False Reports of State Record Fish - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Are people lying or making honest mistakes?

Whatever the case, there have been four false reports of state record fish in the last year.

Game and fish officials say it's not difficult process. If you think you have a state record fish, you can find your way into the record book by following some simple steps.

If you like fish stories, game and fish officials have head them all.

"If we reacted to every fish story down at the local bar or coffee shop we'd be running forever and it wouldn't be fair to those that did it right," says Fisheries Chief Greg Power.

During the past year, there have been six claims of state record fish. Only two were verified. A potential state record walleye, perch and smallmouth bass have all been dismissed as false. And then there's the latest case.

"Supposedly a very large northern pike, not just large by North Dakota standards but by world standards that perhaps could have been a world record northern pike that was supposedly caught on the wing walls at the Tailrace a few weeks back and we have yet to see that fish and there too actually that fish was released so we will never see that fish itself, perhaps pictures but we'll never be able to confirm it as a state record obviously," says Power.

So what do you need to do if you think you've landed a state record?

Get the fish verified by game and fish officials ASAP. And two, have the fish weighed on a certified scale within 90 days.

"There's a little bit of big fish envy, a lot of things going on. A lot of just common mistakes people don't know . Again the process is really quite simple. We don't require affidavits and many witnesses like some states," says Power.

Power says with more people fishing, more big fish will be caught. He says he wouldn't be surprised to see a state record northern and a state record walleye caught in the next five years.

Two state records have been recorded this year. A white bass in Devils Lake and a Lake Trout caught in the Missouri River system this spring in the tailrace.

Here is a link to all of the state record fish:

http://gf.nd.gov/fishing/state-record-fish