Manitoba Record Brook Trout Press Release

By now you've seen the picture of the world's most recent true "Super" fish here on Angling Masters International. Not only did that Brook Trout give Tim Matheson $1000.00 in the Fish'n Win event here on AMI, it also gave him something we as anglers long for – a fish of a lifetime. Tim credits many for the new Manitoba Record Brookie; AMI and the Fish'n Line for holding the tournament, The Tully brothers for pushing him and making him think 'outside the tackle box', and Doug, his fishing partner that day for netting the beast. But there's really only one person you can credit for catching Tim Matheson's record fish, and that's Tim Matheson. Tim granted me with first dibs on an interview at the end of the Fish'n Win event where he won the big fish prize in Week 1 for a Lake Trout and Week 4 with the Brook Trout.

It alone scored 1586 points, easily the highest scoring fish in the tournament. This is the interview that will divulge all the juicy tidbits, including the morsel you've all been waiting for…the name of the lake where his 29-inch Brook Trout was caught!

Saturday morning, October 21st , Tim and Doug drive some 130 kilometers from Tim's hometown of Sherridon Manitoba and reach the launch around 11:00 a.m. They are surprised to see that they have the lake to themselves, that is until the local Conservation Officer pulls in. He has known Tim and Doug for years and after a quick chat he leaves with the words 'If you catch anything good let me know.' Tim definitely caught something worth mentioning, but in all the excitement that day it slipped his mind. Two days after the catch Tim received a call from the Officer simply stating "You forgot to call me." Word had already spread of Tim's potential World Record Brook Trout before he had posted the pictures on AMI.

Once on the water Tim and Doug set up to troll using a three-way swivel with a lead weight and floating crankbait. The wind forces them to fish a small bay in the north-west section of the lake and within the first half hour Tim is on to the first fish of the day. "We were trolling as slow as we could…with a ninety (horsepower) in around 14 to16 feet." Tim lands a 27 ¼-inch Rainbow Trout. Just two passes later however, Tim no longer has the big fish of the day. Doug hooks into and lands a 29-inch Rainbow Trout! "I took a picture of him with the fish and we measured it and released it. But enough about him." Tim says laughing. The area they are forced to fish is producing and they stick to trolling across the mouth of the bay but Tim decides to change up his presentation. "I took off that three-way swivel cause I didn't like fighting (a fish) with that lead weight hanging down. That's when I put on the #13 jointed Rapala in chartreuse – you're not going to print any of that right?"

Uhhh…. right? I'll let Tim tell the rest in his own words.

"I think we were going east to west this time across that bay and 'POW!' I got another hit. This thing was just ripping line! My reel was squealing - a sick sound that I just… (you can tell he's reliving the moment here and is at a loss for words)…you know it's a high-end reel and it isn't supposed to sound like that! It was just…Yuck! Anyway I get it up and it runs again and we still haven't seen it. It probably made five or six really good runs and then I got a look at it and thought 'My God that's a Brook Trout' but I wasn't really sure - it was just a quick look and it was that flame red (I saw) but I wasn't sure. Anyways it's gone again, I get it back up, and now we know it is (a Brookie). Then it ran off ten or fifteen more feet and now - I'm scared! This is a good fish; this is a really good fish. I get it back up and Doug nets it (a sound of relief in his voice here). We lifted it up and over (into the boat) and we saw it out of the water and it was just… 'LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THIS THING! So I pick up the fish and get (Doug to take) a headshot. I tell him to take another one, and another one, and another one. I know Doug; if he takes 10 pictures I'll get one good one (laughs). I measured the girth and it read 21-inches. I put it in the water, held on to it and he took a picture. It's an absolutely beautiful picture and you can't help but see my grinning face (see the Kenanow Lodge Marina on AMI). Anyway, my hand was freezing (holding on to it) in that 39-degree water, and then it swam away. I stood up and looked at Doug, he looked at me, and all (H-E-double hockey sticks) broke loose! We started yellin' and whoopin'! We even belly bumped in the boat! Twice we did that and I said 'we gotta stop cause I can't swim; if I get bumped overboard I'm done!!' That's when everything started shaking. I'm still high on this fish."

On releasing the potential world record: "It gave me so much pleasure. I mean I get 50% of my pleasure watching the fish swim away. Even my guests comment on how excited I get when a Laker or a Pike swim away from the boat." According to the IGFA rules and given his situation, the only way Tim could have submitted the Brookie for World Record status would have been to kill it, and that wasn't an option in his book. Congratulations Tim on your success in the Fish'n Win event and a real big congrats on your fish of a lifetime! I'd be surprised if you are the only boat on Barbe Lake next time out, it's bound to become a popular little spot once word gets out. And you all thought I wasn't going to mention it.

Browny