Only one state-record sized fish was caught in Indiana in 2009. Paul Huber of Seymour caught a 32.25-inch bowfin that weighed 16.52 lbs. in Mutton Creek in Jackson County. The previous state record bowfin was caught in 1988 and weighed 16.0 lbs.

There were 54 entries for 2009 Fish-of-the-Year, of which 27 were accepted. The smallest was a 12-inch bluegill caught by Abby Byrer of Warsaw in Crystal Lake, and the largest was a 50-inch muskie caught by Edwin Van Cleave of Chicago in Big Barbee Lake.

Bill Hudock of Michigan City and Joe Tackett of Claypool tied for the walleye Fish-of-the-Year, each catching walleyes measuring 31 inches. Also, Chris Terry of Noblesville caught a 22.75-inch smallmouth bass while fishing a retention pond in Hamilton County. River fishing accounted for eight of the 27 entries; six came from Lake Michigan, eight from other lakes, and five from private ponds.

Each angler who caught a Fish-of-the-Year, along with his or her hometown, is listed below.

Species	Length	Angler Name	Body of Water	County	Angler's Hometown	Date
Blue Catfish	44.5	David Ben Mullen	Ohio River	Harrison	Central	10/5/2009
Bluegill	12	Abby Byrer	Crystal Lake	Kosciusko	Warsaw	8/4/2009
Bullhead	15.5	George Morris III	Pond	Boone	Jamestown	4/19/2009
Brown  Trout	31.5	Ron Kotfer	Lake Michigan	Lake	Munster	3/6/2009
Buffalo	40	Bryan Kapke	Lake of the Woods	Marshall	Bremen	8/30/2009
Channel Catfish	24	Patrick Bates	White River	Marion	Indianapolis	6/1/2009
Chinook Salmon	39.5	Bob Tortolano	Lake Michigan	Lake	Crown Point	8/14/2009
Coho Salmon	29	Michael Kotfer	Lake Michigan	Lake	Munster	7/20/2009
Carp	29	Lindsey Fleshood	Wabash River	Wabash	Wabash	6/17/2009
Crappie	17	Chris O'Brian	Pond	Daviess	Montgomery	1/27/2009
Flathead Catfish	45	Jackie Reynolds	Cagles Mill Reservoir	Putnam	Poland	9/2/2009
Freshwater Drum	30	Mike Berg	Lake Michigan	Lake	Cedar Lake	7/12/2009
Goldeye	14	Lindsey Fleshood	Wabash River	Wabash	Wabash	8/7/2009
Grass Carp	47	John Pitcher	Pond	Sullivan	Dugger	3/21/2009
Hybrid Striped Bass	26.75	Marietta Strange	Ohio River	Clark	Louisville, KY	11/10/2009
Largemouth Bass	25.5	Bryan Hanson	Pond	Lake	Hobart	4/25/2009
Gar	36	Lindsey Fleshood	Wabash River	Wabash	Wabash	7/24/2009
Muskellunge	50	Edwin VanCleave	Big Barbee Lake	Kosciusko	Chicago, IL	7/18/2009
Northern Pike	30	Mike Berg	Tippecanoe Lake	Kosciusko	Cedar Lake	8/31/2009
Smallmouth Bass	22.75	Chris Terry	Pond	Hamilton	Noblesville	n/a
Steelhead Trout	30	Steve Berg	Salt Creek	Porter	Cedar Lake	4/1/2009
Striped Bass	40	Gary Lewis	Cecil M Harden Res.	Parke	Indianapolis	6/8/2009
Sucker	28	Stacy Boik	Ohio River	Union	Evansville	11/22/2009
Walleye	31	Bill Hudock	Lake Michigan	La Porte	Michigan City	4/2/2009
Walleye	31	Joe Tackett	Pike Lake	Kosciusko	Claypool	4/15/2009
White Bass	17.5	Kevin Lawence Jr.	Winona Lake	Kosciusko	Warsaw	9/27/2009
Yellow Perch	14.5	Ron Kotfer	Lake Michigan	Lake	Munster	11/22/2009

To find out more information about the state record fish or Fish-of-the-Year programs, go to http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3577.htm. 

To find out where to fish, go to www.fishing.IN.gov and click on the interactive "Where to Fish Finder" link.

To buy an Indiana fishing license online, see www.IndianaOutdoor.IN.gov

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