# Most 30+inch trout by fisherman



## YakSerious (Jun 21, 2013)

Is anybody the 30+ inch trout king. Is there anybody who has caught more than anybody else, documented ?


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## chrigging (Aug 10, 2012)

I have caught 30 plus trout over an inch:biggrin:


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## LouieB (Jun 7, 2005)

I'd have to put guys like Cliff Webb and Aubrey Black on that list for sure.
Many other "old timers" that don't use a keyboard and computer have mounts of 30" trout to fill out complete 10 fish stringers.


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## mstrelectricman (Jul 10, 2009)

Back in the day when I wade fished a lot I managed one that was almost 30". I caught lots of em a little over 29". When you catch one of these and hold her in your hands and look in her mouth you can see and feel the presence of God!
BTW, I've only killed a few that size, i let them go if they are unhurt.


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## GuyFromHuntsville (Aug 4, 2011)

I'm not sure if it's a record or not, but a friend of mine (on 2cool as "Pittstop") caught five over 30" in one year.


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## Big Guns 1971 (Nov 7, 2013)

I have a couple under my belt. All but one came from San Luis pass. The other from Crystal Beach surf. All caught on live bait. I'm sure a lot of old timers caught quite a few.


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Me. I wake myself up setting the hook on 30" trout several times a night. My girlfriend laughs and says "Did you get em baby?"


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## G-Money (Aug 3, 2007)

Got one over thirty. Have a couple of close ones that scared twenty nine.


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

Danny and Jeff Neu have a nice mount with multiple trout 30 and over on it.

I have one.

TH


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## Rubberback (Sep 9, 2008)

I remember way back when me & my father were fishing in West Bay. I was to young to wade so I stayed in the boat. I noticed my dad who was wading catching a bunch of big fish & throwing them back.
He gets back to the boat & I asked him " Dad I saw you throwing all those fish back, Why ? Dad said Mom won't cook the big ones. I'll never forget that. Smart Man he was. LOL!!
I have one on my wall thats thirty.


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## reelthreat (Jul 11, 2006)

The founder of DOA lures claims to have caught over 500 trout over 30". If true I think that would be hard to beat.


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## pipeliner24 (Apr 10, 2013)

Sneakypete


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Here's my PB...a 32.25 inch skin mount that is now over 36 years old. 

Who says skin mounts don't last? 

Only one other spec over 30 for me....and only one other one over 32 that was lost at the boat. Those over 30 specs are very special.


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## dbarham (Aug 13, 2005)

pipeliner24 said:


> Sneakypete


Yep Ricky Conner and Maurice Estinlbaum Daniel popovich catches plenty big ones too


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## boltmaster (Aug 16, 2011)

Fished a good while now and I have only 1 over 30 several in the 28-1/2+ to 29 range but only the one over the magic number.


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## CAPSIZED (Aug 10, 2004)

Old Salts like Mike Williams and Sammy Flores probably cant remember all the trout over 30" they've caught. I know a few other guides that fish tourneys that catch them regularly.


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## Capt. John Havens (May 28, 2004)

reelthreat said:


> The founder of DOA lures claims to have caught over 500 trout over 30". If true I think that would be hard to beat.


If true, that is an amazing number. Over a 20 year span that would be 25 per year.

For Texas you have a long list of great anglers who have caught monster trout consistently for years. Anglers such as Mark Holt, Mike McBride, Jay Watkins, David Rowsey, Jim Wallace, John Gill, Cliff Webb, Kevin Cochran, Bud Rowland, the Basci brothers, and the list goes on. All of whom probably quit counting years ago.


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## kenny (May 21, 2004)

Capt. John Havens said:


> If true, that is an amazing number. Over a 20 year span that would be 25 per year.
> 
> For Texas you have a long list of great anglers who have caught monster trout consistently for years. Anglers such as Mark Holt, Mike McBride, Jay Watkins, David Rowsey, Jim Wallace, John Gill, Cliff Webb, Kevin Cochran, Bud Rowland, the Basci brothers, and the list goes on. All of whom probably quit counting years ago.


John, You're very modest. I know that you've caught your fair share of big fish through the years! 
You may also have the record for most Corkys lost in one day as I recall.


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## OnedayScratch (May 23, 2012)

I stayed at a holiday inn express last night....does that count?


