Trout – Syndication Server

‘Monster’ hybrid trout an absolute beauty – and a record catch

An Idaho angler has established a new state catch-and-release record after reeling a 36-inch rainbow-cutthroat hybrid trout from Henrys Lake.

An Idaho angler has been granted a state catch-and-release record after reeling a 36-inch rainbow-cutthroat hybrid trout from Henrys Lake.

Hailey Thomas of Rigby landed the gorgeous trout Oct. 4, despite the fish attempting to win its freedom by dashing for bottom cover.

“Hailey did a phenomenal job fighting the fish and keeping it out of the abundant weeds, notorious for knocking large trout off the line,” Shane Thomas, Hailey’s husband, told the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. “After a stressful minute or so, I reached out and scooped up the fish. The net looked so small, as the fish barely fit in!”

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The trout was placed in a live well on the vessel so it could recover. It was then measured, photographed, and released.

Photos courtesy of Idaho Department of Fish and Game

The IDFG announced the new record Thursday in a news release, stating:

“Congratulations to Hailey Thomas on landing a new catch-and-release state record from Henrys Lake. Hailey hooked the 36-inch long monster rainbow/cutthroat hybrid while fishing with her family on the renowned east Idaho lake.”

The trout had girth of 21 inches and weighed between 17 and 20 pounds, the IDFG estimated. The previous catch-and-release record, a 30-inch hybrid, was set on the Snake River in 2018.

Henrys Lake, the IDFG added, is a blue-ribbon trout fishery that also boasts healthy populations of Yellowstone cutthroat trout and brook trout.

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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.”

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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!”

Angler releases potential record-shattering trout out of ‘respect’

A Northern California angler recently caught a rainbow trout so massive that it might have shattered the state record.

But Josh Giordano, who reeled the estimated 38.2-pound trout from a Feather River diversion pool on Dec. 7, chose not to kill the fish for the sake of a record.

(The California Department of Fish and Wildlife lists as the state record a 27-pound rainbow trout caught at Lake Natoma in 2005.)

Giordano, 43, from Bangor, told the Stockton Record that he released the trout “because of the respect I have for them, but also in hopes that one of our young upcoming anglers has a shot at becoming a legend or even a record holder.”

Giordano, who would have had to find a certified scale to have a shot at the record, obtained his weight estimate using a tape-measure formula.

The trout measured 41 inches, with a girth of 27 inches. Both measurements are significantly larger than those associated with the state-record.

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Giordano declared on Facebook that catching the massive rainbow trout at the Thermalito Diversion Pool, after a marathon battle, “was one of the most amazing moments in my life.”

The angler was casting a swimbait tied to a 15-pound leader and 20-pound braid when the fish struck.

“When I hooked this fish I knew immediately how giant it was when it peeled off 150 yards of line in about 20 seconds,” he told the Stockton Record. “I have never seen the power of a fish like It. The fish continued to jump, tail walk and do things I’ve never seen fish do on the surface.

“I was starting to get nervous as the fish got closer but it never got tired. I was about to land him when he decided to do another 100-yard run and the battle was on again. In an hour and 10 heart-stopping minutes, I was able to get my two hands on his tail.”

–Images courtesy of Joshua Giordano

Watch: Trout fall from sky into Colorado’s remote lakes

Dozens of Colorado’s high-altitude lakes received thousands of cutthroat trout fingerlings last Monday and Tuesday as part of the state’s aerial stocking program.

Dozens of Colorado’s high-elevation lakes received thousands of cutthroat trout fingerlings last Monday and Tuesday as part of the state’s aerial stocking program.

The accompanying footage, produced by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, shows pilots releasing one-inch trout during precision water drops from heights of about 100 feet.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife stated on Facebook that the fish were raised at Rifle Falls State Fish Hatchery, and that survival rates are high because the fish are so light that they land in their new home waters with out much impact.

“They just have very little mass, so they’re kind of floating down into the water,” pilot Jerry Gepfert explains in the video, adding that survival rates during aerial drops are about 90%.

Gepfert said that in one day his crew stocked 40,000 trout into almost 50 lakes “in a matter of a couple hours.”

Most of the lakes are above 9,000 feet and, in many cases, too remote to be accessed by stocking vehicles.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is on schedule stock nearly 275,000 trout into 240 mountain lakes by the end of summer. The effort is intended to enhance fishing opportunities in remote destinations.

Girl, 4, lands potential world-record golden trout

Caroline May Evans, 4, was all smiles after landing a gorgeous 2-pound golden trout recently in Wyoming, and her catch is up for world-record consideration.

The International Game Fish Assn. announced the prospect Saturday via Twitter, stating that Caroline “recently submitted an application for this 0.92-kg (2-pound) golden trout to potentially set the IGFA Female Smallfry Record for the species.

“Caroline was fishing in Wyoming. After a quick fight and weighing, she was able to safely release the fish.”

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The IGFA has separate Smallfry categories for boys and girls age 10 or younger. They must abide by all IGFA international angling rules “with the exception that fish do not have to be weighed on land.”

The IGFA did not state whether there’s a current Female Smallfry record for golden trout.

For the sake of comparison, the IGFA’s overall world record for golden trout stands at 11 pounds. That fish was caught by Chas Reed at Cooks Lake, Wyoming, in 1948.

