Coloradan Scott Enloe caught quite possibly the largest lake trout ever caught last Friday, May 5, while fishing on Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison County.
According to The Gazette, the fish weighed out at 73 pounds and 29 ounces. The largest lake trout ever caught prior to Enloe’s beast was caught in 1995 on Great Bear Lake in Canada, weighing in at 72 pounds flat according to the International Game and Fish Association.
Unfortunately, as Enloe measured and weighed the fish on his boat, rather than on land, and chose to catch and release, the International Game and Fish Association will likely be unable to certify the record. Let’s be honest, the rule does make sense. It would be pretty easy to fake a record with a weight taken on a boat, and video evidence isn’t always the most reliable these days.
Fortunately, the fish’s record length of 47 inches will be much easier to verify with photos and video footage, so Enloe might not be completely out of a record. Nonetheless, it’s nice to see that he and his son chose to let the fish live on to see another day. Maybe in a few months or a few years, someone will catch that exact same fish weighing even more. Hopefully they’ll choose to let him live on once again.
Image Credit: Hunter Enloe via Instagram