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## ddakota (Jun 28, 2009)

I can belive there are people that have caught many. ive caught several, but not in Texas. Fished Big Lake (Calcasieu) growing up, we never measured them, did not know 30" was magical. We would weigh them, if it was over 10, it was considered big. We never kept them, my Dad said they werent any good to eat, too many worms. Used to fish live mullet at The Washouts and thought it was normal. My brother and I would fish for the "big ones", my Dad would throw his Tout rig (made by Boone) and catch smaller ones for the skillet. In 1976 my brother and I caught over 20 in one day that were all over 6, and yes, we released all of them. It was about then that we started using bass plugs and started fishing like people do today for them. Last one I caught over 30" was in 1989 on a BrokenBack and she weighed 11. Ken Chaumont of Egret Baits was there and saw her, watched me turn her loose and then told me he had a camera, LOL. Been a long dry spell since I moved back to Texas. Been close a few times, but no cigar.

A lost hole is the Industrial Canal in the winter, under the loading dock lights of the LNG Plant at night. Then the Coast Guard put up signs to stay out and they were serious. They put up closed circuit cameras and would notify you over a loud speaker you were in violation of the safety zone, send you a $1000 ticket in the mail, using your boat regitration numbers. I coukd tell you some stories about big fish caught there before they made it illegal. There were some epic trips made by a handful of people. A 6 was considered small. To this day I cannot drive by a big industrial lighted dock at night and wonder.


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## Category6 (Nov 21, 2007)

Not that I'm best friends with the guy or anything (he's pretty hard to get along with unless you're in his inner circle, but then so am I), however I can't think of a name that correlates to giant trout more than Mike Williams if we're talking upper coast. He wouldn't have even bothered to weigh one unless it was around 32" back in the early '80's, and I've seen pictures of him with a full stringer that were all north of 25".


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## Lat22 (Apr 7, 2005)

One a tick over 30 and 4 over 29. Too many over 25 to count. I love the dirty water in the back of Baffin.


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## Lezz Go (Jun 27, 2006)

Bill Sheeka?


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## Bocephus (May 30, 2008)

Several 28's & 29's....just can't seem to break 30......maybe this spring, that's when I catch the fat girls.


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## dbarham (Aug 13, 2005)

Dan Schovicsa

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk


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## B-Money (May 2, 2005)

my buddies who work for the Conservation catch them every year.


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## Im Headed South (Jun 28, 2006)

If I had one guy to put money on it would be Cliff Webb, Jay Watkins has told me some stories of some of their trips in the good ol days and it's pretty unbelievable. I'm talking single days with more over 30 than most of us will catch in a lifetime.


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## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

This is a fun game, to be honest, there will be no way to ever know. Most mentioned are very admirable, and there are a lot of NO NAME people who will never make a list because they choose to for several reasons. One they don't like a lot of attention and two pressure on their area.
I know several who I will never mention
There are a lot of very good fisherman who you will never hear about!!


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## Stumpgrinder (Feb 18, 2006)

I haven't seen his name but I imagine Mickey Eastman has caught a slew of em 30+


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## bluefin (Aug 16, 2005)

One name you won't see mentioned is mine.
I've fished upper to lower coast in 100 degree to below freezing. 
I've fished before fronts, during fronts and behind fronts.
Thrown jigs, spoons, floaters, sinkers, live and dead bait.
Years and years of practice.
Haven't come close...


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## capt. david (Dec 29, 2004)

Do some of you realize the true magnitude of a 30inch trout? I use to fish alot, I mean alot.
I think I might have seen 3 in all my years on the upper coast.


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## Capt. John Havens (May 28, 2004)

kenny said:


> John, You're very modest. I know that you've caught your fair share of big fish through the years!
> You may also have the record for most Corkys lost in one day as I recall.


Kenny, appreciate it. But my numbers pale in comparison to most all those already mentioned in this thread. Times have really changed in the last 20 years, fishing will never be as good as it once was.

Personally I believe it is much harder to catch numbers of 30"+ trout on the upper coast, compared to down south between marker #37 and Port Isabel. Mainly because I do not feel the numbers of 30"+ or 10# trout are as prevalent. I left off quite a few great anglers who have spent most of their time focused on the upper coast, anglers such as Mike Williams, James Plagg, Jim West, Dana Bailey, Mickey Eastman, Blaine Friermood, Charlie Paradoski, Bill Pustejovsky, etc... I feel each one of these anglers hold the skill, knowledge and dedication to be at the top of the list, but the areas they chose to fish just do not offer the same outcome. Sure Matagorda, Galveston, Sabine and Calcasieu hold good numbers of 30"+ fish, but in my opinion that number is much lower than the areas mentioned further south. And yes, there are people who have been catching big trout for years without others hearing about them, they are the few and lucky souls.


