lake trout – Syndication Server

Fisherman catches big-bellied, world-record-size lake trout

Fishing at an undisclosed lake in Colorado, Scott Enloe battled a big-bellied lake trout that was so big it wouldn’t fit into the net.

So, after a 13-minute battle, Scott and his son Hunter Enloe pulled the potential world-record fish into the boat, as reported by Free Range American.

“I’ve got the largest net that Frabill makes and it wasn’t big enough,” Scott told Free Range American.

Neither was their boat’s livewell big enough to hold the fish. “But I had the livewell full, so we stuck its head in with the tail and whole body sticking out,” Scott added.

“Wrapping your arms around a fish to dunk its head underwater is definitely an unorthodox approach, but it worked for the few seconds it took the anglers to prepare their tape measure, scales and camera,” Free Range American wrote.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hunter Enloe (@nymphapotamus)

Scott indicated he can usually eyeball a fish and determine its weight, “but when they’re this big, I had no clue what that fish weighed,” Scott told Free Range American. “I was just like, ‘I know it’s a record. It’s just too big.’”

On a hand scale, the humongous lake trout weighed 73.29 pounds and measured 47 inches. By comparison, the official world-record lake trout is 72 pounds caught on Aug. 19, 1995 by Lloyd Bull in Great Bear Lake in Northwest Territories, Canada.

The Colorado record for lake trout is 50.35 pounds caught in 2007 by Donald Walker in Blue Mesa Reservoir.

After carefully weighing and measuring the fish, the anglers released it alive to grow some more, so Scott’s fish qualifies for the International Game Fish Association All Tackle (Length) World Record, which currently stands at 42.9 inches, according to the record book.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Fisherman’s photo of weird catch oddly looks like a painting

Colorado established a catch-and-release category in January 2020 with a standard length starting at 32 inches for a lake trout. Scott would be the first record-holder in that category.

The father-son fishing duo are experienced at catching large fish, as evidenced by Hunter’s Instagram page. In fact, Hunter landed a 31-pound lake trout 30 minutes before his father’s catch.

“Dad and I have put in serious time to learn about these fish and how to catch them and most days they will outsmart you and that’s what keeps us addicted to them,” Hunter wrote on Instagram. “Congrats to my dad on another catch-and-release record. It was a special day and we just sat on the boat for a few hours not fishing just taking in what happened. Another awesome memory with my dad.”

Angler pulls 57-pound lake trout through the ice; ‘I was frozen’

Sam Boucha plunged her hand into the icy water to hold on to her prize while her boyfriend drilled a bigger hole in the ice.

While ice fishing in Canada, Sam Boucha battled a monster lake trout for nearly an hour before realizing the hole in the ice was not big enough for the fish, so her boyfriend Brad Molloy started drilling a second hole.

In the meantime, the fish spit the hook, but Boucha managed to plunge her arm into the icy water and grab ahold of the fish, and waited for the expanded hole in the ice.

“I was frozen,” Boucha told CBC. “We had a shack to warm up in afterwards so it was nice, but, yeah, it was bare-handed, arm down the hole to my shoulder, holding on to that fish until the second hole was drilled.”

Boucha told Outdoor Life she “could barely hold it” through the 2½-foot ice hole.

Once the hole opened up, Boucha pulled it through the opening. The lake trout measured 57¾ inches with a 31-inch girth. It topped out at 50 pounds on a hand scale but was estimated to weigh 57 pounds based on a calculation from the measurements.

It was the biggest fish Boucha has ever caught.

“I’ve caught a 35-pound trout before and this was something similar, so we’re pretty excited,” she told CBC. “It was unreal.”

The fish died, so Boucha plans on mounting it and putting it in a family cabin or in her home. She donated a pectoral fin and an ocular bone to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry for research and to get the fish’s age.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Ice fisherman catches odd-looking fish that was considered suspicious

Boucha made the catch on Red Lake in the town of Red Lake, Ontario. Though some people were upset that the fish died, many commenters on social media were positive about the catch.

“[One] was from a family friend here in Red Lake and he was like, ‘You’re a fishing goddess,’” Boucha told CBC. “I like that.”

Photos courtesy of Sam Boucha.

