Indiana’s 2022 Fish of Year contest has Putnam winner

Indiana’s Fish of the Year program is back and bigger than ever, with 71 anglers submitting 139 entries in 2022 — the biggest batch of entries yet for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

With 55 different species entered in the contest, Hayden Baker came out on top in the longest fish award, winning with a 56-inch long-nose gar caught in Aikman Creek in Daviess County.

A Putnam County private pond -- location not disclosed -- yielded the contest’s largest redear sunfish, a 12.4-inch catch by Will Lloyd.

Meanwhile, at nearby Cecil M. Harden Lake in Raccoon State Recreation Area, Liu He hauled in the largest striped bass at 15.5 inches. That, however, is nowhere near the state-record striped bass caught at Harden Lake by Jonathan VanHook of Rockville in 2010. That monster weighed in at 39.08 pounds.

Liu He had quite the fishing season, posting the biggest fish in 12 other categories:

• Spotted bass, 14.5 inches, Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).

• Rock bass, 11 inches, Tippecanoe River (White County).

• White bass, 16.5 inches, Tippecanoe River (Carroll County).

• Sauger, 18.5 inches, Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).

• Steelhead, 32 inches, Trail Creek (LaPorte).

• Freshwater drum, 23.5 inches, Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).

• Common carp, 30 inches (tie), Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).

• Blue sucker, 27 inches, Tippecanoe River (Carroll County).

• Quillback, 18 inches, Tippecanoe River (Carroll County).

• Gizzard shad, 18 inches, Tippecanoe River (Carroll County).

• Goldeye, 17 inches, Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).

• Skipjack herring, 16 inches, Wabash River (Tippecanoe County).