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Potential World-Record Lake Trout Caught in Colorado – First Look!
Fish
May 06, 2023 By Scott Murdock
Scott Enloe caught what is likely the new all-tackle world-record lake trout in Colorado on May 5 — it’s almost certainly a state-record fish. The absurdly huge laker weighed in at 73.29 pounds and measured a stunning 47 inches long with a 37-inch girth. Scott was fishing with his son, Hunter.
The current International Game Fish Association (IGFA) all-tackle record lake trout is a 72-pound fish caught by Lloyd Bull on Aug. 19, 1995, in Great Bear Lake in Canada’s Northwest Territories. That fish is also a 30-pound line-class record.
Until yesterday, the largest Colorado lake trout on record was a 50.35-pound fish caught by Donald Walker in 2007 — a record that should be easily smashed by the Enloe fish.
Free Range American got the exclusive story on this once-in-a-lifetime catch from Scott Enloe himself, just after his great day on the lake (the specific location is not being reported at the Enloes’ request).
world record lake troutScott Enloe with what could be the new All-Tackle World-Record lake trout. Scott Enloe
The Tackle
Scott and Hunter were accomplished anglers even before this record-breaking catch. They both competed for Fly Fishing Team USA (Hunter has three world titles to show for it) and Scott caught a 23.75-pound brown trout in 2021 — a Colorado record at the time. Hell, Hunter caught a 31-pound lake trout half an hour before his dad’s record-breaker.
Ironically, the two weren’t expecting anything out of the otherwise ordinary the morning that became a day on the water they’d never forget. They weren’t fly fishing, either.
Scott was using an Abu Garcia baitcasting reel and a heavy Okuma rod to get a solid hook set, but that combination was paired with 10-pound test Seaguar fluorocarbon line. At the business end was a 6-inch Basstrix tube jig. The hook that caught the monster trout was made right in Colorado by GSO Fishing.
Fighting a World-Record Lake Trout
world record lake troutAnother shot of Scott with his monstrous 73.2 laker that he caught on May 5 in Colorado. Scott Enloe
Between the light line and the savvy old lake monster, it was a catch that required a lot of skill. Lake trout (especially the larger ones) are notorious for rushing to the surface and diving back down as soon as you set the hook. If you’re not careful, it’s a great way to lose a fish.
After Scott hooked his fish, Hunter moved to raise the trolling motor out of the way. In the few seconds that took, the fish came to the surface and made a sharp dive out of sight. Scott instantly felt he had at least a 50-pound fish on his line, right in the ballpark of the state record.
For 13 minutes, he and his trout played the chess match of a lifetime. By the time it was over, it took both men to pull the fish onboard — their net wasn’t cutting it.
“I’ve got the largest net that Frabill makes, and it wasn’t big enough,” Scott said.
The boat’s livewell wasn’t big enough either, so they had to get creative.
“On this one, it wouldn’t fit in the livewell because it was too big,” Scott said. “But I had the livewell full, so we stuck its head in, with the tail and whole body sticking out.”
Wrapping your arms around a fish to dunk its head underwater is definitely an unorthodox approach, but it worked for the few seconds it took the anglers to prepare their tape measure, scales, and camera. Weighing a fish that big isn’t easy.
“I can just look at it and say, ‘That’s a 35-pounder’ and it’ll be 35.2,” Scott said. “But when they’re this big, I had no clue what that fish weighed. I was just like, ‘I know it’s a record. It’s just too big!’”
A formula based on the length and girth of a trout suggested that the fish should weigh around 80 pounds. Hunter’s scale topped out at 50 pounds and just read “Full.” Scott’s scale read 73.29 pounds. That same scale was certified when he weighed his record-breaking brown trout to within an ounce of the official measurement.
After about two minutes, the fish was swimming free again.
“We didn’t even fish anymore because, you know, how you gonna top that? We just sat around the boat and laughed,” Scott said.
