I can remember when Rip Collins caught the first brown trout weighing over 40lbs on the Little Red River in Heber Springs a long time ago, it was a huge deal, and an even bigger fish. Rip Collins has since passed away but replicas of his fish and the infamous photo of him holding it are still on display all over the Greers Ferry Lake area. If you are interested, fishing guide Duane Hada has Rip Collin’s information on his site.. To the best of my knowledge no one has came close to topping his record until now.
I was watching CNN this morning and a headline caught my attention of a man in Michigan who caught a 41lb Brown Trout, I think that Rip’s fish was just slightly over 40lbs. If that is true, that would make this catch a new worlds record.
I am an avid fisherman and am very impressed with the size of this brown. But I think its a shame that this fish wasn't kept alive for breeding stock in a hatchery… with a few pictures and some measurements an imitation mount could've been made that not only would look just like the fish, but would last many more years than stuffing it.
I am a huge fan of catch and release, have been for years. And I agree this fish should not have been killed, the actual fish caught by Rip Collins was made into a replica and you honestly can't tell a difference, or at least I can't. However, with these Brown Trout, I think that they have a hard time getting these guys to reproduce in hatcheries or under “supervised” situations. I know that here in Arkansas on the Little Red River, we only have the Rainbow Trout under supervised breeding for that reason. The Brown that are in the River do their own breeding in the natural. As to why the Brown's are harder to manage I have no idea, have just always heard that…
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