OCR Text |
Show Record catch Big Browns still alive by Bill Karr Lucerne Valley Marina-Thursday, May 27 should go down as an historic day in the pages of the Flaming Gorge's fishing history. After a period of nearly three years without a really large brown being caught, the dry spell was broken by the landing of a 25 pound 13 ounce brown from the Wyoming side of the Flaming Gorge. The long-awaited brown finally disproved the theory held by some that the world record brown and other gargantuan browns caught in years past were a one time thing, brought about by either a certain strain of brown or certain conditions existing in the lake, and that any remaining large fish had died off. George Rose of Albuquerque, N.M., was the successful angler, and you will note I do not use the word "lucky". George and his brother John are longtime long-time Gorge fishermen, and they have spent seven years in their attempts after one really large brown, years amounting to hundreds and hundreds of fishing hours. They fished the Flaming ' Gorge during the era of large browns, they fished the Gorge when the world record brown was taken, and they continued con-tinued to fish the Flaming Gorge long after many brown fishermen had given up the lakes monster browns as a thing of the past. Their dedication to the art of brown fishing paid off at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, May 27. It was an overcast day with a falling barometer and a light breeze was drawing draw-ing brush strokes over the surface of . the Flaming Gorge. George and John Rose had been on the water since 4 a.m. that morning, and John had just released releas-ed another brown of 6V2 pounds. Thoughts of returning to their hotel for their mid-day siesta before the evening fishing had just crossed their minds, when George's rod was almost torn from his arm. The sudden lunges and abrupt jerks indicated the head shakes of a brown trout, and when the fish took off on a line stripping run of almost 100 yards they knew it was a big one. 1 John followed the fish, angling the boat into deeper water and away from the rocky ledges and sunken brush that could mean an early end to the battle. : - , ' ) ' GEORGE ROSE holds a giant 25 pound 13 ounce Brown Trout caught in Flaming Gorge, the trout surpasses the Wyoming State record. George kept constant pressure on the fish until it regained strength and ran again. He loosened up the drag and almost freespooled until the brown tried again. Forty-five grueling minutes later the exhausted brown came gently to the side of the boat and into the Rose brothers net. It was a long-awaited moment for both of them, and the feeling of satisfaction satisfac-tion and achievement George Rose felt can only be imagined. The brown was brought back to Lucerne Valley Marina and taken to the U.S. post office in Manila for it's official weight. I was present as the scales moved upwards... past 25 pounds to end up quivering on the 13 ounce mark. It was heavier than the Wyoming state record by 1 pound and 4 ounces. The fish was caught trolling the eastern shoreline of the Flaming Gorge just below Brinegars Ranch, and it was taken using a Fenwick Lunker Stick rod, a Zebco 555 Cardinal spinning reel and 10 pound test stren line. The lure was a sinking CD 13 Rouge Rapala. a deep diver with a metal spoon-bill. The color of the Rough lure is gold sides and belly with a flourescent red back. The lure was estimated to be near 22 feet deep when hit by the female brown. If the size 13 Rapala rings a bell, that's the same size lure Lee Harward was using when he boated his potential line class record 27 pound 8 ounce mackinaw at the end of April. The excitement George Rose experienced ex-perienced in catching this fish is being felt throughout the brown fishing world. The large brown represents much more than a new Wyoming State record. It represents a stable and on-going brown producing habitat in the Flaming Gorge, and it represents another opportunity oppor-tunity for some fisherman to connect with a monster brown that just may exceed ex-ceed the 33 pound 10 ounce present world record brown. |