Washington State Record Walleye

The new Washington state record walleye was caught by John Grubenhoff and weighed 20 pounds and 5 ounces

There is a new state record walleye for the state of Washington, and it’s a whopper of a fish. Last Friday, John Grubenhoff rushed home from work to fish for a few hours on Lake Wallula. With a cold front coming in, John had a good feeling about fish biting and has had a lot of success with this type of weather. Soon after arriving, his thoughts were confirmed when he hauled in a 14 pound hen and smaller male. He then went on to catch his third fish on the night, a 20 pound 5 ounce hen walleye that would break Washington’s previous state record.

I got it up to the boat and I wasn’t paying attention to how huge it was until I lifted it,” he told the Spokesman-Review.

Grubenhoff was fishing a break along a rocky shoreline with a 6-inch minnow strung up to a bottom walker. When he caught the massive fish, he thought it may be a new record, so he put it in the live well. He then continued to fish, but didn’t last long due to his excitement to get the fish weighed.

The walleye weighed a whopping 20.32 pounds, beating the 2007 state record of 19.3 pounds. The fish measured 35 1/2 inches long and had a girth of 22 3/4 inches. A Washington state biologist was present at the weighing and confirmed the new record. Usually records are not confirmed so fast, but this was a really big deal in the fishing world. The last time a U.S. angler caught a walleye larger than 20 pounds was 26 years ago in Missouri in 1988.

Grubenhoff stated that he felt bad killing the fish and doesn’t ordinarily keep many except for a few for dinner. He thought this fish may break the record though and is very happy to be included in the Washington State record books.

Washington has been producing many quality walleye and is now home to the fifth largest state record walleye. The biggest walleye caught in the United States is 25 pounds and was caught in 1960 in Tennessee.