Lenoir native reels in world's largest trout -- but there's a catch
May 12—GUNNISON, Colo. — A Lenoir native reeled in the largest recorded lake trout in history at Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison, Colorado on May 5. Scott Enloe's world-record title, however, is currently pending due to his decision to weigh, measure, and release the fish back into the water. This move may adversely affect his chances of being officially recognized in the record books.
Enloe was born and raised in Lenoir and graduated from Hibriten High School in 1990. He has lived in Gunnison, Colorado with his family for the past seven years.
"I moved here for the big fish," he said jokingly.
Early in the morning on Friday, May 5, Enloe and his son, Hunter, went fishing at Blue Mesa Reservoir, an artificial reservoir in Gunnison County, Colorado, created by the Blue Mesa Dam. The father-and-son duo were using a Lowrance depth finder, a powerful fish-finding tool that displays the depth of water under a boat in digital readout. The two were keeping a close eye on the monitor when Enloe spotted a huge mark about 30 feet deep in the water. The big fish jerked the hook, and for 13 minutes Enloe battled with the fish, wearing it down until it could be caught up in Hunter's net.
"It wouldn't even fit in the net," said Enloe, "and we have the largest net from Fraybill, the Fraybill Trophy Haul net. We were scared the fish would break off or the hook would pull off ... but we sort of cradled it with the net and got it in the boat."
After a celebratory few seconds where Hunter took photos of his dad with his catch, the two stuck the fish's head into the boat's live well to try and keep it alive. The fish was too big to put its whole body in the live well.
"We didn't want to kill the fish," Enloe said. "We exclusively practice catch and release."
He explained that this massive fish is estimated to be about 60 years old and is possibly one of the original fish from when the lake was first made.
Blue Mesa Reservoir is the largest lake entirely within Colorado and was built in 1966 by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for hydroelectric power generation. Managed by the National Park Service as part of Curecanti National Recreation Area, it is known for being Colorado's largest lake trout and Kokanee salmon fishery.
"That fish has lived there since the 60s. I'm not going to kill a fish that old," said Enloe. "Of course I want the record, but they want you to kill that fish so they can weigh it and document themselves. Everybody preaches conservation, but they want you to kill that fish, which makes no sense."
Enloe and his son were meticulous in documenting the fish on video and in photographs. They measured the fish's weight to be 73.29 pounds and its length to be 47 inches even.
"We documented it the best we could as fast as we could since the fish wouldn't fit in the live well," said Enloe. "Then I immediately put it back in the water. It swam around a little bit then trailed off."
Like most fishermen, Enloe and his son are always seeking to catch the biggest fish they can.
"We catch a lot of 30-pounders, some over 40 pounds," Enloe said. "We've been trying to catch a 50-pounder. That's been our goal ... We're trying to break some kind of record, but we had no idea it would happen."
Enloe currently holds the state record in Colorado for the largest river trout caught at 23 pounds and 12 ounces.
"I released that one live, as well," he said.
The biggest lake trout ever caught and recognized by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) is a 72-pound specimen that Lloyd Bull reeled in on Aug. 19, 1995, while fishing in Great Bear Lake, located in Canada's northwest territories. Bull's catch also holds the record in the 30-pound line-class category. Meanwhile, the largest lake trout caught in Colorado weighed 50.35 pounds and was landed by Donald Walker in 2007. However, this record is likely to be easily broken by Enloe's fish, which appears to be significantly larger.
Enloe said that even if his name doesn't make it into the record books, he's satisfied that it was the largest fish ever caught.
"I'm glad she was released alive. I never even considered killing the fish, just to get a piece of paper," he said. "If I do, that's fine ... I was not going to be responsible for her death. Think about how many eggs that fish has laid, how many babies are in that lake because of that fish. For generations to come, if everybody is out there keeping every fish, we're going to run out of fish."
