Colorado Man Just Destroyed the World Record With This Massive Lake Trout

There are big fish. There are really big fish. Then, there are just absurd fish. A Colorado man just caught a lake trout that can only be classified as utterly absurd. This fish will obliterate the state record and even set a new world record, assuming the fish’s stats are accepted.

On Friday, Scott Enloe and his son, Hunter, were fishing on the Blue Mesa Reservoir. It is not only the largest man-made lake in Colorado, but it would also yield the biggest lake trout on record.

Enloe threw a six-inch tube jig with a bait caster strung with a ten-pound test line when he hooked this giant laker. As soon as he set the hook, the angler knew he had a massive fish. He immediately settled in for what would be a protracted battle. Since Enloe was using such a light line, he had to let the fish run. The fish shot to the surface and then immediately dove for the depths. The fight lasted for 13 minutes. 

Once the lake trout was exhausted, Enloe brought it to the boat but it was bigger than his net. It took both anglers to hoist the behemoth into the boat.

Documenting the Catch

Enloe knew this was likely a record fish, but he was also determined to release the fish alive. The boat’s livewell was too small to hold the mammoth fish. The anglers were able to submerge the head and gills in the livewell’s water with the rest of the fish’s body hanging out, though. With the fish safe, at least for the moment, they quickly prepared to record the catch.

Enloe’s handheld scale registered a weight of 73.29 pounds. This same scale was certified when the angler caught a 23.75-pound brown trout in 2021. That fish was a Colorado state record at the time, and Enloe’s scale weighed the fish within one ounce of the official certified weight.

This gargantuan lake trout was 47 inches long with a 37-inch girth. The fish’s girth was greater than the fisherman who caught it! 

As Enloe said in an interview with Outdoor Life, “Some of the other photos I have—I hate to say it, but they almost look fake. I mean, my God, it looks so dumb. A 37-inch girth, and I’m a 35-inch waist. It was just incredible. That fish doesn’t even look 47 inches long because it’s just so fat.”

Many would assume the female fish was full of eggs, but that’s not the case. Lake trout spawn in the fall. This fish was just really fat!

Releasing a Record Fish

After recording all the measurements, Enloe released the fish back into the cold water of the Colorado reservoir. The entire documentation process was completed in about two minutes.

Releasing the fish will almost certainly complicate matters when it comes to state and world record documentation. Enloe is hopeful that his meticulous measurements, including a video of the entire process, will be enough to qualify for the record books. However, he was never going to keep the fish just to secure the record. “I never even considered killing the fish,” Enloe said. “This is the largest lake trout that’s ever been caught. Period. And I could have made it easy to put in the [record] book, but I would have had to kill it. And I was not going to kill that fish.”

Current Lake Trout Records

The current Colorado record lake trout was also caught in the Blue Mesa Reservoir. That fish, caught in 2007, weighed 50.35 pounds. Enloe’s fish bests that record by nearly 23 pounds.

The current world record lake trout was caught in Canada’s Great Bear Lake in 1995. That laker weighed 72 pounds. Enloe’s monster fish beats the world record by 1.29 pounds.

Will Colorado officials and the International Game Fish Association accept Enloe’s measurements and award him with a new state and world record? Time will tell. In the meantime, Enloe is keeping the whole thing in perspective. 

“I would love to have the world record, and it is the world record,” Enloe remarked. “But if we don’t get it… I know what I caught, my son knows what I caught, and I’m okay with that.”

Dad and Son

After this fish was released, Enloe and his son stopped fishing. They sat in the boat, talking and laughing about what had just transpired. It was an epic fishing trip that neither angler will ever forget. It must be noted that Hunter caught a 31-pound lake trout just half an hour before his dad landed the potential record-setting fish.

Hunter took to Instagram to tell the world about the staggering fish and brag about his dad. The younger Enloe wrote in the social media post, “My dad crushed some records yesterday. This fish was 23 lbs over the current state record and almost two pounds over the current world record for lake trout. Dad and I have put in serious time to learn about these fish and how to catch them, and most days, they will outsmart you, and that’s what keeps us addicted to them.”

“We released this old, big girl to be caught again when she’s even bigger. She swam off strong as we handled her properly, getting weights and measurements and a few pictures. Congrats to my dad on another catch-and-release record. It was a special day, and we just sat on the boat for a few hours, not fishing, just taking in what happened. Another awesome memory with my dad.”

Whether the new records are awarded or not, no one can take the memory away from this dad and his son.

The photo featured at the top of this post is © Darryl Brooks/Shutterstock.com