New World Record Brown?

[flytyer57]

Potential world record brown trout caught off Racine

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

July 16, 2010 1:30 p.m.

Fishing the waters off Racine Friday morning, Roger Hellen of Franksville landed a 41.5-pound brown trout. The fish is more than a whopper - it's a potential world record.

Hellen was taking part in Salmon-A-Rama, the long-standing fishing contest run in Racine by Salmon Unlimited of Wisconsin, Inc.

He caught the fish trolling in the Lake Michigan waters near Wind Point in northern Racine County.

"Unreal," said Hellen, 38, and a veteran Lake Michigan angler. "But if you fish out here often enough, you know almost anything is possible."

The fish was identified as a brown trout by Cheryl Peterson, a Department of Natural Resources fisheries technician working the Salmon-A-Rama weigh-in tent.

The DNR stocks two strains of brown trout in Lake Michigan - domestic and Seeforellen. Hellen's fish appears to be a Seeforellen, said Peterson. Tissue samples were taken by the DNR to age and assess the genetics of the fish.

The Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association list the world record brown trout as a 41 lbs. 7 oz. ( 18.7956 kilograms) fish caught Sept. 9, 2009 in the Manistee River, Michigan.

Hellen's fish was taken to Brossman's Meat Market in Racine so it could be weighed on a certified scale. If the weight (41 pounds, 8 ounces) holds up, it would be a world record for the species.

The photo below was taken by Salmon Unlimited member Mary Lee Hetland and shows Hellen holding the brown trout on the Salmon-A-Rama grounds near the Racine harbor.

We'll have more on this breaking story later today.

JSOnline

[flytyer57]

update:

41 ½-pound trout caught off Racine is likely world record

Benny Sieu

Fishing the waters off Racine on Friday morning, Roger Hellen of Franksville landed a 41-pound, 8-ounce brown trout. The fish is more than a whopper - it is a potential world record.

By Paul A. Smith of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: July 16, 2010 |(6) Comments

Racine — When Roger Hellen launched his 21-foot boat in the Racine harbor early Friday morning, he was no different from the 1,300 other anglers competing in the Salmon-A-Rama sportfishing tournament - he hoped to land a big fish.

"Something in the 22.5-pound range would have been great," said Hellen, 38.

Such a fish would assume the top spot in the Lake Michigan-wide contest run by Salmon Unlimited of Wisconsin Inc.

Hellen outdid himself. Not only did he take over the tourney lead, he assumed a new title: potential world record holder.

Trolling the Lake Michigan waters off Wind Point, north of Racine, Hellen hooked and landed a 41-pound, 8-ounce brown trout.

The fish blew past the 22.4-pound brown trout that had been in the Salmon-A-Rama lead.

It is nearly 5 pounds heavier than the Wisconsin record listed by the Department of Natural Resources, a 36-pound, 8.9-ounce brown trout caught in 2004 in the Lake Michigan waters of Kewaunee County.

And if the weight, pending applications and reviews hold up, it will establish a world record for the species.

The standing world record, according to the two leading game fish record-keeping organizations, the International Game Fish Association and the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame, is a 41-pound, 7.5-ounce brown trout caught last September in the Manistee River of Michigan.

Hellen, a supervisor at a Racine packaging company, grew up in Kenosha in a fishing family.

He learned the Lake Michigan fishing ropes from his father. These days, Hellen, a member of Salmon Unlimited, fishes just about every weekend out of Racine.

He had been having mixed success in recent days, including a "bomb out" in the "Two-On-A-Boat" competition earlier in Salmon-A-Rama.

But strong west and southwest winds in the last couple of days pushed warm surface water away from the Wisconsin shore of Lake Michigan, allowing colder, more "salmonid-friendly" water to upwell and creating good fishing conditions close to shore.

So when Hellen and his fishing partner Joe Miller launched Hellen's boat, "Get Hooked," Friday, they targeted near shore areas just north of Racine.

The duo had three 10-pound chinook salmon in the box and were trolling in about 40 feet of water off Wind Point when another fish hit.

The time was 8 a.m. The lure was a blue-and-green spoon fished about 10 feet below the surface.

Hellen grabbed the rod and began the angler's assessment: How big? How strong? What kind?

"It ran pretty good," said Hellen. "We knew it was big, but honestly, we had no idea just how big."

A half-hour passed before Hellen was able to work the fish to the stern and Miller scooped it aboard.

There was no longer any doubt about "how big."

The fish was 40.6 inches long and had a 27-inch girth.

The fish was the biggest Hellen had seen in three decades of Lake Michigan fishing.

But it wasn't a big chinook salmon, notoriously hard fighters and often the biggest fish caught by trollers - it was a brown trout.

The pair knew they just landed an extraordinary fish, certainly a tourney leader and perhaps something more. They put the trout in the cooler. It dwarfed the three kings.

Next they pulled lines and made a beeline for the Salmon-A-Rama weigh-in station.

Fish lose weight after they are caught; tournament anglers in a catch-and-keep event like Salmon-A-Rama rarely risk "shrinkage" when money is on the line.

The fish was identified as a brown trout by Cheryl Peterson, a Department of Natural Resources fisheries technician working the Salmon-A-Rama weigh-in tent.

The fish read 41.15 pounds on the uncertified scales at the boat landing, said Peterson.

The DNR stocks two strains of brown trout in Lake Michigan - domestic and Seeforellen. Peterson said Hellen's fish appears to be a Seeforellen. The strain is known for growing fast and to large sizes. Tissue samples were taken by the DNR to age and assess the genetics of the fish.

The DNR has stocked brown trout along with chinook salmon, coho salmon and rainbow trout, or steelhead, since the 1960s to help control excessive numbers of alewife, an invasive species. The stocking not only controlled the alewife but created a world-class fishery.

Since the fish was record-caliber, Hellen took it to Brossman's Meat Market in Racine where, on a certified scale, it weighed 41 pounds, 8 ounces.

The fish will likely earn Hellen the $10,000 grand prize and $700 brown trout category prize from Salmon-A-Rama; the tourney ends Sunday.

The fish was examined Friday afternoon by Salmon-A-Rama officials, including a cavity check for lead or other foreign objects, and passed.

Hellen said he plans to submit the appropriate applications to both the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame and the International Game Fish Association.

Hellen spent the afternoon accepting the congratulations of fellow anglers, friends and complete strangers at Salmon-A-Rama. His behemoth brown trout was on display in a freezer with the other species leaders.

"This is great for the lake, great for the club, great for the fishery," said Tom Pietila, president of Salmon Unlimited of Wisconsin.

Tomorrow, though, Hellen will be back trolling on Lake Michigan with competitors.

"The tournament is still going," said Hellen. "If there's a bigger one, and there usually is at some point, I want a chance at it."