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## JShupe (Oct 17, 2004)

^^^^^^^^ not a better man/Captain on the Gulf Coast than the man above.

Merry Christmas brother.

In regards to 30's.... There is a fine line between 293/4's and a true 30 that's why they are so cherished. 

It's like the fine line between between being a good golfer who can shoot par or better every time he tee' sit up and a golfer who has the capability to go low and shoot 62-63 and play on the tour...... VERY FINE FINE LINE.


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## Captain Dave (Jul 19, 2006)

YakSerious said:


> Is anybody the 30+ inch trout king. Is there anybody who has caught more than anybody else, documented ?


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## tigerhead (Jun 17, 2005)

I have never been able to break the 30" mark, but I did witness it once, and talk about nameless fishermen! It was in 1975 and a buddy of mine talked me into a fishing "adventure" on the pier at Freeport. 

It was a muggy night and the specks were not cooperating. One of the interesting attractions that night was a kid that literally looked like he lived under the pier. He couldn't have been over 10 or 12 years old. His skin was the color of boot leather and his hair was a mop of sun bleached blonde straw. He was dressed in a pair of worn Beach Baggie shorts and an over sized trench coat. No shoes, no shirt, and no guardian in sight. 

As the night wore on, the kid became somewhat of a pest to the fishermen. He worked the pier like a hardhead works dead shrimp, going from fisherman to fisherman, touching their precious high dollar gear, and trying to make conversation. No one was really in the mood, and most would shoo him away after a few minutes. That never seemed to dampen his spirits, or deter him from making another attempt. I was actually happy to have him around, because his antics were the only thing of interest for the better part of the night.

Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, the mood went from total boredom to big time excitement! The tide had changed and the water around the pier had gone from chocolate brown to emerald green. This woke up a few fisherman and, as they were admiring the beautiful water, they noticed groups of gator trout hovering in the circles of light below the pier. 

Well everyone went running for their rods and soon the circles of light looked like the 610 Loop at rush hour. The lure traffic was as heavy as it was varied. Everything from live shrimp to umbrella rigs traversed the circles, but to no avail. The big trout would not even give the baits a sniff. Some fishermen even dangled live shrimp almost on the nose of the trout, thinking that an easy meal of live shrimp would be impossible for the big girls to resist. Nada! The trout, appearing only mildly irritated by the lures, would use a gentle stroke of their tail to avoid the interference, and would slowly swim in and out of the lights, looking as bored as the fishermen had been only minutes earlier.

Now there was more than one "old salt" on the pier that night and everyone looked stumped, except the kid! As soon as he saw the size of the trout, he immediately went into action! He first grabbed a ragged piece of a cast net out of a plastic bucket and went running for the base of the pier, eventually disappearing into the night. I wondered, what he could possibly be up to? He apparently had gone under the pier to cast net around the pilings, because a short time later, he comes running back with a nice size piggy perch. On his way back he stopped by his bucket to grab a 3 to 4 foot stump of an old solid glass rod that he had tucked away behind the handrail stanchion. He deftly hooked on the piggy and wedged his way through the circle of fishermen surrounding one of the lights. He had no more released the button on that Zebco when the fight was on! Fortunately Zebco, or an iron worker who knew something about heavy rigging, had spooled the old reel with 20+ test line. With some help from a fellow fisherman with a pier net, the kid landed the huge trout. 

The trout never got weighed, but it taped slightly over 31 inches! It never went on anyone's wall either. For the remainder of the night, the kid drug that huge fish up and down the pier, and what a conversation piece that was! Everyone was willing to talk, and no one felt pestered! By morning, that fish didn't have a scale left on it and it looked more like a sandy towel on the end of a stringer than a trophy trout. 

I've often wondered what happened to that kid. He may have become a fishing guide or an outdoor writer. Who knows? I just hope his life turned out well. 

I know this was long and boring, but it's a story that I wanted to tell because someone may read it that knows the story of this kid. He looked like he was a permanent fixture on the pier. Maybe his parents worked on the pier or owned the pier? I would love to know how many 30 inch trout he's harvested through the years.


