Records

Some trout are trophies but some are records. Arguably one of hardest trophies to catch is the brown trout, it is the most coveted trophy trout out there among West Coast trout geeks like myself. Most specialist chasing giant trout often tell me that out of all the trophies, the brown trout is the one that eludes them. 

Here are some of the brown trout records that I have seen come and go in my life timetime. I have saved news paper clippings, built scrap books, and searched the internet for decades to find some of the photos.

Oregon 

It was a rainy afternoon on May 21,at 5:00 pm when Guy Carl (at the ripe old age of 22) broke the previous state record of 25.2 pounds. Guy’s record catch was 27 pounds 12 oz, 36 inches long by 24 inches in girth and at that time the largest brown trout caught in in the western states of Oregon, California, Washington and Idaho. 

On October 4, 2002, Ron Lane broke the Oregon state record by 9 oz, just before dark. The 28 pound 5 oz, 37 1/2 inch behemoth was hooked using 15 pound test line.

California 

A 26 year old record, 24 pounder from Regulator Lake caught in 1945, was shattered on July 1, 1971 at 5:30 am by Rich Reinwald when he landed a 25 pound 11 oz, 33 1/2 inch by 26 3/4 inch monster brown.

One of the coolest Browns I have ever seen was the next California state record. Within the first hour of day light on Saturday, May 7, 1983, Jon Minami landed a 26 pound 5 oz, 34 inch new state record on 8 pound line.

On a stormy Thursday morning at 6:30 am in May of 1987, Danny Sterman boated what is the current California state record brown trout on 12 pound line. 26 pound 8 oz trout broke the previous record by 3 oz.

World record 

On March 4, 1977 at exactly 6:40 am a world record brown trout was fooled by a #13 countdown rapala, in 12 to 15 feet of water with 10 pound line. Twenty minuets later, with temperatures in the 20’s and the wind chill factor making it below zero, two brothers Jim and Bob bottomed out their hand held Deliar scale at 28 pounds. So the two brothers headed into town, Manila, Utah (population 275) and weighted in a certified weight of 33 pounds 10 oz at the post office. Bob Bringhurst was the new world record holder.

The sport of boxing has different governing bodies; WBC, IBF, and WBO. World record fishing records are recognized by different governing bodies also. International Game and Fish Association and Freshwater Hall of Fame are the two organization recognized for certifying world record. Some of the records are disqualified for technical reasons by one organization while the other organization may recognize it.

Some World Records that are noteworthy but not recognized by all organizations are

Leon Waggoner 33 pound 8 oz

Huey Mannley 38 pounds 9 oz 

39 pound 8 oz from Scotland in 1866

A monster 40 pound 4 oz was caught on an ultra light rod and 4 pound line at 11:00 am on Saturday, May 9, 1992 by Rip Collins.

On the morning of September 9, 2009 at 8:30 am, Tom Healy hooked a brute that officially weighed in at 41 pounds 7.25 oz on 30 pound power pro line.

On Friday, July 16, 2010 at 8:00 am, Roger Hellen joins the family of world record brown trout with a 41 pound 8 oz, 40.6 inch by 27 in girth, caught in 40 feet of water with two colors of leadcore line and 15 feet of 20 pound mono.

New Zealand angler Otwin Kandolf is the current world record holder with a giant 42 pounds 1 oz. brown trout that was hooked right about dark in a small canal. The wake put out by the fish was thought to be a large water rat but was really the dorsal fin of this massive brown sticking out of the water.

What will the next world record be? Where will it be caught? Who will catch it?