Canadian takes world rainbow trout record from his twin brother

Photo / Richard Robinson.

A new world record for rainbow trout of 21.77kg has been confirmed by the International Game Fish Association. The monster trout, which weighs 48 pounds in the old-fashioned imperial system, was caught in a lake in southern Saskatchewan, in Canada, on September 5 last year.

The angler, 29-year-old Sean Konrad, caught the fish while fishing at night with a 2.9m spinning rod, a spin reel spooled with 7kg brain line and a one-metre leader of 7kg monofilament with a 13cm bonito-coloured Rapala jointed X-Rap lure.

Konrad specialises in fishing for record trout in the lake, and his catch beat the previous world record of 19.79kg (43lb 10oz) caught by his twin, Adam, two years earlier. That catch was made on 3kg line and is the world record in that line class.

Sean's trout was 94.5cm (42 inches) long with a massive girth of 80cm (32 inches).

The brothers, who are auto mechanics, also work as fishing guides for other record-seekers in their spare time; but they fish together every year on one fishing trip. Between them they also hold the current world rainbow trout records for 4kg line (15.65kg or 34lb 8oz), 6kg line (18.43kg or 40lb 10oz), 8kg line (16.9kg or 37lb 4oz) and 24kg line (12.02kg or 26lb 8oz).

All of the trout came from Lake Diefenbaker, which is a man-made reservoir formed by damming two rivers in 1967. It is 225km long with 800km of shoreline and has a maximum depth of 66m, and is home to 15 species of native and stocked species of fish including many which we have never heard of in this country - fish like burbot, walleye, northern pike, whitefish, sturgeon, longnose sucker, white sucker, shorthead red-horse, sauger and goldeye as well as lake trout and rainbow trout. Some of these fish are prey for bigger fish like the trout, and there must be a huge amount of food for them to grow so big so quickly as rainbows live for only five or six years. What is not clear is whether the trout spawn in tributary rivers as they do here and the population is sustained naturally - or it relies on stocking of hatchery-raised fish.

Sean Konrad also holds the world record for burbot, caught in the same lake, with a fish of 8.65kg (19lb 1oz).

Trout fishing at Lake Taupo is suffering from a lack of rain, and all of the rivers and streams are low and clear. Fly fishers are having to use fluorocarbon leaders and tiny natural imitations like caddis and Hare and Copper, as small as size #16. Fish are building up at the delta of the Tongariro River, and the number of brown trout running up the river has delighted local anglers. The browns usually run earlier than the rainbows, but there are still good numbers entering the river and one fish of 6kg was caught from the Hydro Pool recently.

More water has been opened to winter fishing on the Hinemaia Stream, with the boundary of closed water moved from the main road bridge upstream for about one and a half kilometres to the Cliff Pool.

Fish have reportedly moved quickly through the Tauranga-Taupo River this winter, and the Waitahanui River has been quiet although south-westerly conditions may push more fish in.

In Rotorua some well proportioned wild fish have been taken from Lakes Tarawera and Rotoiti and the usual spots for shoreline fishing are all popular with anglers.

A new internet television channel, FishnHunt.Tv, was launched in New Zealand yesterday. Access is free, and the channel has a wide range of programming covering all aspects of the outdoors. As well as viewing it on computers, new technology incorporated in some brands of television sets will link to a computer.

Other set-top devices will soon be available to connect with existing television sets.