FTR Visitor Pics – Trout (MASSIVE!)

Anyone out there that fishes for trout in Iowa, raise your hand. Hello?! That’s what I thought! OK, just kidding. But for those of you that DO fish trout, you might want to go south into Iowa and give it a look-see after seeing this pic and reading the following from Nick Troendle.

I don’t know what these things are eating, suckling pigs maybe, to get this fat and heavy with such short bodies! Amazing.

“Well not a big river fish but a state record trout none the less! This troutwas caught in a small Iowa Stream this spring it weighed in at 13lb 2oz. Later the next day I caught a rainbow that was 9lb 12oz in the same creek? One month later while fishing another stream I landed a Brook Trout that I was sure would be the new record in iowa it was 23in. and weighed 5lb 12oz .

Well the state record is 19in and weighs 7lb oh-well can’t win them all? All of these trout were mounted together on a base and it’s a wonderful site!! I’m the only person here in Iowa to have ever caught 3 state record trout in the same year!! One good year fishing I think!!”

WOW! Thanks for the pic Nick.

FTR Webstaff

Holy [censored]!!! Nice beautiful fish!!! You play the lottery?? You should!!! Great fish!!!

Very impressive fish! My 12 lb walleye wasnt that big and this thing came out of a tiny stream?! Amazing. Thanks for sharing Nick!

Steve Hougom – FTR Webstaff

Way to go!!!!!!!

Jim W

ummmm….. I would say that all the trout of that size are brood stock that the hatchery dumped…. I used to work the at the Manchester trout hatchery, and just like walleye, at a certain size the brood stock is no longer as viable as smaller fish… when you have to pay to feed them its better to feed smaller fish…. so they take these brutes and stock them…. I have dumped some HUGE trout into holes myself….. so what are they eating? trout pellets….. in the stream they slowly adapt to eating natural food, but a small stream seldom has enough to keep them going…. thus, when you dump your bait in front of them…. *chomp*……. you got em… these large trout DO move after they have been stocked.. generally they head DOWN stream towards larger water… generally decimating the smaller fish on the way….. so good way to consistantly get into really large trout is to fish the lower ends of designated trout streams…..

hit the larger holes…. toss raps, spinners, spoons….. though bait will sure work too… you just dont cover water as fast…. if you want to “spot” these fish, check out larger wash holes with brush and or rock cover, just about dark they will come out and take up position…. fishing after dark can be particularly effective… if you can keep keep you lure in the water and away from the snags…….

anyway….. that was my 2 cents worth for large Iowa trout…..

Wow!Nice fish!Congratulations.What was the fish caught on?

Well your right these fish all came from the trout hatchery but it was no easy task to catch them I worked on the brown for 3hrs he would only follow the lures and turn away! He was in the stream most of the winter as I had seen him twice before and as anyone that has trout fished in Iowa there are always other anglers on the water!! The fish never have a chance to grow!! I’m sure any angler would be Happy to catch a fish that size hatchery fish or wild!!

ummmm….. I did not mean to imply that catching these big fish is easy……. I know just how difficult it can be… finding them is just the first step…. they are usually in a spot that is difficult to approach without alerting them… even though they are hatchery fish they seem to pick up the “they did not get that big by being dumb” syndrome anyway…… I have targeted a number of these beasts…. and my success rate was for sure NOT 100% (or even close… as Im sure you know!)…. I can only recall one time when it was “easy” to catch one… and it had been stocked that very day and was still very green and dumb….. and like all big fish, hooking them is NOT assurance that you WILL land them…. there ARE lots of other trout anglers out there competing for whats mostly a put and take fishery… some dont really care how they get these fish… and they snag them, or even net them….. heck maybe even shoot them!….. I was around the trout streams enough to see a few “disturbing” things…. and its really tough for the wardens to cover everything…. when you put a big fish in a hole… most of the time you never know what happened to it… did it get caught? did it move? who knows…… fishing for big trout on these small streams IS an exciting and rewarding hobby… and you certainly have my respect for your success…. Im sorry I did not pass that along earlier….. I tend to hold my own personal fishing accomplishments on a lower scale than others might, for me its the excitement/fun and memories that I treasure not always the size and numbers (though obviously they contribute to the fun!)….. but sometimes that means I dont really give credit to others when its due!… sorry!…… congrats!! that is truly a beautiful fish and bigger than any I saw while there…. my personal best was around 9# for brown and 6# for rainbow….. not bad….. but not awesome…. Im pretty sure we stocked some 10# fish, we just never weighed them before tossing them… afterall handling them is NOT a good thing….. and we wanted them to live and really make someones life exciting!

I grew up flyfishing in the Adirondacks and spent a few years wading pristine rivers in AK before giving up the flyrod for walleye hunting because I just did not believe that brute like that brownie were anywhere near here……hmmm, I wonder if my wife would mind if I got that Orvis 7 weight afterall…..