So you think you've seen big trout.

[JeffinNZ]

Weekend before last SWMBO and I along with similar minded folk went fishing for the weekend. Twizel is a home left behind after the very large hydro electric scheme started in the last 60's and completed in the early 80's. The canals are host to a few salmon farms now and have a 'wild' population of salmon with brown and rainbow trout. In recent years the canals have been producing double figure fish on a very regular basis. 30lb trout are not unheard of. The fish live around the farms and the combination of endless food and highly aerated water have them pack on the weight tres quick.

First morning out I hooked and landed a brown trout of about 3lb and released it. Shortly after day break I landed a chubby rainbow I put also. Had a quieter day but that evening, fishing in the dark by a salmon farm my mate Mike hooked into an absolute horse of a rainbow. I could only fit half of the fish into my landing net and we lost it. Had to be over 20lb easy.

The following day, fishing in the frost and fog, I couldn't work out why I couldn't cast well. Rod and guides were frozen up. The guys next to us were bait fishing and landed these in short order. Smallest is 8lb, largest 20lb.



Nice day while fishing I look down and this was floating dead. 19lb jack rainbow.



Here is the scenery.



Looking to go back this month.

[Bzcraig]

Those trout need to be put on a diet, they are fat!

[southpaw]

Here I am getting ready to go salmon fishing in a couple of weeks for fish that are half dead in the 15-25lb class. During steelhead season we catch them on average of 6-8lbs, once in a while you land one over 10lbs. The steelhead are good eating and the salmon are good for eggs, a fight and maybe smoking the meat.

Good fishing!

Jerry Jr.

[starmac]

They are not big until you catch one that only half of it fits in the picture. lol Yea, I'm FROM Texas. lol Nice fish.

[MtGun44]

Beautiful country, Jeff.

Good sized trout. I have seen some mounted browns take out of the lakes in SW Wyoming that
are even larger, but the biggest I ever caught in the high country (>10,000 ft MSL) were about 1.5-2 lbs. Good
eating, but nothing like your size. Takes a big lake to support that sized fish.

Bill

[kbstenberg]

Yup! trout of that size can really put up a fight.

[Silfield]

Lovely looking fish there Jeff


Here is one that my 8 y.o. caught earlier in the year (with a little bit of help from the old man!) The rainbows and browns in the lake usually run in the 2-4lb range so we keep the tackle light- #4 rods and 2 1/2lb tippets with small buzzers and emergers. The very next fish was almost identical in size and nearly had him in the lake as the line was caught around his hand when it realised it was hooked and tore off down the lake! I just managed to grab his shirt collar in time before he got a dunking
Was watching a fishing program on tv the other night about the Argentinian golden dorado trout, those things grow to an huge size. Check this out http://www.lureanglers.co.uk/forum/v...fc9a0d47bff664
I must buy a couple of lottery tickets!!

[opos]

Looks like the picture itself probably weighs 5#

[southpaw]

I was fishing in Pulaski this spring and caught a 5-6 pounder (~24"). Not too bad considering the water was pretty high. Well they opened the damn and let alot more out that night. The water was in some of the parking lots. I checked a couple of spots but decided to go home that morning. I got home around noon picked my boy up and went trout fishing. A few guys decided that they wanted to fish the same hole that we were. After about and hour of not catching anything and listening to them I decided that it was time to go. We packed up and by the time we got our gear in the truck the other guys decided to leave aswell. I looked at my boy and asked if he wanted to mess with these guys. He said yes. I pulled the steelhead out of the cooler whistled to one of the guys and held up the fish. Remember that a 12" trout around here is a bigger one.

They wanted to know where I caught it. I told them up there by the bridge and they were off. I didn't lie, just neglected to tell them that the bridge was 160 miles away. Atleast I didn't have to worry about them following us any more.

Jerry Jr.

[quilbilly]

Canals??? I live near Hood Canal which is actually a saltwater fjord about 600 feet deep. Is it the same?

[latesvak]

Oh man. Poor you. Looks horrible. God I wish I could be wherever that is. . Gorgeous I say .

[bruce drake]

Truly a lucky man to live in such a beautiful place.

Luckier still to be able to raise a family there to appreciate it as well.

Bruce

[BruceB]

There are "trout", and there are "trout"..... depending on where we live on this globe.

For my part, I spent 35 years "north of 60", meaning 'way up north in Canada, above the northern borders of the Provinces.

"Trout", in my case, were Lake Trout (aka "Mackinaw" in some areas). The species is a member of the salmon family, and will not/cannot live in water above about 46 degrees Fahrenheit.

But yeah.... I think I've seen some "big trout".

The largest I ever caught was 42 pounds.... but there's one mounted in the TravelArctic office (government tourism bureau ) in Yellowknife, NWT that is perilously close to 100 pounds. It was caught near the south shore of Great Slave Lake some years back.

For those who don't know, Great Slave is about 130 miles ACROSS where that trout was caught, and just aces-out Lake Tahoe as the deepest lake in the western hemisphere. It's just over 2000 feet deep in a certain area. It does have "room" for big fish.

Still, comparing trout from one continent to another is like comparing blueberries to mangoes... it doesn't mean much.

They're ALL fun! Thanks for the pictures.

[nicholst55]

Beautiful scenery and nice looking fish! Wish I was there!

[onceabull]

Anyone who has suff.health and $ would do well to schedule a vacation in N.Z. the month we spent there some years back will turn out in the end to be the best vacation together since wedding day(2nd effort for both) in 1967.. two weeks on each main Island--more fun with fishing on Jeff's half, but the No. Island was still worth it...highlight for fun was the "sight" fishing on a stream inaccessible by vehicle ,with a local (Queenstown) guide providing the "spotting": skills required for success.....DO IT....... Onceabull

[Char-Gar]

Anyone who has suff.health and $ would do well to schedule a vacation in N.Z. the month we spent there some years back will turn out in the end to be the best vacation together since wedding day(2nd effort for both) in 1967.. two weeks on each main Island--more fun with fishing on Jeff's half, but the No. Island was still worth it...highlight for fun was the "sight" fishing on a stream inaccessible by vehicle ,with a local (Queenstown) guide providing the "spotting": skills required for success.....DO IT....... Onceabull

Many years ago the high Andean lakes in Ecuador, which are extinct volcanos were stocked with Rainbow trout. I have seen them pulled out of those lakes a meter in length. I don't know the weight.

[quilbilly]

Many years ago the high Andean lakes in Ecuador, which are extinct volcanos were stocked with Rainbow trout. I have seen them pulled out of those lakes a meter in length. I don't know the weight.

Rainbows and steelhead (same fish)are pretty easy to guesstimnate. 30" is 10# and every inch from 30 to 36 add 1-1/2 pounds. 36" on up add 2# per inch. A one meter fish is approximately 25# give or take a pound depending on season.

[TCLouis]

Is that a natural river channel below the dam or are those pictures from the lake proper? ?

[AlaskanGuy]

Those are awesome fish....

[JeffinNZ]

Is that a natural river channel below the dam or are those pictures from the lake proper? ?

The lake is well below the level of the photos. The canal system really is rather impressive you consider the amount of soil moved to build them.