Ladder and luck contribute to Navy Pier lake trout catch

Since he was fishing for perch, Les Wooten didn’t bother bringing a net, so he was unprepared when he unexpectedly hooked a big lake trout.

Since he was fishing for perch at Navy Pier on Lake Michigan, Les Wooten didn’t bother bringing a net, so he was unprepared when he unexpectedly hooked a big lake trout.

Thankfully, he had some help from other fishermen, along with a good bit of luck.

His first challenge was reeling in the large fish on a crappie rig, as reported by the Chicago Sun Times.

Wooten told the Sun Times he walked down to the nearest ladder attached to the pier and worked his way down to the last rung.

“One fisherman had my rod, working the fish toward me, another fisherman handed me the net,” Wooten explained to the Sun Times.

The net had a short handle and was made for smaller fish.

“It took several tries to dip the fish in the net as [the laker] was so big, it kept falling out,” he said. “With one lucky lunge, I managed to get enough of the fish’s head and upper body in the net to lift it out of the water. I gave the handle to another fisherman while I grabbed the frame of the net while I ascended up the ladder to a bunch of cheers.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Can you spot the crocodile? Family enjoying river never saw it

The lake trout measured 32½ inches and weighed 14½ pounds. He caught it using a shiner for bait.

Turns out, Wooten’s son had a similar experience catching a flathead catfish from Navy Pier.

Navy Pier is on the shoreline of Lake Michigan in Chicago. It opened in July 1916 and is a popular tourist attraction that draws 9 million visitors each year. NavyPier.org states that one of the hidden gems of Navy Pier is that guests can fish free, and it offers tips and tricks to catch perch, salmon, bass and trout.

Photo courtesy of Les Wooten.

Man, 45, catches huge lake trout that might be as old as he

Fishing on Lake Superior, Chris VanEvera hooked into a lake trout that he initially thought might be a snag. Then came a 35-minute battle.

Fishing with four others in a team tournament on Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula last month, Chris VanEvera hooked into a huge lake trout that he initially thought might be a snag.

“It took a few minutes to get the planer board into our boat, and when I did, and could feel the fish directly, I knew it was a good one,” VanEvera told Outdoor Life.

After a 35-minute battle, VanEvera landed a lake trout that tipped the scales at 38.15 pounds and whose age just might be equal to the 45-year-old VanEvera, who plans to have the fish mounted.

“The taxidermist, Tim Gorenghan, is going to have my laker aged, because they grow so very slowly in Lake Superior,” VanEvera told Outdoor Life. “They think my fish may be about as old as me.”

“Lake trout are generally slow-growing, but long-lived, which means that populations are susceptible to overfishing,” Orvis News reported. “They reach sexual maturity at 6 or 7 years, commonly live in excess of 25 years, and have been recorded up to 60 years old.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Boy makes rare catch that veteran fishing guide has never seen before

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Alaskan lake trout are said to live to a maximum age of 62 years old with a maximum weight of 102 pounds.

VanEvera stated on Facebook that they were trolling in 135-feet of water in Traverse Bay but was only down 45 feet. “I’m not sure why he was so high in the [water] column,” he wrote.

The lunker lake trout wound up being the biggest caught in the Keweenaw Bay Classic Fishing Tournament (produced by Baraga County Next Gen Team) and was worth $2,400.

While VanEvera’s lake trout was no doubt massive, it fell far short of the Michigan record of 61.5 pounds, also caught in Lake Superior, in 1997.

Photos courtesy of Chris VanEvera.

[listicle id=1905857]

Watch: Frantic moments for angler as shanty is dragged across ice

Seth Trobec was alone in a portable ice shanty, line in the water, when suddenly the shanty began to slide at an increasingly high speed.

Seth Trobec was alone in a portable shanty, line in the water, when suddenly the shanty began to slide rapidly across the ice.

His fishing companion, Cody Mjolsness, had left on a snowmobile to fetch another friend and had forgotten to unhitch a tow line connecting the snowmobile to the shanty.

The accompanying footage, captured by a GoPro camera mounted inside the shanty, shows Trobec screaming while attempting to control his balance, and bailing from the shelter like a man jumping from an airplane.

