Manitoba Record Brook Trout

Dr. JW Cook's World Record Brook Trout, which was caught in 1915, is still a World Record. This magnificent fish below was caught by Tim Matheson of Manitoba.

The Brook Trout (Speckled Trout) was 29 inches long with a 21-inch girth. Based on an accepted Brook Trout weight calculation formula, the Brookie was 15.98625 pounds, which is 1.49 pounds bigger than Dr. JW Cook's World Record Brook Trout.

The fish was released and is not eligible to become a world record but is officially the new Manitoba Record Brook Trout. Congratulations go out to Tim and special appreciation is felt throughout the sport-fishing world for his conservation attitude, which is keeping Canada the best place in the world for trophy fishing.

Dr. Cook's trout was 34.5 inches long with a girth of 11.5 inches. If you use the same weight formula as Tim's trout, Dr. Cook's Brook Trout would have been 20 pounds. Dr. Cook was on a 7-day fishing trip and his trout was not officially weighed until the 21st, which is when they hiked out of the bush. His trout was so badly decomposed that they could only make a skin mount. Dr. Cook's trout was dead for days before being weighed, which is why it was only officially 14.5 pounds. Dr. Cook's trout was probably close to 20 pounds when he first caught it. This is one reason why the IGAF still considers Dr. Cook trout the World Record. If Tim had weighed his trout on a scale, which was legal for trade, and he had clipped a piece of the fin for genetic testing, it is most likely he would hold the World Record because world Records do not compensate for weight loss due to decomposition.

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