Minnesota Angler Catches 2,649 Fish in 24 Hours, Breaks World Record (Again)

by Game & Fish Staff • August 2, 2011 • 61 comments

Image courtesy of myfoxtwincities.com

MINNETONKA, MN — Somebody get ice for Jeff Kolozinski’s elbow as it’s bound to be sore as a result of all the jigging he did in route to catching 2,649 fish in a 24-hour span.

MyFoxtwincities.com is reporting that the Minnesota angler set out to break the record he set last year to raise money and awareness for the nonprofit organization Fishing for Life.

This is the second time Kolozinski — who is a marketing director for the fishing gear manufacturer Frabil – has set out to break this record. Just last year he caught 2,143 fish in a 24-hour span, which was verified by Guinness as a world record.

“We went for the bluegills. They’re smaller — you can catch a bunch of those, as opposed to walleye, musky or pike. So almost all the fish that we caught were bluegills, a few bullheads and a few crappies, but that was really it,” shared Kolozinki.

In Featured, Fishing • Tagged Bluegill, Fishing for Life, Frabil, Minnesota

Ernest Clevenger

Impossible. That would be one fish every 32.6 seconds. It would take longer than than just to reel in each fish and take it off the hook. And, how many were fish thrown back and caught again?
- Tom
  
  Have you never fished for blue gill, it's very simple to catch 2 in a minute.
  - James Reynolds
    
    Tom, I really don't think you can seriously think you can catch Blue Gill's (Florida) Bream that fast. I guess it would be possible if you were on a bed but even then as fast as they bite it would be hard to catch 2 in every minute. If you can let me know. I love to catch them.
    - Donny
      
      Actually it would be very possible. Several years back I landed 10 crappie in 7 minutes using a bobber and then 3 feet down a jig pink lead head with a white tail these were not small crappie either they were slabs. Another thing is if you have the right pattern of lure choice you will be pulling them out left and right whether it be threw spinnerbait, buzzbaits, crankbaits, etc.
    - andrew
      
      its actually VERY easy to catch 2 in a minute lol i fish lake minnetonka ALOT and i have had plenty of days where right when the hook hit the water a sunny was on lol i think our best day was 4 ppls limit in 2 hrs
    - Todd
      
      We have local lake here in Utah that from a boat you can catch 2 bluegill a minute all day long easily. All you have to do is find a pocket in the weeds and drop your line down 5-10 feet deep and wait for a nibble, which when you find a good spot is less than 3 to 5 seconds(no kidding its fast). They are so easy to catch that when you find a school they will take a plain hook with no bait on it. A bad day is catching less than 200 fish a person. So I believe its possible, and if you wanna try it yourself hit up Mantua Reservoir in Utah during the summer.
  - Boyd
    
    blue gill will bite in a shiny hook…no bait needed…plus he fished in the land of roughly 13,000 lakes…it is very possible….
- Aaron Decker
  
  This happened…he jigged off a dock…no reeling involved.
- dahigh
  
  If you are jigging from a dock you can basically pull the fish up and out with very few turns on the reel.as far as fish thet were caught more than once is anybody's guess,but that doesn't make any difference.
- brian gutierrez
  
  he could have had more than one fishing pole
  - Jack
    
    Nope, Not in Minnesota. Legally, except when ice fishing, only one pole is allowed to be in the water at the same time for each angler. However, I bet he had numerous rods already rigged up and somebody helping him take off the fish. Lake Minnetonka is loaded with fish. caught more panfish there as a kid than anywhere else.
- blake b
  
  ya this is a feat im sure ive accomplished several times grew up on a creek that produced great fishing and 10 bluegills a minute was easy to do
- danb
  
  its very possible! I catch em that fast all the time and sometimes 8-10/minute, and thats usin live bait.BTW, with a cane pole you dont have to reel. and what difference does it make how many of them were recaught? the real feat here is doing it for 24 hours!
- danb
  
  its very possible. I do it all the time and sometimes 8-10/ minute. just not for 24 hrs at a time.
- Michael Stanley
  
  Im still trying to figure out the purpose of doing this?…. I mean I love fishing with every ounce of my being and a few years back caught 200-300 flounder over the winter in Texas and ate as much as I could eat and threw back the rest… If he wanted to raise awareness about fishing then why not go pick up some under privledged kids or some disabled Vets and put them on the fish… to me this event didnt prove anything and seemed like self glorification except for the life of me I dont think I would brag about catching a bunch of panfish… Guess this dude is easily amused?
  - Eric B.
    