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## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

Jodi,
You are correct and its getting harder by the year, Not because of the fishing, but because of the (consistent pressure). And I could say a few other things , but it would start a [email protected] match of epic proportion, Merry Christmas one and all. 
Them girls are growing too fast!



JShupe said:


> ^^^^^^^^ not a better man/Captain on the Gulf Coast than the man above.
> 
> Merry Christmas brother.
> 
> ...


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## Capt. John Havens (May 28, 2004)

JShupe said:


> Merry Christmas brother.


Appreciate it, Merry Christmas to you and your family. I will be spending the majority of this winter to the East, the amount of disrespect in the Galveston area is off the charts. Let me know when you get the itch to go.

Tigerhead, enjoyed the story, curious as to who that was.


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## GuyFromHuntsville (Aug 4, 2011)

Tigerhead, great story!!! Thanks for sharing.


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## let's talk fishin (Jan 4, 2008)

Tigerhead great story.


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## gman1772 (Jul 15, 2012)

Walt Kalinowsky has more plus 30" Trout on the wall than anyone else I know.

I am an ardent supporter of a five Trout limit. There's a ton of reasons for my opinion that will start a rage on this thread and that is not what this thread is about.


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## Fish fur (Oct 11, 2012)

Category5 said:


> Not that I'm best friends with the guy or anything (he's pretty hard to get along with unless you're in his inner circle, but then so am I), however I can't think of a name that correlates to giant trout more than Mike Williams if we're talking upper coast. He wouldn't have even bothered to weigh one unless it was around 32" back in the early '80's, and I've seen pictures of him with a full stringer that were all north of 25".


One heck of a tarpon fisherman too. He has a big trout on his wall that has a date of 1972


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## tigerhead (Jun 17, 2005)

GuyFromHuntsville and Let's talk fishin, 

Thank you for the replies! Seriously, I would give anything to know what became of that kid. Like I said, people that fished the pier back then would surely remember him. That was my one and only trip. Never cared for pier fishing, but that trip was worth the memory it produced. Ever notice that fishing has a way of making a lot of memories, some good some bad.


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## wbay2crowded (Jul 13, 2007)

GuyFromHuntsville said:


> I'm not sure if it's a record or not, but a friend of mine (on 2cool as "Pittstop") caught five over 30" in one year.


Pittstop is da man. Dr. Skitterwalk.


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## scwine (Sep 7, 2006)

All I know is that Cliff Webb has a mounted stringer on his wall form one fishing outing that would rival anyone's.


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## Im Headed South (Jun 28, 2006)

scwine said:


> All I know is that Cliff Webb has a mounted stringer on his wall form one fishing outing that would rival anyone's.


I remember reading where between him and his clients they caught like 90 over 30" in one month back in the mid 90's lol.


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## JShupe (Oct 17, 2004)

scwine said:


> All I know is that Cliff Webb has a mounted stringer on his wall form one fishing outing that would rival anyone's.


If I'm not mistaken that stringer was North of 100 lbs but someone will need to confirm it but that was the word I heard.

I do feel the 30" mark is much more elusive now then it used to be.


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## B&C (Jul 23, 2010)

Im Headed South said:


> If I had one guy to put money on it would be Cliff Webb, Jay Watkins has told me some stories of some of their trips in the good ol days and it's pretty unbelievable. I'm talking single days with more over 30 than most of us will catch in a lifetime.


Cliff claims a 10 fish stringer that went over 100 #'s in the 80's. He's been catching fish >30" since he was a boy wading the spoils near the Game Warden cabin while his Dad performed his game warden duties....

Les Cobb should also be on this list. The number of 30"er's on the wall in the Wild Horse Lodge alone is crazy!

Not many folks have caught more 30"er's in the last 10 years than Chad Peterek.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

I finally put that Q to one of my CC buds in Feb...172 over 30", lifetime. He went the last 2 yrs w/o an over, but has his mojo back now. Added 3 or 4 since then. NeilW heard him say it, and I have no doubts, having fished and known him for a long time. I'm stuck on 3, and have been for several years. I've seen Cliff's wall mount, and it's indeed awesome!


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## gatortrout (Aug 13, 2005)

I'm still chasing her.....


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## iwant2fish (Jan 28, 2005)

Rudy Grigar


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## fish1kemah (Feb 26, 2009)

Rudy was one along with Felix Stagno and Bill Carpenter that had a truck load over 30" , the 70's were the day !


