(IGFA Photo)
On July 16, less than a year after Michigan’s Tom Healy set a new All Tackle World Record for brown trout with a
41 pound, 7 ouncer, Roger Hellen of Franksville, WI banged a monster brown that was larger than the current record — by an ounce (41 pounds, 8 ounces). Hellen hooked the beast while trolling a Fishlander spoon in Lake Michigan off the Wisconsin coast.
Now, here’s where things get a little dicey: Though Hellen’s fish is one ounce heavier than the current all-tackle record, according to
IGFA World Record requirements, to replace a record fish weighing 25 pounds or more, the replacement must weigh at least one half of 1 percent more than the existing record. Bottom-line, Healy and Hellen might be sharing an IGFA World Record tie for their two fish. As a baseball guy, I’m not a big fan of ties, but what can you do here?
I have no idea how Hellen’s fish was handled, but if it were thrown on the bottom of the boat and allowed to dry out rather than being put immediately on ice, (again pure speculation on my part…though the fish in the pic looks pretty leathery), it would have lost a significant amount of weight…enough, probably, to make the difference.
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A nice Baker Lake sockeye!
Okay kokanee junkies…ready to go troll for some truly giant kokes? You’ve got to check out Washington State’s Brewster and Baker lakes, where there have been some interesting new fisheries developing this summer…The salmon in these lakes aren’t truly kokanee but instead ocean-run sockeyes that are open to fishing for the first time. Check out out pal Bill Herzog’s Zog Blog at
Northwest Wild Country for more details and some cool pix. Also be sure to click the “Rasticle” link for some cool rigging photos that should help ya out in future kokanee endeavors.
Caples Lake: Beautiful and stuffed with trout!
With wives outta town last week, VinMan and I did what any two fishheads with a kitchen pass would do…blow off all responsibility and hit the water. This time around, we headed for Caples Lake, a sparking little gem high in the Sierra Nevadas near Kirkwod, CA. With tight schedules, we left the big city for a quickie jaunt to the mountains around noon last Wednesday and were back home 24 hours later, with a nice evening and morning of troutin’ under our belts.
We decided on Caples Lake because a) At 7,800 feet, it’s way above the heat of the Valley; b) It was a place we’d never been; and c) It was supposedly stuffed with trout.
Here’s what we found…
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Jessica Wyatt caught the May Hawg of the Month in 11-Mile Reservoir
The people have spoken! Judging by the large margin of victory that Jessica Wyatt enjoyed this month (42.2 % of the vote), you folks love a nice brown trout…
As this month’s Hawg of the Month Contest winner, Jessica gets an automatic bid into the 2010 Hawg Bowl at the end of the year, in which she’ll go up against other monthly winners for a chance at a free fishing trip!
Read on to see the final poll results…
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by JD on February 1, 2009
When Northern California’s Lake Pardee re-opens to fishing on Friday, Feb. 6th., 2009, anglers should see some white-hot fishing…if it’s anything like the action we encountered on Media Day on Sunday.
The preview day of fishing was open to a select few bass pros and media members (organized by Kent Brown of Ultimate Bass Radio and hosted by Pardee Recreation Co. owners Richard and Kerry Copper). Record-class smallmouth bass were the target de jour. Pardee is rapidly gaining a reputation of being a top-notch smallie fishery, and several bronzebacks in the 8 to 9+ pound class were taken there last season.
But’s let’s back up here…
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by JD on January 28, 2009
The waters of Northern California’s Lake Natoma look serene enough, but there are monsters lurking out there…somewhere…
Monster rainbow trout, that is. Granted not a lot of them, but some legit beasts — most recently, a 27 pounder was pulled from the lake a couple years back and there have been other 20’s, including the 23 pounder caught on a bobber and worm by a young kid a few years prior.
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by JD on December 12, 2008
Wahoo (or “ono” if you’re hanging out in the Hawaiian Islands) are one of the baddest fish in the ocean. They can reach speeds of nearly 50 mph, have some seriously nasty teeth and can grow quite large — the world record is 184 pounds. They are a top-notch game fish in tropical and sub-tropical waters around the globe and are divine table fare.
Some folks say that the name Wahoo is a derivation of the name of the Hawaiian Island Oahu…while others say “Wahoo” is what you shout when you hook one. Their Island name, Ono, comes from the Hawaiian word for delicious: ‘ono.
Whatever you call ‘em, wahoo are a blast to catch and even more fun to throw on the grill!
Here’s how to catch ‘em:
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Just about every river has a slackwater salmon spot. You know what I’m talking about here: one of those spots that’s too slow for back-bouncing, backtrolling, drift fishing or even bobbers. Of course, it always seems that the fish pile up into these zones like crazy, right?
I suppose a guy could catch a few fish tossing spinners or spoons in such a spot, but I prefer to cover more water on the troll. The interesting aspect of slackwater trolling is you aren’t limited to fishing in one direction like you’d be if you were freedrifting or back-bouncing. [click to continue…]
