Jesse Pashia couldn’t leave well enough alone.
The angler from Delta broke open 2025 by hooking a state-record fish in the Gunnison Bend Reservoir. The white crappie, which he caught and released on on Jan. 4 of that year, measured 13 and three-eighths inches long.
A month later, however, Pashia was back at the reservoir bringing in an even bigger fish. This white crappie, which he also released, measured an even 14 inches.
That record still stands and is one of five new Utah fishing records set in 2025.
While that may seem like a lot of big fish, the five broken records are actually tied for the second fewest in the state since 2019, according to the Utah Division of Natural Resources. Anglers recorded 11 record-breaking catches in both 2020 and 2022. Just four were recorded in 2021.
Still, 2025 stands out for its variety of records. Two are catch-and-release, two are catch-and-keep and one was a spearfishing record.
Here are the state’s newest big fish, and the anglers who caught them:
Catch and keep
(Courtesy of the Utah Division of Natural Resources) Chris Anderson of Spanish Fork shows off the Utah-record hybrid sunfish he caught in Sand Hollow Reservoir on June 15, 2025. The fish, a combination of bluegill and green sunfish, weighed 1 pound and 1 ounce, was 12 and five-eighths inches in length and had a 10 1/4-inch girth.
Hybrid sunfish: Chris Anderson of Spanish Fork set the record for hybrid sunfish while out fishing with his kids at Sand Hollow Reservoir on Father’s Day weekend. One of his sons brought in, he estimated in an Instagram post, 15 bluegill to each bass Anderson landed. Yet when Anderson spied a fish on his fishfinder while the kids were swimming, he dropped in his son’s rod that was rigged for bluegill and came up with a surprise.
The hybrid sunfish — a mix of bluegill and green sunfish — weighed 1 pound and 1 ounce, was 12 ⅝ inches long and 10 1/4 inches around.
“I don’t target these fish,” he wrote on his Instagram page, “and if it was the first fish of the day, it would have been released for sure without ever knowing. I’m grateful for the 75 small fish previously that helped me identify something special on my one cast/drop.”
(Courtesy of the Utah Division of Natural Resources) William Stafford shows off the Utah-record 29 1/2-inch wiper he caught and kept on April 20, 2025 at Otter Creek Reservoir in Paiute County. It weighed more than 18 pounds and had a 25-inch girth.
Wiper: William Stafford hauled in a Utah-record 29 1/2-inch wiper on April 20 at Otter Creek Reservoir in Paiute County. It weighed more than 18 pounds and had a 25-inch girth and was the first record-setting catch-and-keep wiper not caught at Newcastle Reservoir.
Catch and release
(Courtesy of the Utah Division of Natural Resources) Jesse Pashia of Delta shows off the Utah-record 14-inch white crappie he caught and released in the Gunnison Bend Reservoir in Millard County on Feb. 22, 2025.
White crappie: Pashia didn’t hang up his rod after landing his two record-setting white crappies last spring. In a Facebook post, he said within the first two days of 2026, he caught 72 fish. That included 66 crappies, though none that could challenge his record.
(Courtesy of the Utah Division of Natural Resources) This 29 1/2-inch-long. wiper was caught and released by Adam Cunningham on May 4, 2025 at Huntington North Reservoir. It set a Utah catch-and-release record.
Wiper: Adam Cunningham landed a 29 1/2-inch-long wiper on May 4, 2025 at Huntington North Reservoir. It was an inch and a half longer than the previous catch-and-release record fish, which caught in 2020 in Minersville Reservoir.
Spearfishing
(Courtesy of the Utah Division of Natural Resources) Garion Rowett, the Lehi fire marshal, caught this arctic grayling while spearfishing at Fish Lake on June 21, 2025. The fish was 10 1/2 inches long, weighed 4.16 ounces and had a 4 3/4-inch girth, earning it a Utah record.
Arctic grayling: This category has just three entries, and two were made in 2025.
Eric Fisher broke the 2-year-old record last spring by accurately targeting a 4-ounce specimen at Sand Lake. Yet the title was quickly turned over to Garion Rowett, who snagged a 4.16-ounce Arctic grayling on June 21 at Fish Lake. Rowett’s fish was 10 1/2 inches long and had a 4 3/4-inch girth.