State Record Brookie

[Highmth]

Some people said that the State record brookie would never be broken. There are too many people fishing the Boulder mountain and The DWR has chosen to manage many of the good brookie lakes for olorado cutts and tiger trout. It is even hard to find a good 3 pound brookie on the boulder these days. I wish the State would manage some more lakes on the boulder specifically for trophy brookies.
with that said, the new state record brookie was caught early Sunday morning in a lake on the Boulder Mountain, (the name of the lake has been withheld for obvious reasons). It is 26 inches in length and 15 inches in girth. It weighed 7 pounds 14 ounces on Sunday but was officially weighed this morning at 7 pounds 9 ounces.
It's not the most beautiful brookie I've seen but it is certianly the biggest.
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[LOAH]

Congrats to another Trent to break a state record this year.

Wow.[cool]

That's just awesome. I won't complain about any kind of mismanagement since there's obviously something going right to break a classic record.
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[troutcreek]

Congrats on the catch! That female looks like it could have gotten quite a bit bigger too. I was envisioning an old ratty male with a big hook jaw before I opened the pics. More info on how the scenario played out would be wonderful. Again, congrats!
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[STEVEF39]

Wow thats a beast, congrats to the guy that caught that one, That record had stood for a while. Hopefully we can see some more big ones like that come out here.
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[gaetzchamp]

Awesome fish. Wish we could see some picts in the field.

On another note, I thought the DWR was considering poisoning the lakes on the Boulder so they could return the environment back to the native cutts? If that's the case (when I talked to the DWR a few years ago) then that record will probably hold up.

gaetz
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[brookie1999]

It is the pending state record...one of the division's biologists thinks it might be a splake. Hoping to hear back from them soon. But this fish has the square tail
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[brookieguy1]

Son...of...a....bi%$#!!!! What a toad. The invincible Milty finally goes down. I really hope they find out it's a splake.[:p]
Yes, I'm incredibly jealous.
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[CatchinCompany]

What a great fish! Probably the coolest record to have in utah. Can't get any better than a high mountain brookie! I would freak out to get a 3 pounder.
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[Jmaze]

I honestly think it looks like a splake, except for that tail... I have not seen a brookie barely half that size to compare though... NICE fish no matter the species. I have caught a few splake out of fish lake with the more squared tail though.
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[Highmth]

[quote brookieguy1]Son...of...a....bi%$#!!!! What a toad. The invincible Milty finally goes down. I really hope they find out it's a splake.[:p]
Yes, I'm incredibly jealous.[/quote]
It interesting that you bring up the Splake. Although the biologist in the Springville office thought it was a Brookie, the head biologist believes that the fish might be a Splake. He wants to take a closer look at it tomorrow and might run some tests on it to confirm it's identity. The fish was not caught out of Blind lake, Beaver Dam, or Fish Creek. However it is only right to take the time to test the fish and make sure that it is without a doubt a brook trout. If it isn't, I apologize, but it is still a magnificent fish and there is always hope that a state record might be lurking in the waters. I'll keep on posting as the saga unfolds.
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[Gemcityslayer]

I spoke to a fishery biologist once who told me that it is almost impossible to tell splake and brooke trout a part based on looks...(square tail Splake do exist)

But it does look like a brookie.
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[fsh4fun05]

From what little connections I have it hasn't been officially confirmed yet but I hope it's a record brookie. Cool stuff, most of my bass haven't been very big this year so it's good to see that somebody is catching lunkers.
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[kochanut]

if its impossible to tell the differance, woudlent genetic testing be able to tell?
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[RyanCreek]

Looks like 2012 is turning out to be a good year for state records!

But yes, genetic analysis would be able to identify this fish as a brook trout or a splake. I believe the quickest and cheapest way would be through PCR and gel electrophoresis techniques. I don't know for sure, but that is one possible method out of many.

Whether or not the caudal fin is forked is NOT always a reliable identifier. They have had issues with this in Lake Superior with some fish that were impossible to clearly identify as brookies/splakes/lakers, but genetic analysis did the trick. http://www.glsc.usgs.gov/main.php?conten...crosslakes They were also concerned that the splake might have been reproducing as well. Although splake are often said to be sterile, due to the close relatedness of brook and lake trout, they are actually genetically stable hybrids and are capable of reproduction. It is very rare in the natural environment because of behavioral issues, but has been documented in a handful of lakes in Ontario. This has lead some to speculate that it is possible that a fish could be 1/4 laker and 3/4 brook trout (instead of 50/50) in waters where brookies and splake cohabitate, making identification even more difficult.

There is another simple alternative to identifying brookies from splake that has been used with great success. Just cut open the belly and count the pyloric caeca (appendages) of the stomach. Brook trout have about 50 or less. Splake have 65-85. Lake trout have 90+.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey that's a very nice fish it had to be a blast to find one like that. Must be a very fertile lake with lots of food to grow a nice fish like that. I've seen some nice ones out of Henrys Lake in Idaho but didn't know we had a spot that would grow them that big it would be fun to know if this is a one of a kind fish or from a pond that has a good population of similar fish like Henrys. Anyway pass on a congratulations on a great catch. Sure beats anything I've ever caught in Utah by at least 6 lbs Later J
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[Gemcityslayer]

[quote kochanut]if its impossible to tell the differance, woudlent genetic testing be able to tell?[/quote]

Yes,or you can look at the something related to the fish's reproduction system... (which would involve some cutting into the fish)
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[Gemcityslayer]

"There is another simple alternative to identifying brookies from splake that has been used with great success. Just cut open the belly and count the pyloric caeca (appendages) of the stomach. Brook trout have about 50 or less. Splake have 65-85. Lake trout have 90+."

BINGO.
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[Jazzperch1]

dang man what a beauty, it looks like it might have even gotten bigger with time but who knows how old it was.


tightlines
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[Highmth]

They have narrowed the fish down to either a tiger trout or a brook trout but it is definitely not a splake. We should know the identity of the fish sometime tomorrow. I'll keep you posted.
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[Jazzperch1]

well i think we have a new record on our hands cause theres no way its a tiger [:p]. cool cool i wonder how long this one will hold.



tightlines[fishin]
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