
43,77 kg Northwest Zealand's Fish Park · 2025
sturgeons
Acipenser brevirostrum
Shortnose Sturgeon
Rod & reel
~ 15 kg Kennebacis River · 2014
Browse by continent of catch
Region means the documented catch or find locality, not the species’ natural range.
Browse by fish group
Editorial groups follow the familiar structure of the long-running catalogue.
carps 10-25 kg (51)catfishes over 50 kg (47)catfishes 10-50 kg (46)catfishes up 10 kg (41)Perciformes up 10 kg (37)characins (37)Salmonidae over 10 kg (36)carps 5-10 kg (34)carps over 25 kg (33)carps up 5 kg (31)Perciformes over 10 kg (28)Salmonidae up 10 kg (28)skates and rays (24)sturgeons (23)bony tongues (18)eels (13)gars (7)knifefishes (6)herrings (5)lungfishes (5)pikes (5)bowfins (1)cod-likes (1)pufferfishes (1)silversides (1)spiny eels (1)
Sources & categories
How claims are kept honest
Rod & reel, other methods, found-dead specimens, and questionable reports stay separate. Approximate and “over” values keep their markers. Incomplete years such as 19?? remain incomplete — unknown is never forced into a fake date.
Listed values carry source confidence and, where available, a retrieval date. Age records and catch photographs are shown with the same care as weights and lengths.
The project
Thirty years of careful compilation
World Records Freshwater Fishing grew from Heinz Machacek’s work to gather maximum-size data for freshwater fishes when published sources were incomplete and exchange between anglers, commercial fishers, and scientists was scarce.
Clear categories, readable claims, and an editorial publishing workflow keep that craft intact when a record is updated.