The Lakes Where Northern Pike Grow Largest

The ferocious northern pike's size is usually measured in one of two ways: total weight on a certified scale, or length from snout to tail. For this list, "largest" means the heaviest certified state-record northern pike ever recorded in that lake: the gold standard anglers and state wildlife agencies use to settle this kind of debate. Eight lakes across eight states have produced the biggest official pike catches in the country, spanning from a 1929 haul in the Minnesota wilderness to a 2023 catch that still holds Idaho's record today. Most adult northern pike weigh only 2 to 10 pounds (1 to 4.5 kg); anything past 20 pounds (9 kg) counts as a genuine trophy. Every fish on this list blew past that mark. The lakes here are ranked by the certified weight of their record catch, heaviest to lightest, using data verified directly against each state's fish and wildlife agency.

Great Sacandaga Lake, New York

New York's Great Sacandaga Lake produced the heaviest certified northern pike ever caught in the United States. Angler Peter Dubuc landed the 46-pound, 2-ounce (20.9 kg) fish on September 15, 1940, using a Heddon Flaptail plug. Measuring 52.5 inches (133 cm), it held the world record for roughly 40 years and is still recognized by the International Game Fish Association as the U.S. all-tackle record. The lake itself is a 20,650-acre reservoir in the southern Adirondacks, created in 1930 when the Conklingville Dam was completed. Anglers still pull pike in the 20-to-30-pound range from its weedy bays, flooded stump fields, and deep river channel most winters, which keeps it among the premier pike waters in the Northeast.

Basswood Lake, Minnesota

Straddling the U.S.-Canada border inside the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, Basswood Lake claims Minnesota's oldest standing fishing record. J.V. Schanken caught a 45-pound, 12-ounce (20.7 kg) northern pike here on May 16, 1929, and nearly a century later no angler has topped it. The state's official record lists no length for the catch, since certified scales weren't required for record submissions at the time. Basswood has kept producing giants since: a 46.25-inch catch-and-release fish set the state's release-category record here in 2021, a mark another angler later tied. Reaching the lake requires a canoe route through the Superior National Forest, which shields these fish from casual anglers.

Hayden Lake, Idaho

North Idaho's Hayden Lake holds the current Idaho state record, a 40.76-pound (18.5 kg) northern pike caught by Thomas Francis on March 21, 2023. The fish measured 49 inches (124 cm) with a 26.5-inch girth and broke a record that had stood since 2010. Francis hooked it near the edge of lake ice that hadn't yet cleared for the season, and it took several stops before he could find a scale large enough to certify the weight. Pike are not native to Idaho waters. They were introduced decades ago and have since built a strong, self-sustaining population in the Coeur d'Alene River drainage that includes Hayden Lake, giving anglers a rare shot at a 40-pound-class fish without leaving the state.

Dodge Lake, Michigan

Dodge Lake, a modest lake in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, is the site of the state's longest-standing fishing record. Larry Clough speared a 39-pound (17.7 kg), 51.5-inch (131 cm) northern pike here in Schoolcraft County in 1961, and it remains unbeaten more than six decades later. Michigan's record category recognizes fish caught by any legal method, which is why a speared fish still ranks above every rod-and-reel catch. The Upper Peninsula's cold, weedy lakes make productive pike habitat, and a record this durable is a reminder of how slowly truly old pike accumulate size, even as generations of anglers target bigger, more heavily fished waters like Lake Michigan and Lake Gogebic.

Lake Puckaway, Wisconsin

A shallow, marshy lake in Green Lake County, Lake Puckaway yielded Wisconsin's record northern pike in August 1952. J.A. Rahn's catch weighed 38 pounds (17.2 kg) and measured 45.5 inches (116 cm), a record that has stood for more than 70 years despite Wisconsin's population of avid pike anglers. Puckaway's shallow, weed-choked basin is unusual habitat for a trophy pike lake, since most giants come from deep, cold reservoirs. The abundant vegetation feeds a strong forage base of panfish and suckers that pike devour. Ice-anglers still work the lake every winter, hoping to challenge a record that predates the interstate highway system.

Tongue River Reservoir, Montana

In southeastern Montana near the Wyoming border, Tongue River Reservoir produced the state's record northern pike in 1972, when Lance Moyer landed a 37.5-pound (17 kg) fish. Montana's official records list no length for the catch. Formed by a dam on the Tongue River, the reservoir lies in a region better known for its walleye and smallmouth bass, which makes its status as home to Montana's biggest-ever pike something of an outlier. Northern pike are not native to most of Montana's western drainages and have expanded into several reservoirs over the decades, occasionally to the concern of fisheries managers who work to protect native trout in nearby rivers.

Stagecoach Reservoir, Colorado

Colorado's record northern pike came out of Stagecoach Reservoir, just south of Steamboat Springs, when Thornton angler Tim Bone hooked a 30-pound, 11-ounce (13.9 kg) fish in 2006 while fishing for trout with Powerbait. The pike measured 46.5 inches (118 cm) with a 21.5-inch girth and fought for an exhausting 25 minutes before Bone landed it. Anglers illegally released pike into the 800-acre reservoir in the early 1990s, which is how the population most likely began; Colorado Parks and Wildlife now encourages anglers to harvest pike here to protect the reservoir's stocked rainbow trout. More than fifteen years later, Bone's fish remains the heaviest pike ever certified in the state.

Pompton Lake, New Jersey

Pompton Lake in Passaic County holds New Jersey's state record, a 30-pound, 8.5-ounce (13.8 kg) northern pike caught by John Viglione of Ringwood on September 7, 2009. The fish edged out a record that had stood for 32 years, set at Spruce Run Reservoir in 1977. Viglione landed it on his thirteenth cast of the morning, initially suspecting he'd hooked a snapping turtle before the fish's weight became clear. The Pompton Lake Dam impounds the Ramapo River to form the 175-acre lake in northern New Jersey, just above the point where the Ramapo and Pequannock rivers meet to become the Pompton River. Its deep water and weedy shallows make for one of the state's stronger pike fisheries.

Where To Cast For Your Own Record Pike

From a 1929 catch in roadless wilderness to a 2023 record set on ice-covered water, these eight lakes show how unpredictable trophy pike fishing really is. Record fish have turned up in shallow marshland and deep mountain reservoirs alike, in lakes stocked with trout and in waters where pike were never supposed to exist at all. Most of these records have stood for decades, which says as much about how rare a truly giant pike is as it does about the lakes themselves. For anglers chasing that next record, patience counts more than the size of the water.