Two anglers were certain they had caught a potential record-breaking trout. The only problem was getting the fish back to weigh before it spoiled.
Speaking with Big Woods Bucks during a recent podcast, Benjamin Ferguson described the creative solution that he and his fishing buddy, Shawn Widrick, came up with. The two had gone canoeing in the backcountry of New York in the Adirondacks.
"I think I just had to sit down for a minute [at first] to comprehend what was going on," Ferguson said "So, we looked at the fish a little bit ... and I know we discussed trying to [paddle] out that night and go weigh it somewhere. But it was just about dark, and anywhere to weigh it would be closed."
Record Breaking Trout
The two had been in the middle of a three-day canoeing trip. They knew that none of the potential places for weighing would be open and that they were miles from heading back with another day still left. It was dark when Ferguson caught the trout while trowling on Lake Clear Wabbler. The trout weighed 6.23 pounds on their hand scales, a record breaker. It would break the 2013 record.
But getting it back was the issue. "We took Shawn's boat and we scooped some water into his boat, then flopped the fish into that and just shoved it off from shore a little bit," Ferguson explained. "Just enough so a turtle or something couldn't get it."
Fortunately, they kept the trout in good condition and the fish was fine as they broke from camp the next morning. From there, they took the fish to a butcher's shop where it weighed 6 pounds, 3 ounces. It was smaller than what it previously weighed, but it was still a record breaker.
The angler can't wait to go out there and catch more trout and other fish and just explore the backcountry.
"There's a lot more ponds I want to see ... And this [record] isn't really gonna change any of that for me," Ferguson said in the recent podcast. "Just seeing some new territory — that's what I'm excited for."
