Back to overview Record catches overview 2020
During the coronavirus pandemic, more people than ever before went fishing in the Netherlands in 2020. With more people fishing, there were far more opportunities to break records, and both the Nederlandse Commissie Record Zeevissen (NCRZ) and the Nederlandse Recordlijst Zoetwatervissen (BNRZ) received unusually high numbers of record claims.
Eleven record claims were submitted for the category of Dutch Sea Fish, and seven of these set new records. Remarkably, there were four record claims for European congers.
The largest and heaviest was the one caught by Martijn Roos, measuring 76 cm and 952 g. All four claims originated from the piers at Wijk aan Zee and IJmuiden, which indicates that the conger has established itself in the area. We therefore expect that the current record will be beaten in 2021.
European conger Catch & release
Other saltwater species that set new records last year included the blenny (16.5 cm), rock goby (14.7 cm), stingray (141 cm), thornback ray (68 cm), tope (169.5 cm), and sardine (26.8 cm).
For an overview of all the record catches, see
www.ncrz.nl.
Tope
This recently updated website features a claim form to submit claims for possible new records, and the relevant regulations. It’s worth knowing that in Dutch waters, anglers are allowed to measure a catch, return it to the water and still claim it as a potential record catch.
13 freshwater records
The inland waterways were also popular among anglers in 2020, and together they set no fewer than 13 new records for freshwater fish.
Spined loach
These included the spined loach (10 cm), thinlip mullet (77 cm), Western tubenose goby (7 cm), three-spined stickleback (7 cm), vimba (48 cm), stone moroko (10 cm), Prussian carp (55 cm), houting (55 cm), Kessler’s goby (18 cm), Crucian carp (45 cm), gudgeon (14 cm), common dace (21 cm), and Siberian sturgeon (142 cm). For all freshwater records, see
www.bnrz.nl. Houting