    …but you will talk out your rear for no apparent reason? The point was to raise awareness for Fishing For Life and was plainly stated in the article you glanced over above. Had you clicked the link you would have found that:
    
    Fishing For Life was established in order to minister to urban youth in the Minneapolis and St. Paul area through both fundraising and fishing programs. Since it’s inception, FFL has raised $170,000 for more than 20 urban youth organizations and partnered with other agencies designed to minister to metro youth through fishing. Check out some of our exciting programs and learn how you can be a part of our ministry.
    
    I think he did just fine. I see no mention of what you done for the kids lately Mr Stanley, How about a little more quiet in the peanut gallery eh?
Bob

There was probably no reeling…he probably just had to drop the line and pull the fish. Doesn't look like his rod even has a reel on it. I believe it!
Harold Schussler

Who cares about numbers. Size matters most. Harold
- dahigh
  
  you can feed more people on 2,649 small fish that one 10 pound fish
http://www.kevindsingleton.com Kevin Singleton

I'm impressed! What an accomplishment. And, he did it for a great cause.
Bob Hagner

Yep he caught all thopse small fish now what will he do with 'em…..it waste of the fish,ya I know it helps the balance of the fish for more food to be bigger…..so I think it's a bad deal as a sportsman….
- Aaron Decker
  
  Catch and release Bob…he didn't keep 2,649 fish.
  - Bob Rinaldi
    
    that would be one hell of a fish fry
- dahigh
  
  I'm sure they were thrown back in.
- harold sack
  
  Shows theres a moron born every minute. Thats half as many fish caught in 24 hrs. case you cant figure that one out to bob hagner……… one it would be illegal in any state to keep that many. two why would you think he is keeping them any how………..?
Brian B

yeah im wondering how many did he kill by gill hooking and hooks being swallowed etc. maybe thats something they "left out" of the story.
- Randy
  
  Who cares ? I think alot of you are missing his reason for breaking the record. What geat effort for a good cause. Hats off to ya Jeff !
- dahigh
  
  OH OH…first the hunting police now the fishing police.
- JW
  
  Tree Hugger
- danb
  
  with the right sized hook most of them probably were lipped. actually myself i prefer using rusty old hooks so the ones that get away get tomaine! Hello peta!
Tommy McCook

Somehow, it turns me off not on. Wonder how many hot dogs he could eat in one hour?
- B Danielsen
  
  Feeling like eatn a wiener? Turned on and off by an article?
Raymond L. Main

Don't you think maybe he had help, baiting the hook, unhooking the fish {barbless hook?}, more than one pole?

There is more to it than they are telling!
Joe Smokin

maybe he used a gill net
Kirby

Oh my god. Are you people that dense. Keep all the fish, gill nets, where is the idiot that thinks he used dynamite? He probably used multiple poles with multiple jigs, or whatever is LEGAL to use in Minnessota. Get real, it was covered by the PRESS. He is from the fishing industry, he didn't break any laws.
- Lynwood Loehr
  
  He probobly used barbless hooks too, so the fish wouldn't be inured much. If the Guiness people confirmed it- it's real. They watch them like hawks- their reputation depends on it. i can say this though -that's one hell of a lot of fish to pull in – no matter how he fished! And most everybody practices catch and release these days.
Louie

Its a great job to have and he gets to set records, I would love to have a job like his congrats Jeff!
http://ATT RATMAN

Where did this happen , and when. I would have loved to have been there. Bluegill (Bream , down south, ) are some real good eats. I LOVE them. congratulations JEFF
- Jack
  
