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Hayden Lake Report
Kootenai County, ID

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05/01/2009
Bottom Fishing From Boat
Smallmouth Bass
Jig
Morning
05/01/2009
3
5585

OK folks, please forgive my ignorance but I'm a Pike and bass guy. We started the day by getting started 4 1/2 hrs later than planned. Somehow, the key in my boat got left on and the main engine battery was completely dead. Once we remedied that problem, we headed for the lake. That was until we heard an unruly grinding noise. The passenger side wheel bearing on my boat trailer was toast. We got it back in the driveway and a couple of hrs. later after visiting our friendly NAPA store, we finally got back on the road to Hayden Lake. I guess the bad luck had left us because on my 3rd cast of the day, I mean I hadn't been fishing 5 minutes this big red and green fella came along. Believe it or not, we were looking for small mouth and I love to catch them on my ultralight. I threw a 2 1/2" pumpkin seed tube jig at the edge of a dock, in about 4 feet of water and thought I was caught on an anchor line or something. I guess all the bad luck wasn't gone because my brand new Cabelas digital scale weighed the big guy at 4 lbs and 10 ozs. I may be wrong but at 32" long and 10" deep in the belly, I think he was more than just a little over that weight. I have to say, I do not know what kind of fish this thing was. To me, it's just a really big freakin trout. Can anyone tell me exactly what kind of fish it is, and with those dimensions, guess what he may have really weighed? All in all, we got 3 nice smallmouth in the 2 lb range and this Hook Jawed Hog, so it was a pretty good day. The bass were all in less than ten feet of water, but they were the only 3 bass bites we got all day. I'm not complaining though. It's not very often you get a chance to land a pig like this one on ultralight and 6lb test line.

Happy Fishing,

AJ's dad


Comments

snake7676
5/1/2009 9:21:00 PM
Wow what a phatty
AJ's Dad
5/1/2009 9:30:00 PM
After doing some research online, I believe this fish to be a cutthroat. The Idaho state record for cutthroat is 18lb 15oz. This guy might not have been that big, but he may have been some kind of line class record.

Happy Fishing,

AJ's Dad
fishaholictaz
5/2/2009 8:57:00 AM
that trout is over 10 lbs!!!!
troutheart
5/2/2009 6:31:00 PM
Are you sure you were on Hayden Lake and not Courdelane(Not trying to sound condescending)? I'm pretty sure that the fish you are holding is a Chinook salmon and I'm pretty sure that courdalene is the only lake in that area that carries them, but people do plant fish all the time without F and G permission. Also, your scale is probably set in kilograms which 1 kilogram is 2.2 pounds so that would make that fish around 9-10 pounds. Hopefully you still have the directions but i think if you hold both buttons down at the same time it will change back to pounds. Either way GREAT JOB! I can't believe an ultralight pole brought that monster in, Congrats!
troutheart
5/2/2009 8:49:00 PM
AJ's Dad I am going to have to apologize, that is a cutthroat trout. I reviewed some of my spawning cutthroat pics and that fish has all of the markings of a spawning cutthroat, I have just never seen one that big or with a hooked jaw like that, WOW! Did you release him? My grandpa used to tell me that he caught cutty's that big in Hayden but I never believed him, oops. How was the fight?
AJ's Dad
5/2/2009 10:20:00 PM
Troutheart, I was defenitely at Hayden Lake. It's one of my favorites. I can be on the water there in 30 minutes from my house so it makes a great place to fish after work. I have fished it many times. I did release the fish. I love to fish more than anyone I know, but I am not a fish eater. Besides, I have eaten large fish before and they are usually not that good eating. The fight was pretty short believe it or not. Even on the ultralight, it was only 2 or 3 minutes. He made a 2 or 3 short runs and as soon as he got close to the boat, my brother got a net on him befiore he could go again. I just checked the scale again. It is set to pounds and ounces. I weighed a weight from a weight lifting set we have. The weight is marked 14.3 lbs and my scale calls it 4 lbs and 2 ozs. It is going back to Cabelas. I'm going to take that weight with me and check the new one before I leave with it. That jaw had a serious hook on it, about an inch long and curved back like a question mark. Looks like your grandpa was right. Using the formula I found on the internet. Girth squared, times length, divided by 800, it would put him at just over 17 1/2 lbs. I'm guessing if I had kept him and weighed him at that on a certified scale, I may have had a line class record since I used 6 lb test. I guess you never know when you are going to push the state record when you leave for the lake. He was a gorgeous fish. The photo youe see here does not do him justice.

Happy Fishing,

AJ's dad
Jake Dogfish
5/3/2009 3:49:00 PM
Thats a huge trout definately way bigger than 5#s. It is a male in full spawing colors and probably would not have been very good eating. The stripe down the side makes it look like a rainbow to me but it could be a cutt or hybird, Cutthroat have a red slash on the lower side of the gill plate. Thanks for the report.
Drumdog
5/4/2009 7:01:00 AM
I was fishing with AJ's Dad(my brother) on Friday when he hooked that monster.
I've been doing some more research on the fish on the internet and asking some local experts.
The consensus is that this is a Gerrard Rainbow Trout.
Using a weight calculator I found on the net with the measurements of 32" long and a girth of 22" I get a weight of 23.82 pounds.
I think he released a new state record. The current Rainbow record for Idaho is 19 pounds. Do they differentiate between rainbow breeds?
MaxExp82
6/28/2009 2:02:00 PM
Unbelievable. Nice fish
davejay111
8/10/2009 6:53:00 PM
Steelhead??
cenels2
9/3/2009 3:47:00 PM
Definately a spawning, male Gerrard Rainbow.
SsendaM
1/26/2010 4:12:00 PM
I found a post on another site with the same pic and was just wondering if its the same fish, if so it is indeed a kamloop. Either way nice fish mate.

When Mark got home where he could measure his approximations the big fish turned out to be around 34? long. Combining his two measurements, Mark looked on the internet for a formula to gauge the weight of the fish. According to Mark, this fish would weigh over (21) pounds. Wait a minute, that would make this fish an Idaho State Record fish that was released! Well, hold on there, Mark. You see, Mark, says he is a Bass and Pike fisherman and all he knew at the time was it was some kind of “trout”.

In reviewing this fish with the Idaho Department of Fish & Game, this fish was identified as a “Kamloops” strain of Rainbow Trout. Fish & Game recognize the Kamloops trout as a different strain of trout than the traditional Rainbow Trout strain. Kamloops are specifically reared to grow to huge sizes, and, because they are genetically different than the traditional strain of Rainbow Trout, they are classified as different when recognizing an Idaho State Record Rainbow. As an example, Idaho’s current record Kamloops Rainbow Trout is a huge (37) pounder taken back in the 1940’s.
jens
1/26/2010 7:49:00 PM
Nice bronzeback too!! Wow, what a fishing trip..good on you for releasing that bad boy.
AJ's Dad
1/27/2010 11:10:00 AM
It is the same fish. That was put up by the Blog Cabin Angler when I asked him if he could identify what species it was. He seems like a great guy. "Happy Fishing"
SsendaM
1/27/2010 3:22:00 PM
record or not, still one of the biggest trout i have seem come out of that lake in the 5 years i'[ve trolled it. On a good day you may get 1 or 2, but i've gone multiple trips with no success. Grats.
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Available Guide

Available Fishing Guide:
Website: Darrell & Dads Family Guide Service

Phone: (509) 687-0709