“I decided to bail when I realized my buddy wasn’t slowing down,” Trobec told FTW Outdoors. “My thought was, we had some expensive gear on the ice, and I was afraid something maybe fell on the heater or into a fishing hole, and wanted to get back and make sure all was OK.

Trobec added: “The scream was a failed attempt to get his attention.”

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: ‘Astonishingly’ huge kingsnake encountered by conservation crew; photos

The men were fishing last Monday at Canisteo Mine Pit Lake in Coleraine, Minn., when the incident occurred. Nobody was injured and the only damage was a broken fishing line caused by the shanty being pulled over the fishing holes.

The footage shows Trobec’s dramatic exit multiple times and includes descriptive text. It also shows Trobec “picking up the pieces” after the shanty had been repositioned.

A few days later, Trobec posted a video showing him fighting and landing lake trout. He wrote on Facebook:

“I uploaded a couple more videos to my YouTube channel. I figured, with all the attention my first video is getting, I better show proof that I actually do catch fish out there!”

Huge lake trout is a last-minute catch through ice, but who caught it?

Shane DuBois was photographed holding a big lake trout caught ice fishing, but did he really make the catch? It’s complicated.

The Flaming Gorge Resort Facebook page posted a photo of Shane DuBois holding a massive lake trout caught while ice fishing on the Wyoming side of the famous fishery last Friday and called it a “great catch,” as it was just shy of 44 inches.

The Casper Star-Tribune followed up with a short writeup sourcing the resort…but did DuBois actually make the catch? It’s complicated.

DuBois, a fishing guide, explained to USA Today/For The Win Outdoors that he was the one who hooked the fish but his client Chris Covell was the one who ultimately landed it. DuBois was in a separate fishing hut when he hooked up; Covell was 20 yards away in another before joining DuBois.

Also on FTW Outdoors: Official ‘gobsmacked’ over huge brown trout caught ice fishing

“Since I hooked and fought the fish for a while Chris wanted me to take a photo with it and I posted it on my Facebook and I’ve been without service and started seeing it appearing everywhere, so I’ve spent my birthday [Monday] reaching out to outlets to correct the missing information on the story as I did not share it,” DuBois explained.

So, the Star-Tribune and the Flaming Gorge Resort updated their reports to reflect Covell (image below) as the fisherman who caught the fish. But there is much more to the story.

DuBois fought the huge lake trout for a few minutes as it nearly spooled him twice. Once he got the fish back below the hole, he handed the rod off to Covell, who fought it for another five to seven minutes, during which time an odd thing occurred.

“The lure shifted and we think the fish became unhooked and then hooked again on the other corner of the mouth,” DuBois explained to For The Win Outdoors.

In which case, one might argue Covell actually hooked and landed the behemoth on his own. OK, maybe that’s a stretch. But either way, it was an incredible catch (and release) that was close to the Wyoming length record of 48 inches set in 1995.

“We actually took my flip-over hut cover and made it into a sling to safely weigh the fish, and we’re surprised it only weighed 38 pounds, 10 ounces,” DuBois told For The Win. “We were all sure it was over 40 pounds.”

That the catch was made at all is a testament to their perseverance, and giving it a few more minutes before calling it quits.

“We were talking about big fish I’ve caught in the area about 10 minutes before I hooked this fish at 1 p.m., after I said let’s give it another half hour,” DuBois said.

Also on FTW: ‘Extremely rare’ fish sold at auction for $3,425

DuBois also stated, “I caught a fish about the same size at that spot last year about the same time, and we were looking at photos thinking it could be the same fish I caught on my day off last year.”

Just another twist to an incredible fish story.

Photos of Chris Covell sitting in a chair holding HIS fish and Shane DuBois holding the same fish outside a fishing hut courtesy of DuBois.

[jwplayer M2bfFsZP-q2aasYxh]

Angler hooks giant lake trout while on phone with surgeon

Murray Zelt’s ice-fishing catch last Wednesday of a 27-pound lake trout, at Horse Lake in British Columbia, Canada, was an exceptional feat.

But the lifetime catch will be remembered as much because of the “fateful twist” that enabled the angler to go fishing in the first place.

Zelt, 57, had gotten up early to drive from his home in 100 Mile House to Kamloops for a follow-up appointment with his doctor, a month after undergoing emergency surgery and spending several days in a hospital.

