Monster Brown Trout in Tiny Creek

Peak53

Peak53

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My young neighbor was messing around cleaning out the culvert that transmits Bertha Creek through a driveway-sized pond and under the road into Willow Creek. Bertha Creek is about 18" wide and supports a few 8" brook trout. Willow Creek is about 15 'wide and supports naturally reproducing browns and brookies up to 12", optimistically. We stock 750 lbs. of 12"-15" rainbows annually, but they are mostly eaten by this time of year. We just reduced the bag limit from 4 to 2 fish and established a catch and release area on part of our 3.5 miles of stream.

Anyway, Lucas spotted a monster fish in about 4" of water and jumped in and scooped it out BAREHANDED!!! The pics are in my garage where he rushed over to get some advice. The big brown is in the freezer and destined for a wall mount. Where the heck did this guy come from? It's 21" and my estimate of 4 lbs. Wow!
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That is a beautiful brown! Here in Colorado we seldom see one that nice.

Here is one I caught in May, 2022 on the White River in northern Arkansas. 23" length, one inch shy of the minimum for a keeper in those waters! Photo taken by my son, in the background are a grandson and great-grandson, so 4 generations together in a 16-foot john-boat.
 

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Back when I fished, always loved getting into some Brownies.
 
We have large GB's in Calif and Nev. streams and lakes in the area
but I then to release them since there are five other trout that taste better, to me.
There are also Dolly Varden's that are kin to the GB's and both put up a good fight
but I think the Rainbow might have it beat by just a little bit.

Most Truckee river GB go in the 18 to 26" lengths, while the lakes like Tahoe or Donner, can have 30" plus, Monsters.

Great picture, hope the wall mount turns out, fantastic.
 
I once fished a small stream in WA, more like a ditch no more than 3-4 feet wide. Maybe 2 feet deep here and there. I tossed a fly next to an undercut on the bank and a brownie about the size of the OP's grabbed it and disappeared back under the bank. Took a lot of finesse to get it back out and onto the bank.
 
Peak53 said:
Barehanded, I say ;) No hooks. Are there records for this sort of thing?
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Barehanded, no hooks, no tackle, is a truly special event. No doubt about that. Once in a lifetime, at best!

Old friend owns a ranch with meadows irrigated from the Taylor River in Gunnison County, Colorado. You can easily step across the irrigation ditches in most parts, overgrown by willows and weeds. In late fall the ditch flows are closed by gates, and they pick the irrigation ditches clean of trout as the water recedes. They measure the catch in bushels and spend hours dressing, packaging, and freezing the annual harvest of trout. Not much point in letting them die and rot, might as well enjoy them year-round.
 
LoboGunLeather said:
Barehanded, no hooks, no tackle, is a truly special event. No doubt about that. Once in a lifetime, at best!

Old friend owns a ranch with meadows irrigated from the Taylor River in Gunnison County, Colorado. You can easily step across the irrigation ditches in most parts, overgrown by willows and weeds. In late fall the ditch flows are closed by gates, and they pick the irrigation ditches clean of trout as the water recedes. They measure the catch in bushels and spend hours dressing, packaging, and freezing the annual harvest of trout. Not much point in letting them die and rot, might as well enjoy them year-round.
Click to expand...

Lobo: Well, I don't know exactly what ranch you have mentioned, but the candidates are fairly limited. I marvel every time I drive down that canyon (bi-weekly) at the incredible fly-water and wonder what goes on behind the fences in those twelve miles. It's probably more than the imagination can take as you insinuate. Bushels. I am beyond sneaking in after dark, so this will remain a fantasy. Besides, ranchers tend to have a 30-30 in the cab:)
 
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Great story and photos. Just north of where I live, there is a little feeder creek, Painted Woods Creek, that empties into the Missouri River about a mile down stream. It is 10' wide at it's widest. Each fall, fishermen with 4-wheelers can access the steep banks of the creek, and wade into the creek, and catch huge Northern Pike. Ten pounds plus is the norm.
 
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We're thinking, based on some of the above comments and observations, that it was trapped in this tiny pond for a long time with no way out. Huge head with a smaller body; it was trapped with limited food supply and sort of outgrew its food supply. There were only so many 2-inch brookies for it to consume. The head and body length outgrew its expected weight until the intrepid Lucas tossed it up on the bank. I'm still curious if records are kept for non-hook and line takes.
 
A friend of mine caught the Washington State record Brown Trout and held the record for quite a few years. He was only a kid at the time and caught it in around 2-3 feet of water in the Colville River about 100 yds downstream of the bridge crossing on Hwy 395. The Colville river is little more than a creek especially at the time of year he caught it, he had made a study of the deeper holes following his dad's advice. It was right around ten pounds as I remember, that was back in the 70's. I've caught them upwards of five pounds out of the Spokane river and seen them with heads large enough you can't span them, he fed it to his family but kept the head...a monsta.
 
Peak53 said:
My young neighbor was messing around cleaning out the culvert that transmits Bertha Creek through a driveway-sized pond and under the road into Willow Creek. Bertha Creek is about 18" wide and supports a few 8" brook trout. Willow Creek is about 15 'wide and supports naturally reproducing browns and brookies up to 12", optimistically. We stock 750 lbs. of 12"-15" rainbows annually, but they are mostly eaten by this time of year. We just reduced the bag limit from 4 to 2 fish and established a catch and release area on part of our 3.5 miles of stream.

Anyway, Lucas spotted a monster fish in about 4" of water and jumped in and scooped it out BAREHANDED!!! The pics are in my garage where he rushed over to get some advice. The big brown is in the freezer and destined for a wall mount. Where the heck did this guy come from? It's 21" and my estimate of 4 lbs. Wow!
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Beautiful colors! I also like the dog in the picture. I wonder what it is thinking?:)
Larry
 
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