Alternative post title: Big fish. Small pond.
My step-dad went trolling around Pattison Lake in Olympia yesterday. He’s been having rather good luck pulling in 11-16 inch Rainbow Trout out of there lately. But something was different yesterday.
(all pics are click to enlarge)
That, my excellent fellows, is a 29 1/2 inch, 10.9lb Rainbow Trout.
Here it is next to his other keepers from yesterday.
With a fish that big patrolling a lake as small as Pattison, it is amazing there were any other fish left in there to catch.
From what The Mom relayed in her email, this big boy was actually pulling him and that 9ft fiberglass boat around while he was trying to reel it in.
OK, now I’m hungry. Give the man some congratulations.
I imagine it was towing the boat a bit! Damn!
That’s pretty awesome.
Shoulda thrown him back, that’s a breeder.
Outstanding fish! Did he check to see if that might be a Lake Record?
Yes he did Rivrdog – went down to the local sporting goods store (not Cabela’s). They said there are no “official keepers of the records”, but they did have a wall of fame inside the store and took a super photo to post.
After he stopped there, he traveled far and wide showing his “Monster” to anybody and everybody. And two days later, even the mailman knew of the catch via word of mouth ! Yep, he’s mighty proud of this fish. He calls it a once in a lifetime happinin.
Oh – and he was wearing the hat I got him that said …. Here Fishy, Fishy …. when he caught it.
That’s probably a triploid rainbow planted by the WDFW. They are sterile, and they just keep growing, getting bigger every year. The International Game Fish Assn. keeps records for state and world record catches, but local lake records, if tracked at all, are usually a local effort. The Washington State record for a Rainbow is 29.6 lbs, and the record for a Steelhead, which is a sea-run Rainbow, is 35.06 lbs. None the less, when you are used to catching 12″ or 14″ fish in a particular lake, one over 10 lbs is quite a surprise, and an excellent catch, for sure! With typical trout gear, even landing it at all is quite an accomplishment!
Mr. C.