His plan changed, however, when the surgeon’s office telephoned Zelt as he was about to begin his commute and scheduled a mid-morning phone appointment instead, citing tighter restrictions pertaining to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“So that fateful twist allowed me to think, ‘Hmm, up early, now what should I do?’ ” Zelt recalled. “And of course I decide to go back to Horse Lake where I’d caught my previous biggest lake trout (14 pounds) just two days earlier.”

ALSO ON FTW OUTDOORS: Catch of enormous bass a boon for all Texas anglers

At Horse Lake, wearing a lucky shirt his family had given him the day his grandson was born, Zelt drilled a cluster of 8-inch holes, which would prove fortuitous.

After jigging for an hour with no success, the phone rang and Zelt began the conversation with his surgeon. He was happy to hear the doctor’s explanation of a “best-case scenario” involving his recovery after the removal of an intestinal obstruction.

He was free to resume outdoor activities.

Just as Zelt was telling the doctor that he was sitting atop a frozen lake, fishing, the massive lake trout struck. “I tell him, ‘OMG I just hooked one and it feels BIG!’ and he was cool, not worried about the medical discussion,” Zelt said.

The angler turned on the speakerphone and allowed the surgeon, also a fisherman, to listen for a spell. But the doctor soon ended the call to allow Zelt to focus on the fight.

About 15 minutes later, after Zelt had broken the cluster of holes to create a larger hole, the fish was pulled onto the ice.

“Bigger lake trout do occasionally get caught some years around the Cariboo [region],” said Zelt, who hooked the fish with what he described as a Hawg Tube jig. “But I’m willing to bet none with the angler discussing medical updates with their surgeon when the fish strikes and runs hard.”

After weighing the trout and taking photographs, Zelt released the fish and watched it swim toward the icy depths. Among the first to receive photos, via text, was his surgeon.

–Images courtesy of Murray Zelt

11-year-old closes in on record lake trout with second huge catch

Tyler Grimshaw, 11, broke a personal best and came within six pounds of setting a Utah record for lake trout while fishing Flaming Gorge.

Tyler Grimshaw, an 11-year-old who lives for fishing, was testing out his new winter fishing bibs that he received for Christmas and very nearly nabbed himself a state record while fishing Flaming Gorge in Utah on Sunday.

Tyler broke his personal best and came within less than six pounds of setting a Utah record for lake trout, catching a 48.16-pounder while jigging at the famous fishery.

In June, it was reported he had caught a 41-pounder all by himself. Both were weighed in the net and released.

It took Tyler “a solid 20 minutes” to reel in the latest trophy trout, his mother Vanessa Grimshaw told USA Today/For The Win Outdoors. “An adult probably could have done it quicker, but because he is so little, it took a bit longer.”

Also on FTW Outdoors: Yellowstone wolves chase elk across road in a shocking sight

The Utah record for lake trout is 53 pounds, 15 ounces caught by Chance Scott earlier in the year. The record before that was a 51.5-pounder in 1988 and then prior to that was a 41-pounder, according to Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. It gives you an idea of how close Tyler is coming to a record. All were caught at Flaming Gorge.

“They definitely knew it was bigger than his previous one, and knew it wasn’t far from the state record,” Vanessa Grimshaw said. “He would love to take the state record while still a kid.

“He loves fishing, that’s all he cares about. His next goal is to catch a trophy lake trout from his kayak. But he just got his first kayak this summer, so he still has a lot of practice before he has the skills to pursue lake trout from a kayak. He would fish all day, every day if allowed.”

In September, Tyler caught a personal-best 7-foot sturgeon while fishing the Snake River in America Falls, Idaho. No weight was taken on that fish as it is unlawful to remove them from the water.

Bass fishing is his true passion. Tyler’s favorite fishermen are Aaron Martens and Mike Iaconelli. One day he hopes to participate in a Major League Fishing bass tournament.

“But he would never pass on chasing trophy lake trout,” Vanessa Grimshaw said.

Photos courtesy of Vanessa Grimshaw.

Record lake trout catch ‘a big deal’ for more than its size

Jeffery Sanford was overjoyed for obvious reasons after his recent catch of a 19.36-pound lake trout in the Vermont portion of Lake Champlain.