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## WillieT (Aug 25, 2010)

I grew up on the coast and was there during the 50's-70's. Large fish did not seem to mean as much back then. There were many fishermen that regularly caught large fish that they never took the time to measure or weigh. It was just a different era.


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## greenhornet (Apr 21, 2010)

It took me over 10 years fishing the ULM to get my first 30" two winters ago, this winter I caught 30's on back to back days (6 fish from 27-30 in those two days). I just can't wait for my 3 over 30" next winter....haha guess we'll see.


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

**** 2013 what fishing pressure


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## Plumbwader (Jan 17, 2009)

YakSerious said:


> Is anybody the 30+ inch trout king. Is there anybody who has caught more than anybody else, documented ?


Cliff Webb most likely.


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## Wedge (Apr 29, 2005)

29.5 is my best.


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

Nice any pics


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## c hook (Jul 6, 2016)

if you want to catch trophy trout fish where they are, E. Gorda or Baffin. People who fish these waters or south, will undoubtedly hold this record. Fishing Galvetraz for a 30 is equivalent to hunting the hill country for B&C whitetail, it can happen but the odds are grossly stacked against you. I've been fishing Galvetraz my entire life and have a fair number of fish 28 or just over, and 8lbs or just over, my biggest 29 and 9lbs on a boga. Length isn't important to me, I'm looking for the elusive 10lber, that's making a real statement. Catching a thirty is old news, just ask Trevor.


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## Davidsel47 (Apr 10, 2019)

Cliffs stringer is real, I've seen it. He had a Houston Chronicle writer with him when it happened. He said after the story was printed is when his business really took off.









2 new items by David Mata







photos.app.goo.gl


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## RANCH (Apr 6, 2021)

Whoa thanks for sharing those pics


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## Stumpgrinder1 (Jul 18, 2016)

Im still tryng to figure out when the trophy measurement went from weight to length ? 

As a kid and a young fisherman we never asked about how long , it was always how much it weighed ( Im assuming the TPWD record book still measures weight ?) 

For clarity Im not sure i ever caught a trout that was 30" long. I have caught several over 8 lbs


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## texcajun (Feb 22, 2009)

Back in the mid 80’s I served aboard the USS Dale based out of Mayport, FL located on the Atlantic ocean just south of the Georgia border. Our captain TJ Turpin would let us fish off the fantail there in the basin afterhours. We caught hell out of trout that were consistently huge by Texas standards. I’m talking fish that were regularly over 26”. At that time I had no clue as to what was considered a “large” speck as we never really thought about it. We ate what we caught.

My first time catching them like that was a jarring moment for me anyway. Not knowing any better I strung them on a long stringer over the side of the ship. At one point I looked down and noticed the water boilIng around my stringer. When I pulled it up, every speck was chewed to pieces. That was my first introduction to bluefish. Dang saltwater piranha.

Our fishing from the fantail came to a screeching halt one day when one of the guys in my division attempted to kick a hardhead over the side that he’d just unhooked. He drove the dorsal fin through his shoe and well into his foot. Wound up having to spend several days in the hospital and was out for 3 weeks. Captain Turpin said that was the end of that experiment.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

Spec trout: one 32.5 inches
Steelhead trout: one 36 inches
Rainbow trout: well over 30 over 30 inches

As mentioned, fish where the big fish are if you are after big fish.


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

I have two - 32” . Caught back to back . And to make the arrogant topwater crowd ( lure only ) mad - off cut mullet while sitting g on my tailgate listen to XM radio . Special


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## thirdcoastangler (Apr 27, 2013)

mrsh978 said:


> I have two - 32” . Caught back to back . And to make the arrogant topwater crowd ( lure only ) mad - off cut mullet while sitting g on my tailgate listen to XM radio . Special


That’s a beautiful thing 👍🏻


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## Sgrem (Oct 5, 2005)

Always that dude that catches the 32" trout off the pier using a red wigler or a piece of soap or a dead cooked shrimp from the freezer section.

Meanwhile...I'm back to cast number 8 milion....just huntin her up....


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## mrsh978 (Apr 24, 2006)

Ya , but with all that casting action - you are much healthier than me on the cardio side !


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## WineyFishrman (Aug 5, 2011)

My pb is 32.5,, and have several right at 30ish.

All caught wadefishing except the 32.5... that beast was in Baffin,,, we caught 3 limits of trout back when limit was 10, most were 24 to 28, and 3 limits of refish,,, all the same day and within 5 hours.

That was the most memorable salt water fishing day in my memory.


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