New State Record Brown Trout

[robert0720]

Bass angler lands new Indiana state record brown trout<br>---------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>Mitchell Boileck from Hammond, Ind. was minding his own business, fishing<br>from his boat for Lake Michigan smallmouth bass, when a 25-pound brown trout<br>smacked his lure and yanked him into Hoosier fishing history.<br><br>On Oct. 14, Boileck was fishing along the outer wall of Buffington Harbor,<br>near East Chicago, when Indiana's biggest brown trout grabbed his tube jig<br>lure.<br><br>"I couldn't get anyone to fish with me that day. I was using 8-pound-test<br>line, and I didn't have a net, so it took a long time to boat the fish,"<br>said Boileck.<br><br>Boileck fought the fish for over an hour. He tried to grab the fish's tail<br>several times, but the tail was too big to get his hand around. He finally<br>boated the fish by grabbing under the gill covers.<br><br>The champion angler weighed his catch on a state certified scale at the<br>Strack & Van Til Mega Mart in Highland, Ind. The scale stopped spinning at<br>25.08 pounds. The fish stretched 3 feet long and a tape wrapped around the<br>fish's belly measured an amazing 2 feet of girth. <br><br>"I had to help the clerk lift the fish onto the scale," said Boileck.<br><br>Boileck's brown trout was recognized as a new state record on Oct. 30 after<br>Lake Michigan fisheries biologist Brian Breidert verified the catch. The<br>fish was caught near the harbor lighthouse in 17 feet deep water under a<br>partly sunny sky. Boileck used a medium action spin casting rod and reel.<br><br>Brown trout grow well in Lake Michigan. The Indiana state record brown trout<br>record was also topped twice in 1999. A record 23-pound, 33-inch Lake<br>Michigan trout caught in March 1999 by Joe Hankins of Martinsville was<br>surpassed in September of the same year when South Bend resident Steven Bay<br>pulled a 24-pound, yard-long brown trout from Michigan City's Trail Creek.<br><br>Photo of Mitchell Boileck and state record brown trout:<br>http://www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild/gallery/browntrout.htm<br><br>Lake Michigan fishing information:<br>http://www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild/lkmich/open.html<br><br>Record fish information:<br>http://www.IN.gov/dnr/fishwild/fishng/rcordfh.htm <br><br><br>