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Angler Fishing8 July 20262 min readBy Fishing Network· AI-assisted

Georgia Angler Lands Record 30.5-Inch Brown Trout in Idaho

Caroline Langdale's 30.5-inch brown trout from the South Fork of the Snake River is Idaho's new catch-and-release state record - a fish biologists say fewer than five like it have ever been documented.

Georgia Angler Lands Record 30.5-Inch Brown Trout in Idaho

Key Takeaways

  • 1."In other words, of all the brown trout captured during surveys, only 0.007% ever exceed 30 inches — that we know of." Crucially, the mark falls in Idaho's catch-and-release category, kept separate from the certified-weight records that require a fish to be killed and weighed on approved scales.
  • 2."My trip was already made in the first 5 minutes when Ed rowed us back upstream from the put-in to a special hole where I caught a 21-inch hybrid rainbow," Langdale said.
  • 3."She was big enough to swallow both of my hands." The morning had delivered before the record even appeared.

On a fly-fishing trip to Idaho, a Georgia angler boated a brown trout so scarce that state biologists count only a handful on record — and then she released it.

Caroline Langdale hooked the 30.5-inch brown on the South Fork of the Snake River on 30 May, fishing with guide Ed Emory of the South Fork Lodge. Idaho Fish and Game certified it this month as the state's new catch-and-release record, nudging past the old benchmark of 30 inches that Chase Nelson set on the Snake River in October 2016.

A rubber-legs nymph did the trick, and the battle ran roughly ten minutes. Langdale suspected quickly that this was no ordinary fish, but it was her guide who confirmed it. "No Caroline, this is a huge fish," Emory told her as the trout rolled into view.

"We were both in such shock that neither of us said anything for awhile," Langdale said. The size only registered once she had it in hand. "It was as big around as my thigh," she said. "She was big enough to swallow both of my hands."

The morning had delivered before the record even appeared. "My trip was already made in the first 5 minutes when Ed rowed us back upstream from the put-in to a special hole where I caught a 21-inch hybrid rainbow," Langdale said. Backing that up with a fish of a lifetime set the lodge alight. "Everyone there was just genuinely so excited for me," she said.

Idaho Fish and Game's survey figures show just how rare the catch is. The agency has netted more than 57,600 brown trout on the South Fork since it began monitoring in 1986. "In all those years, surveys have documented only four brown trout over 30 inches," it said. "In other words, of all the brown trout captured during surveys, only 0.007% ever exceed 30 inches — that we know of."

Crucially, the mark falls in Idaho's catch-and-release category, kept separate from the certified-weight records that require a fish to be killed and weighed on approved scales. With a trout this uncommon, letting it go is the whole point — it is back in the South Fork, free to spawn again and, for whoever finds it next, to grow bigger still.