Woman lands record cutthroat trout; ‘I’m in the books boys!’

The wait is over. Madison (Madi) Nackos is the new Idaho catch-and-release record holder for cutthroat trout.

Nackos, 21, was fishing with friends at Priest Lake on May 29 when she reeled in a Westslope cutthroat that measured 24 inches – three inches longer than the existing record.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game announced her catch as a new record Tuesday, describing the trout as a “monster” in terms of its size.

Madi Nackos poses with record cutthroat trout. Photo: IDFG

Nackos, who is from Spokane, Wash., boasted via Instagram: “I am super stoked about this fish. I’ve waited nearly a month to post about it until it was official but I just received the email from IDFG confirming my STATE RECORD FISH!

“This beautiful post-spawn Westslope cutthroat measured at a hefty 24 in, shattering the previous record by 3 inches. I’M IN THE BOOKS BOYS!!!”

Madi Nackos releases record cutthroat trout. Photo: IDFG

She declined to reveal the type of lure she used when reached by For The Win Outdoors, but gladly shared her feelings about the catch, after a minute-long fight, aboard a 15-foot Gregor boat:

“Cutties have always been my favorite fish to hook even before this one because they are so beautiful and aggressive, and despite this fish being old and post spawn she was beautiful and in great condition.

“What shocked me the most was the size of its head. I’m still in shock from catching that fish back in May, and I’m sure I will be for a while.”

According to IDFG, Westslope cutthroat trout are native throughout much of the state’s Panhandle Region.

Idaho recognizes length catch-and-release records for each of the state’s four subspecies of cutthroat trout: Westslope, Bonneville, Yellowstone, and Lahontan.

Angler lands prized tiger trout, establishes new record

A Nebraska angler set a state record Thursday with the catch of a 6-pound, 13-ounce tiger trout.

Walton “Ed” Moore broke the previous rod-and-reel mark by more than a pound while fishing at Sutherland Reservoir.

Tiger trout, a cross between a female brown trout and a male brook trout, are aggressive surface feeders and prized by jig-casting anglers.

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Moore’s trout measured almost 26 inches, according to Nebraska Game and Parks.

For the sake of comparison, the all-tackle world record stands at 20 pounds, 13 ounces. That tiger trout was caught in Wisconsin at Lake Michigan in 1978.

Angler pulls record trout through ice to jump-start winter season

The winter fishing season is off to a noteworthy start in Idaho as one angler has already pulled a record trout through a hole in the ice.

The winter fishing season is off to a noteworthy start in Idaho as one angler has already pulled a record trout through the ice.

Jordan Rodriguez, after boring a hole on newly frozen-over Grasmere Reservoir on Dec. 12, reeled up a 2.27-pound Lahontan cutthroat trout.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game on Friday announced that the catch smashed the previous state record of 1.17 pounds, set in September at the same 29-acre lake.

“With winter finally here, you might have thought we were done with new record fish for a while. Nope, not yet!” Martin Koenig, Natural Resource Program Director for the IDFG, wrote in a blog post.

Koenig explained that Lahontan cutthroat trout are native to the Lahontan basin of northern Nevada, northeastern California, and southeastern Oregon. But the fish are routinely planted in several high-desert Idaho lakes, including Grasmere Reservoir in Owyhee County.

Koenig did not say what type of bait or lure Rodriguez used to entice the 20-inch cutthroat onto his hook.

–Image showing Jordan Rodriguez with his record catch is courtesy of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game

Angler lands record trout, but reaction is mixed

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game last week announced that a 31.25-inch rainbow trout caught by a visiting angler is a new state record.

The hefty trout, caught in late May by Wyoming’s Brett Jones at American Falls Reservoir, replaced the catch-and-release record of 30.5 inches, set in 2018.

But IDFG’s Facebook announcement generated mixed reactions. It seems that not everybody is a fan of catch-and-release records because they require only a measurement and don’t include the weight of the fish.

“Catch-and-release records are a joke,” one commenter wrote.

“They don’t mean jack,” another chimed in.

It’s worth noting that some comments were congratulatory – “Wow!” and “Awesome!” are two examples – and that catch-and-release record programs are designed to encourage conservation.

Because the fish must be released, they can be caught again at even larger sizes.

In Jones’ case, he had to provide a photo of the ruler or tape showing the measurement of his trout from its snout to the end of its tail. He also had to include a photo of himself with the fish, and the name of at least one witness to the measurement and release.

One of the Facebook detractors claimed to have caught “at least three bigger than that.”

Perhaps. But Idaho has common rainbow trout – the type caught by Jones – and a faster-growing Gerrard strain of rainbow trout.

The certified weight record for Gerrard rainbow trout is 37 pounds. That fish was caught at Pend Oreille Lake in 1947. The Idaho catch-and-release record for Gerrard rainbow trout, also set at Pend Oreille Lake, is 36.5 inches.

The common rainbow trout certified weight record is 20 pounds. That fish, caught on the Snake River in 2009, measured 34.25 inches.

So it might not have been significantly heavier than the 31.25-inch trout released by Jones.

–Image showing Brett Jones and his record rainbow trout is courtesy of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game