“I just got my first boat this year, and it was my first time out alone,” Sanford told the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department. “It hit on my first cast of the day.”

The massive trout set a size record for a lake that sits in portions of Vermont, New York, and Quebec, Canada. But what also stood out was that the fish bore no scars caused by sea lampreys, which points to the success of a long-term effort to control the nuisance species.

“Jeff’s fish is the largest lake trout from Lake Champlain since the department started keeping fish records in 1969,” said Shawn Good, a Fish and Wildlife biologist. “There have been much larger lake trout caught in other Vermont waters, but this Champlain fish is a big deal.”

Lake Champlain has had a long history of sea lamprey predation on lake trout, brown trout, landlocked Atlantic salmon, sturgeon, and other species. The eel-like “vampire fish” latch onto prey with sucker-like jaws and chew their flesh with razor-sharp teeth.

The abundance of these parasitic fish in Lake Champlain has resulted in lower growth, smaller size, and lower life expectancies of game fish species. This has resulted in decreased fishing opportunities.

An effort to control the sea lamprey population, under the direction of the Lake Champlain Fish and Wildlife Management Cooperative, began in 1990 and appears finally to be showing results.

“We’re seeing lower overall wounding rates on many of these fish, and the fact that anglers are catching older, larger lake trout, salmon, and other fish species is proof that continued long-term sea lamprey control is working,” Good said.

Sanford’s 36.5-inch lake trout, hooked with a jig at a depth of 100 feet, is the new species leader in the ongoing Lake Champlain’s International Basin Derby.

Tournament director Elizabeth Ehlers told the Fish and Wildlife Department that larger fish have been entered in recent years.

“Over the past 10 years, we have seen several record-breaking fish in cold, cool and warm-water species divisions,” Ehlers said.

The sea lamprey control effort – using lampricide treatments – is ongoing this fall in four tributaries that contain spawning sea lamprey populations.

–Image showing Jeffery Sanford with his lake trout is courtesy of the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department; image showing lake trout with sea lampreys is generic

With time to kill, angler smashes 62-year-old lake trout record

A Maine angler “with a couple of hours to kill” caught a lake trout that’s likely to shatter a state record that has stood for 62 years.

A Maine angler “with a couple of hours to kill” last Thursday caught a lake trout that’s likely to shatter the 62-year-old state record.

The lake trout caught by Erik Poland at Lower Richardson Lake weighed 39.2 pounds. The state record is a 31.5-pound lake trout caught by Hollis Grindle at Beech Hill Pond in 1958.

Poland told For The Win Outdoors that he has provided catch details and a document signed by the Maine Warden Service to The Maine Sportsman, which maintains fishing records, and expects his record to be approved soon.

“I don’t see any obstacles in that process,” he said.

Poland, 34, of Andover, told the Bangor Daily News that he went fishing mainly to pass time. “I had a couple of hours to kill [so] I thought I’d fish for salmon for awhile, go for a swim, then head home.”

When he failed to locate salmon on his sonar device, Poland dropped a DB Smelt lure 94 feet to the bottom, where he saw markings that indicated the presence of lake trout.

His first strike was by what is now the pending state-record fish, which he fought for more than an hour before realizing his net was too small.

“I walked it up to the back of the boat, looked at my 18- to 20-inch net and quickly kicked that to the side,” he told the Bangor Daily News. “It was half the size it needed to be. So I just grabbed [the fish] by the gill plate and hauled it up over the stern of the boat.”

Poland used lead-core line and a two-inch lure tied to a fluorocarbon leader with a breaking strength of only eight pounds, making the catch even more remarkable. “I can’t even dare to guess how many times it ran line out on me, and then I’d reel it back in,” he said.

He described the catch as bittersweet because going for a record meant killing the fish.

“There was a fleeting moment where I really wanted to put it back,” he said. “But ultimately, I would have been the biggest liar in the world if I had. Then it really would have just been a fish tale.”

Lake trout are found throughout most of Canada, into Alaska, and in parts of the U.S., where they were introduced. In the southern regions the fish tend to remain in cooler water at extreme depths.

The International Game Fish Assn. list as the all-tackle world record a 72-pound lake trout caught in Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northern Territories in 1995.

–Images courtesy of Erik Poland