Have you ever seen any world record caliber browns swimming in Taney?

[Seth]

I was fishing at Lazy Valley Resort one year and some guys brought in a decayed brown they found dead up in the trophy area that weighed 29lbs. It probably weighed more live weight since it was decaying and it's guts were hanging out of it.

My dad that same trip seen a brown swim out from underneat the dock that he swears would go every bit of 30lbs. He said it was just an abolsute mammoth of a trout.

Have you guys seen any fish of this caliber alive swimming in the lake? Also, what area's of the lake do you think these brutes would be hiding out at?

I would be money that directly across from Lilley's and Lazy Valley one of these brutes lives. The water is deep and has lots of roots and big logs laying in the water. One of these days I am going to have to devote a whole day to trolling big rogues along that bank and just see what happens.

[Bass Magnet]

I havent seen any latley but i usually catch my big trout around 25 inches down in a creek by the dam. the creek is covered with logs. it might be called stumpy creek

[Phil Lilley]

We've seen browns up to 50 pounds under our dock feeding on fish guts. We see these "pigs" mainly in the summer. They migrate between docks up and down the lake. I'd guess we've seen a dozen over 30 pounds over the years- have found, dead, 3 browns well over 35 pounds- one over 42 pounds.

[Seth]

Where did you find those monsters dead at Phil? The trophy area or down in the bait area?

Has anybody that you know of hooked into one of those gargantuans??

[hoover25]

I know that some guys use chicken livers to go after the pigs.

I think it would be pretty funny if a kid with a Zebco 33 and a chicken liver caught the world record brown trout. It would irk the "river runs through it" people I would guess.

I can tell you that in 2001 there were some VERY large browns sampled in the trophy area....but not near the dam.....they looked bigger than freaking king salmon. IMHO one would have to emply larger gear than normal to target these fish.

[Phil Lilley]

Dead browns - most down in this area of the lake but one was found above Fall Creek. I've never hooked anything that big.

Chicken livers would lure one I'm sure. It's legal- as long as it's chicken and not trout guts. Would the record be frowned on - oh yes. But it'd be legal if caught. It's amazing one hasn't been caught before now.

[Barn]

I have seen a few in the 25 - 30 lb range up in the trophy area. You can see them some times right when the start running water. They will be holing by the big boulders. You see them as you drift over.

One Memorial Day about 5 or 6 years ago they were really moving around. It was a rainy overcast day. I spooked one out of a laydown just down from Lilley's.

Then later on up near marker 18 I saw a big rainbow about 6 lbs. I thought a big woolybugger at her. Then all of a sudden about a 25 lb Brown can up from the bottom and followed it all the way back to the boat.

She just looked at it and slowly swam off. I just sat there an hyperventilated afterwards.

[loo10]

Here's one I found dead at Taney a few weeks back.

Measured over 30".

Couldn't have been dead 24 hours.

Was in the trophy area.

THIS is why you take all the time you need to revive them.

He would have been the catch of a lifetime for someone.

[MoCarp]

I have seen browns that looked as big as King Salmon--had a friend find a floater with a hole in it (gun or bow??) must have been 30 pounds near Rockaway

as far as how to catch one of Taneys Monsters I have thought about it for a while

going with a dead bait rig probablly a 8 inch shad rigged with a euro quickstrike rig--you would need some big gear to land it--like is used with carp or big pike in Europe- in most waters the biggest browns usally are in waters much wamer than you would think--probablly from powersite up to the start of the no bait area

I was looking into the gear(euro) to fish for the record class browns and walleyes near powersite--when I caught the whole carpfever thing--might have to rethink that again

Mo

[gator05]

a couple of weekends ago i was fishing way down the lake useing corn and had on a huge brown.it wasnt but it sure felt like a record on my little 4'6" rod and 4lb line.i faught it for about ten minutes before it took off under the dock and broke the line.i seen it twice and i guessed it was probably over 25".i was just trying to catch a few rainbows for supper,i dont know what i woulda done if i would have got him in cause he was about 3 times the size of my net.