  Heck of a lot bigger in the south, but just as good eating in Minnesota.
Mike H

he had to have help and a bunch of rods,you can't catch unhook and rebait that fast and keep it up for 24 hours by yourself
- brian
  
  He used a jig so no rebaiting and he just dropped it in and pulled the fish up.. Probably had 2 or even 3 jigs on one line.. Why are you people such idiots??
- danb
  
  Evidently most people on here have never caught trotline bait before! This is very possible even if you do use live bait! Properly done, using a cane pole, a #12 cricket hook with a very small piece of a nightcrawler, I can easily pull out 2 per minute and usually more than that! if you only put enough worm on to cover the barb, then most times you dont have to rebait and can catch 10-20 before the bait is gone. You put a whole worm on and most times you'll lose yer bait in one try n not even catch the fish!
NateMN

You can only fish one line in MN so my guess is that he probably had another licensed angler baiting and maybe even fishing another line. Then when he had one fish landed, he could hand it off to another licensed angler to take the fish off and release it, and legally take over the second line to land another fish. I would guess all he did was the hooking and hauling.
Gary

You won't lose many bluegill if you use a #6 hook. We catch them by the hundreds on the St. Lawrence River and very seldomly does a #6 hook end up down the fish's throat. Actually, one can unhook a bluegill in a second or so typically. Congrats to Jeff for having the stamina to do this in the name or charity!!
- Snyper
  
  i live in panama city fl and even i have caught 70+ bluegill in an hour on good… great days fishing for them they are plentiful aggressive and easy to handle and get off a hook in seconds so it can be done
Wood

Wonder how many hooks he had tied to his line?
Zed

quit bein such idiots. its possible. ever caught two bass on one lure, i dont think so.. soo shut yur moths. he caught them himself, quit gettin mad cause you couldnt do that.
- harold sack
  
  Hey Zed, since you mentioned it, ya my friend two weeks ago caught TWO 10 " large mouth bass on ONE lure. One on each treble hook. Have photos on facebook showing them. It was sweet to watch. It can be done……….lol.
Bill

Would love to find a spot that you could even catch that many fish, sounds like real fun
Bob Robbins

Crappie bite at nite, I have never caught a bluegill or red ear after dark. Maybe in minn.
- Jack
  
  Any type of sunfish in MN at night, but possible. Crappie bite hard at night in MN.
- danb
  
  the bluegill bite slows way down at night unless you're under the lights.
jerry

they are limit on them so did game warden give him ticket
- Snyper
  
  if its catch and release then there is nothing to warden he did not have that many in his possession at 1 time
ANDREW

ok to all the stupid retards out there!!!!!!!!!!! one pole is allowed in minnesota (2 in winter, which clearly isnt the case right now!) sunnies arent hard to catch, so catching that many in 24 hrs is believable. and the limit on sunnies is 30 (per fisherman) so obviously he let them go! SO STOP BEING RETARDED!!! CONGRATS JEFF!!!!!!!
- harold sack
  
  And to add to Andrew's comment…….besides being morons….. STOP being so dang NEGITIVE everyone. Geeze, if people would just stop putting everyone and everything down, the world would be a better place. Just have fun catching fish. IF someone does better then you, Great, better luck next time. Tomorrow maybe your day…….. Great job and hats off to Jeff and all that he has done in the world……………………
Chris

Amazing man to do what you do for charity jeff. Just wish there were more people willing to do what you do for good causes. I am inspired thanks for what you do!!!! -Chris-
danb

WTG Jeff! catchin that much ummmm bait isnt really whats impressive, but doin it for 24 hours is astounding!
Bobby

Here's the real question. How many of these ignorant questions could have been answered had people just taken 30 seconds to watch the freaking video BEFORE they asked their stupid questions. Not lol. My goodness stupidity is out of control.
nightbiter

Blugill dont bite at night …hhmmmmm
blazer123

arrest him for catching too many over the limit !!!!!!!! poacher !!!!!!!!!!!

Minnesota Angler Catches 2,649 Fish in 24 Hours, Breaks World Record (Again)

Conservation Partners