They say records are made to be broken, but when it takes three quarters of a century, we can't blame anyone for thinking a high mark in the fishing record books is unbeatable. Which is what makes it even more astonishing that Colorado's brook trout record, which stood for 75 years, has been broken not once but twice this year.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife has just announced that it has certified another state record caught by Matt Smiley from Waterdog Lake, near Lake City in Hinsdale County. Smiley's fish measured 26.25 inches long, had a whopping 16-inch girth, and weighed in at 8 pounds, 9 ounces—easily eclipsing the new record that had been set by Tim Daniel in May.
Daniel didn't have much time to enjoy having the record for his 23.25-inch, 7.84-pound brookie, which he caught from Monarch Lake in Grand County. That fish had an equally impressive 15.375-inch girth and dethroned a fish caught back in 1947.
The catch was the culmination of a yearslong dream for Smiley. It took some effort to get this fish, too. Waterdog Lake lies at the end of a 3.9-mile hike and has a 2,400-foot elevation gain to get there. Smiley was just about ready to call it a day, because he was only catching smaller fish when the big brook bit.
"When it surfaced and I could see it, all I could think was 'Wow.'" Smiley said in a CPW press release. "I've caught big brookies in the past around the state, but when I saw this one, it was just different. It had way more length than any of the big ones before."
The trout also gave him a fight to remember. At one point, the fish flopped out of his landing net—yet it miraculously stayed hooked, starting a whole new battle. Fortunately, he landed it on the second attempt with the net. Smiley then was faced with a difficult decision of letting it go or taking it back to confirm the weight. There was obviously no way the fish could survive a nearly 4-mile hike back to civilization.
"The toughest thing for me with this whole deal was deciding to keep the fish," Smiley said. "I've released so many over the years, but it was one of those deals where I made a quick decision and wanted to give this fish the recognition it deserves."
After getting off the mountain, Smiley took the fish straight to a certified scale at the Lake City Post Office. It was then inspected by CPW aquatic biologist Dan Brauch, who certified the record.
It seems that now is a great time to pursue a brook trout state record in Colorado, as CPW reports another monster brookie was caught the weekend before Smiley's that unofficially weighed 8.22 pounds. That fish was caught by Larry Vickers. CPW said Vickers knew what he had but decided against certifying the fish because he wanted to make sure the meat didn't go to waste. That fish was also caught from Waterdog Lake.
"Having sampled that water, I know the shoreline is loaded with scuds," Brauch said in the CPW release. "So, I am not too surprised this fish came from that lake, but it is a smaller body of water. It's not a lake that handles a lot of use or fishing pressure and is difficult to access. Seeing two record fish in one week caught from there, it's a cool story."
We imagine many other anglers will at least be looking at the logistics of making the hike up to Waterdog after seeing what it produced this week!
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