Trophy Catch-22: Angler's Record-Breaking Trout Can't Be a Record

Field and Stream ^ | 01/20/15 | Ben Romans

[AngelesCrestHighway]

[smokingfrog]

28 pounds!!??

[AngelesCrestHighway]

Tecnically it may be an ocean run steelhead

[VRWCarea51]

I don’t consider them Bows till they start showing color. Until then, Steelhead.

[gundog]

You expect anyone to believe that that fish just swam from the Pacific?

[centurion316]

Good illustration what what happens once the government gets involved.

[econjack]

Gees...you can’t even weigh a fish anymore without breaking some bureaucratic regulation.

[TexasCajun]

While DuPont believes Warren’s fish was indeed a trout, the fact that the angler released the fish before weighing it on a certified scale bars the fish from record consideration.

But, according to DuPont, Warren didn’t have a choice—the fish had an unclipped adipose fin, indicating that it was wild, and anglers must release all wild Clearwater rainbows and steelhead.

Moreover, Idaho maintains specific guidelines on the catch-and-release handling of wild fish. One of the stipulations is that anglers can’t hang wild fish from a scale.

...at least they didn't charge him for taking the picture.

[tumblindice]

[exnavy]

Fish and game regs are as out of control as Obozo is.

[DJ MacWoW]

Donate

[mylife]

You should see the Steelhead trout.

[mylife]

That is not a steelhead.

[mylife]

Steelhead

[smokingfrog]

We’re gonna need a bigger frying pan!

[Hot Tabasco]

Your wife has man hands........LOL!

[mylife]

LOL!

[mylife]

☺

[randita]

outdoor ping

[Slambat]

“Essentially, the mandatory-release regulation counteracts the record-book weight rule,” DuPont says. “That almost prevents any wild rainbows from the Clearwater from ever being considered a record. It’s a catch-22.”

Then the current record holders name should be stricken
from the record and it should be established that there
is no official record of the largest Rainbow Trout because
it is legally unobtainable.

Or the current record holder should be prosecuted.