North Dakota Game and Fish Department confirms new state record burbot

Jan. 30—BISMARCK — It's official — North Dakota has a new state record burbot, the Game and Fish Department said Monday in confirming the catch. Shane Johnson's 19-pound, 8-ounce burbot broke a state record that's been in the books for nearly 40 years.

The Minot angler caught the 41.5-inch fish Jan. 3 from the Garrison Dam Tailrace.

The previous record of 18 pounds, 4 ounces was set in 1984 by Orland Kruckenberg, a Hazen angler who was fishing the Knife River.

Johnson's record-setting catch is just shy of the Minnesota state record, a 19-pound, 10-ounce burbot caught by Brent Getzler of Roosevelt, Minn., in December 2016 on Lake of the Woods.